Literature Essays

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Symbolism in Catcher in the Rye and Great Gatsby

2 Pages 716 Words
Fitzgerald uses symbolism in The Great Gatsby to express underlying emotions. The first example of his use of symbolism is when Nick and another guest at Gatsby’s party are observing the books in Gatsby’s library. The guest described by Nick as “a stout, middle-aged man, with owl eyed spectacles”(Fitzgerald,45) was trying to observe and learn more about Gatsby by looking...

The Vulnerability Of Democracy In Lord Of The Flies

3 Pages 1447 Words
Democracy is a system of government where the leading part is chosen by the people to govern society. Democracy works on principles such as freedom of speech, judiciary, and law and order. When these principles are targeted, democracy is threatened and starts to erode. This was seen in the 1930s when Germany’s democratic government fell and was replaced with a...

Themes and characters in The Scarlet Letter's writing style

3 Pages 1534 Words
From courage, to sin, and even identity, the main character in the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, had to face many objectifying situations from her mistakes. Although real places and possible real events occured in the novel, the genre is considered historical fiction. The time period in which the novel was told in was the 17th century,...

Dehumanization In The Narrative Of The Life Of Fredrick Douglass

1 Page 604 Words
The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was written by Frederick Douglass during the peak of slavery in the south. The many views of the slaveholders did not allow slaves to become free and instead were dehumanized and mistreated. Douglass’ use of personal anecdotes helps detail the dehumanization of slaves. The value that slave owners placed on the enslaved...

Literary Elements Of Loneliness In Of Mice And Men

2 Pages 889 Words
A major problem and issue with today's world is loneliness and the many ways it can be cultivated by society. John Steinbeck explores this idea in his historical fiction novel, Of Mice and Men through three different characters that show three different literary elements of loneliness. These characters live on a farm in Soledad and each one is discriminated by...

The Scarlet Letter: Stereotypes about Indigenous Americans

1 Page 642 Words
In the contemporary era, people hold stereotypes toward the people they don’t know well and labeling them into certain characteristics, so it is necessary for us to learn about an ethnic group that is usually misunderstood by other people. Native Americans, however, as the original residence of America, often being portrayed in a prejudicial description. There are pieces of evidence...

Themes of Revenge and Sin in The Scarlet Letter

4 Pages 1623 Words
Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter primarily centers around the deed of sinning, and the effect it has on those surrounding. Initially, we are presented with Hester Prynne, a young woman who essentially commits the immoral act of adultery. Consequently, those associated with this act of sin ultimately are further consumed by immorality than the sinner herself. Sin in...

Sophocles' Oedipus Rex And Nathanial Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown

2 Pages 800 Words
The title characters of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Nathanial Hawthorne's 'Young Goodman Brown' share common traits -- those of arrogance, righteousness and a belief that they could raise themselves to the level of the gods. Both sought to define the wicked, though only Oedipus truly succeeded because he determined to discover the truth even if it meant his own destruction...

Of Mice And Men: The Significance Of Friendship

1 Page 452 Words
Friendship is a significant part of an individual’s life. Friendship brings warmth, comfort, and joy. As friends, people should be responsible and loyal to others. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck relates friendship to responsibility between people. George and Lennie have true companionship where they take care of each other. George is responsible for taking care of...

Twelfth Night: Gender Roles in Elizabethan Society

3 Pages 1207 Words
Throughout William Shakespeare’s time during the Elizabethan Era in the late 1500s, societal standards and gender roles were not like how they are in most of the world today. Women in the Elizabethan Era were raised to believe that they were inferior to men. The Church enforced this, quoting from the bible to ensure that this principle was widely followed....

Stylistic Devices in Oliver Twist

2 Pages 1123 Words
Charles Dickens wrote profusely on social issues in London, and one of the most famous examples is his vehement opposition to Smithfield, a weekly meat market in east London that was notorious for its extremely poor hygiene and cruel treatments of its cattle. The horrors of the marketplace were described in sickening detail in Dickens’s now famous passage from Oliver...

Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex And Plato’s Apology: Common Themes And Ideas

3 Pages 1393 Words
Both Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Plato’s Apology explore the limits of human wisdom. Socrates spends times trying to understand the nature of wisdom and whether the people who claim to possess it actually do. This investigation stems from the oracle, who proclaimed that Socrates was the wisest man in Athens. Through this quest, Socrates develops a negative reputation, and...

Common Themes of Catcher in the Rye

1 Page 611 Words
J.D. Salinger’s fictional novel, The Catcher in the Rye, illustrates sixteen year-old Holden Caulfield’s coming-of-age and the difficulties that accompany him through it. Salinger expresses the alienation adolescents face when assuming adult responsibilities, challenging their capacity on recognizing their own role. Throughout the novel, Holden's constant motif is finding opportunities to rescue others, when failing to rescue himself. Common themes...

Literary Devices in Depicting Society in The Giver

4 Pages 1640 Words
The Giver by Lois Lowry sets place in a futuristic society. It is undetermined the exact location or period that the story takes place. This society is based on a utopian community. A perfect society, where everyone is safe, they have never suffered pain, or ever heard of violence, but the citizens have no individuality, choice, or any freedom. The...

Gilead: a Real Life Dystopia

3 Pages 1327 Words
In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood depicts a feminist narrative revolving around a dystopian society where men hold dominion over women. In this society, called the Republic of Gilead, women are limited due to the extremist Christian government’s policies. The ideologies of this dystopian government are depicted through the flashbacks and first person narration of Offred, a Handmaid, whose role...
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Heart of Darkness and Things Fall Apart: The Treatment of Subalterns

2 Pages 912 Words
Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart are both about colonial life and society in early Africa. However Achebe’s book is more so a response to Conrad than it is just a book talking about Africa. In both books, the subalterns are treated rather badly. The major similarities between these two is the colonization that’s portrayed...

The Image of Pearl in Scarlet Letter

1 Page 534 Words
In The Scarlet Letter, not only is Pearl Hester’s daughter, but it is clear that she is also a wicked reminder of the past. In the novel, Pearl symbolizes the scarlet letter itself. The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame. That means, Pearl happens to be the punishment for Hester’s sin of adultery. Hester received this...

Jane Eyre: Gender and Class Roles

1 Page 594 Words
Jane Eyre, a victorian mentor, was a distanced figure for two essential reasons: sexual direction and class. For sexual direction, women, ultimately, had fewer rights than men. For one, no woman was allowed to cast a polling form, however, rich men and even lower office class men could cast a voting form. Also, women had some educational open entryways than...

Shared Themes in Huckleberry Finn & Where The Wild Things Are

2 Pages 1131 Words
Both Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are depict an inherent struggle between childhood escapism and the desire to return home through their similar use of characterization and setting, and their different uses of rhetorical strategies. Mark Twain’s use of satire and Maurice Sendak’s use of child-like language effectively convey their themes...

Enlightenment Ideal Of Defoe’s Novel Robinson Crusoe

2 Pages 738 Words
Enlighteners were encyclopedically educated people. Many of them openly opposed the feudal state. Some even paid with imprisonment in the Bastille, they even emigrated to other areas of the country. But despite this, they did not stop their struggle with noble prejudices and the arbitrariness of the authorities. The Catholic Church was especially hated by the majority of enlightenment writers....

The Symbols of Identity in Catcher in the Rye

2 Pages 834 Words
The Catcher in the Rye is a story written by JD Salinger that takes place in 1951 about a teenager that faces many problems with life. Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy who has just been expelled from his fourth school. JD Salinger uses symbolism to convey Holden's beliefs and how he feels for the reader to furthermore understand what is...

Isolation In Gothic Stories And Films

2 Pages 773 Words
The style of writing found in Gothic literature was used by many writers in the early 1800 and 1900s and can still be found in writing today. Within Crimson Peak by Guillermo del Toro and “Death in the Woods” by Sherwood Anderson, the theme of Isolation can be identified. Within Crimson Peak by Guillermo del Toro, “Allal” by Paul Bowles,...

The Image Of Curley’s Wife In Of Mice And Men

2 Pages 936 Words
Picture this: the United States just faced the world’s worst economic downfall in the history of industrialization. The Great Depression. It is at the period of time, between 1929 to 1939, when jobs are slim to none. A young woman finds herself in a difficult situation. Driven by the futility of the American Dream, she takes advantage of every opportunity...
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