... This makes the setting the weakest element of “The Black Cat.” Next, symbolism is always an integral part of any Poe story. The most obvious of symbolic references in this story is the cat’s name, Pluto. This is the Roman god of the underworld. Pluto contributes to a strong sense of hell and may even symbolize the devil himself. Another immensely symbolic part of “The Black Cat” is the title itself, since onyx cats have long connoted bad luck and misfortune. The most amazing thing about the symbolism in this story or in any other of Poe’s is that there are probably many symbols that only Poe himself ever knew were in his writ ...
... one(more) errand onto the wilder shores of experience" (Martin). Brown has a curiosity that "kills" his naive outlook on life and changes him until his death. He has a mission to go into the forest and meet the devil. A mission that he begins out of curiosity and a "deep need to see if the teachings of his childhood, his religion, and his culture, have armed him sufficiently to look the devil in the face and return unscathed" (Hodara 1). The symbol of the forest, late at night, can be interpreted as the untamed regions of Brown's heart where the devil roams freely as he roams in the forest. The forest is the devil's domain. Brown finds, in the dark of the n ...
... performed in modern dramatizations. Dickens was born into a poor family. When he was 12 his father was imprisoned for debt. Dickens was removed from school and put to work in a blacking factory. He lived alone in a lodging house in North London. His father received inheritance after a few months and Charles finally returned to school, but his money troubles were not over. When he was 15 he went to work as a clerk in a law firm and later became a reporter. He was also a quick stenographer. In (1837-1839) OLIVER TWIST was being serialized in a monthly magazine called Bently's Miscellany. In 1836 Charles married Catherine Hogarth and they had 10 chi ...
... relationship with her father or grandmother. The short inscription to “Self Reliance” is almost a short summary of Ellen’s character. In it, a child without parents is raised by someone that is a lot different than she is. After Ellen’s mother died, she is unwillingly left with her alcoholic father who mistreats her. Ellen spent a lot of time at her friend, Starletta’s house and at the house of her grandmother. Life with her grandmother was no better than life with her father. She did not want to be in either situation. After living with her grandmother, Ellen’s struggle to find a suitable, comforting home comes to an end. For the second time in her ...
... 20th century man's search for identity, and his compassionate portrait of the origins of evil. I have come from Alabama a fur piece (Faulkner, p.3). The reader begins the book in this manner, following the simple-minded and determined Lena as she travels, neither coming nor going, simply moving. Immediately the book draws into her past, relating events leading up to this point, explaining her motives. One gets a definite feel for her character, and settles into her narrative, but as soon as this happens, the book switches gears, turning instead to a vague character, Joe Christmas. With little introduction, or warning, the book reels into Joe's past, catching the re ...
... decide, and act as God for God? These men in power made Hester look bad, so people on town would think that they are better than Hester, and because of that they would not sin, or they will too, will be punished. When Hester was standing on the scaffold, she was being judged by everybody, and since humans are evil, than their response towards her were not be positive, but evil. A group of women were talking with each other, and deciding on a punishment for Hester: "'What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown, or flesh of her forehead,'" (p. 49). To which another replied "'This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die'" (p ...
... he truly was different from the others. Every time he tried to talk to the other children, his “effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat.”(89) Just when he thought he had been accepted he embarrassed himself again, “When he bashed into a tree Ralph looked sideways impatiently and Robert sniggered.”(104) They were getting restless with his behavior. In the end, he was trying more to tell the boys what he knew, but they just thought he was weird. He told Ralph, “You’ll get back alright.”(111) Ralph’s response was only that he thought Simon was ̶ ...
... end up unhappy or unsuccessful. The whole novel outlines attempts to dance around love for the combination of a wealthy person with an attractive person. The first line of Pride and Prejudice, “It is a universally acknowledged fact that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”, sets the tone for the rest of the novel. We interpret it to mean that a wealthy man either actively pursues a wife based on his knowledge that no one would turn down a wealthy suitor, or attractive women use their beauty to their advantage to attract a rich husband. Confident in his knowledge of his own wealth and magnificence, Darcy's less than romant ...
... explains how these pigeons were made, Brian understands that birth is the beginning of life. Four years later, a similar conversation comes up when Brian asks his father how rabbits are born. With this new found knowledge, Brian also sees another newborn. But this time it was a two-headed calf, who dies at birth. Because of this, Brian comes to the realization that "God isn't very considerate"(166), for sometimes he lets things like the two headed cow come into this world, only to suffer and then die. The Second instance in which Brian is confronted with the meaning of life, comes to him when he sees death, and asks himself why. When Brian's pigeon died, he a ...
... to Pap, and forces him to obey an obviously evil and unfit man. One who drinks profusely and beats his son. Later, when Huck makes it look as though he has been killed, we see how civilization is more concerned over finding Huck's dead body than rescuing his live one from Pap. This is a society that is more concerned about a dead body than it is in the welfare of living people. The theme becomes even more evident once Huck and Jim set out, down the Mississippi. Huck enjoys his adventures on the raft. He prefers the freedom of the wilderness to the restrictions of society. Also, Huck's acceptance of Jim is a total defiance of society. Ironically, Huck beli ...
