Topic Number 2, the use of backgrounds, landscapes, architectures and “sets.”
Raymond Chandler and Ed McBain are two flagships in detective fictions. Chandler’s Philip Marlowe brought readers a series of hot-blooded fictional detective stories that happened in Los Angeles (LA). McBain, the commander of the 87th Precinct, excited readers with many raw and realistic detective stories happened in “the city”, an imaginary city that based on New York City (NYC). If there’s one thing that Chandler and McBain share in common, it’s their extraordinary abilities to use weathers, times and environments to render atmospheres, promote plots and deliver symbolisms. By setting their stories in popular big cities, Chandler and McBain allow readers to picture
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Farewell, My Lovely, another famous detective fiction written by Chandler, uses time, weather and even the smell to create the atmosphere and to foreshadow what’s going to happen. It also allows readers to image the situation Marlowe is dealing with and experience the stories from Marlowe’s perspective. In Chapter 9, while Marlowe is on a stakeout, Chandler described the setting as “It was a little foggy, the way it always is down there at night. I had to start up the windshield wiper for a while.” Nighttime, with the darkness and the chill, is a time that people associate insecurity and evilness with. The weather is foggy, and even the weakest light of moon disappeared, symbolizes Marlowe is surrounded by the unknowns of the mystery. Later, “The acrid smell of the sage filled the night.” may imply that the ugly and unpleasant truth is all around Marlowe and awaits Marlowe to find out. Overall, by the settings Chandler gives us, we can picture that Marlowe is waiting in his car among all these darkness, humidity and pungent smell. He perhaps looks like a patient eagle waiting for the prey, with a pair of sharp eyes that could see through the mist. He doesn’t mind all these difficulties because he knows the truth is among these fogs, darkness and acrid
The play “Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a powerful play that displays what it like is to have dreams deferred. Hansberry extracted her title from a well-known poem called “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. “Harlem” serves as an epigraph for the play and Hansberry’s play does an excellent job expressing the poem’s themes. The play provokes feelings of suspense and drama as we watch the character’s endeavors, only to be crushed by the very same thing that they yearn for. My analysis of the play and the poem proves that Hansberry’s play was able to capture and manifest the themes of the poem
Even though the time periods did not match up, San Francisco and Detroit almost mirrored each other. Neither were what they are today yet, with big buildings and enormous populations; however, one thing that they did share was the fact that they had a problem with everyday crime and how some crimes were taken care of. Both Dashiell Hammet and Elmore Leonard were “tell it how it is” novelists. They shared the same message when speaking through their characters with hidden messages about the times. Corruption was exposed when talking about their fictional detectives being hard-boiled and not always playing by the rules.
The book On the Run by Alice Goffman narrates six years Goffman spent hanging out in a black poor neighborhood of West Philadelphia that she calls 6th Street. During her stay there, she became friends with a group of resident young men, and got to know their surroundings such as girlfriends and family members. This experience in this disadvantaged neighborhood pushed her to write this book where she describes the neighborhood’s conditions, the violence encountered by the police and the residents, and the injustices of the criminal justice system. The book’s primary argument is that the continuous threat of surveillance and continuous investigations that lead to the arrest and imprisonment of young people did great harm to 6th Street, turning many of its residents into
The setting of a story is often overlook and thought to be a less important when it comes to the overall message and plot of the story. The place, time, or geographical location has a great impact on the theme, mood, tone, and the central conflict. The setting can also foreshadow events, affect dialogue, and characters actions. In our everyday life we make numerous amounts of decisions or action s that are dependent of our location. In a library an action of reading a book may take place, but in a grocery store, picking out food may be done.
If the writer cannot capture the reader 's attention through the creative backdrop, settings, then the foundation is not buildable and my story may be weak and uninteresting. A crafty writer connects emotionally to the reader through description, describing time, location, weather in such great detail the reader should live in the moment. The reader becomes emotionally attached to the story’s detail of events. Subsequently, without the setting edged in an emotional backdrop the story is just a bunch of information.
Portraying the general setting on what is taking place in the plot creating a setting that is vivid to the readers
It portrays his sadness and sympathy towards the situation. This can be seen in the novel when Marlow stated that the Africa land was such as “a creeping mist” and “the jungle being so dark green it is almost black”. The sensitivity of Marlow when he illustrated the surroundings around him brings a perception to the readers about his sympathy attitudes towards the situation in Africa.
“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts… For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for
Chandler located many of his novels in Los Angeles, because it portrayed the worst qualities of the American society during his time. Similarly, Hammett’s novels are frequently located in San Francisco and also in Southern California. Their hard-boiled novels are not about solving the crime like a puzzle, but focus on how the protagonist reveals about the corruption
In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the author writes with vivid imagery to create a setting for the reader. Dark and light imagery are very prominent throughout the novel. The author develops a theme of danger and safety through the use of light and dark imagery. In the novel, when light imagery is written by McCarthy, the reader knows that the boy and the man are safe.
Cities can be bustling centers of opportunities; however, they can tear apart a person’s hopes and dreams. Writer, Ann Petry, in her novel, The Street, depicts a woman, Lutie Johnson, trying to find a place to rent out, but struggles due to the impenetrable city winds. Her purpose is to showcase how certain individuals have the ability to fight the barriers in their ruthless environment in order to succeed. Through the use of imagery, personification, and selection of detail, Petry depicts how Lutie Johnson tries to adapt to the harsh conditions of the city. Petry begins the selection by depicting the winds as an intrusive force.
Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men contains a plethora of ubiquitous themes and tropes; it espouses disparate motifs such as corruption, fragmentation, and nihilism. However, the most conspicuous subject that is touched upon is that of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The paramount thematic concepts of Christian theology throughout the novel are explicated by use of literary devices such as diction, imagery, and tone; moreover, these convictions are hypostatized through Willie Stark, Jack Burden, and Tiny Duffy. In the first instance, one can see apposite connections with cut-throat governor Willie Stark and the benevolent Son of God: Jesus Christ.
Shakespeare uses a lot of light and dark imagery in this scene to describe the Romeo and Juliet's romance. As Romeo stands in the shadows, he looks to the balcony and compares Juliet to the sun. Then he says "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon" . Romeo had always compared Rosaline to the moon, and now, his love for Juliet has outshone the moon. Therefore, when Romeo steps out of the moonlight into the light from Juliet's balcony, he has leaves behind his melodramatic love declarations for Rosaline and moves toward a more real and mature understanding of
Setting the Scene Quote: …”which was on a narrow residential crescent where all houses had small yards and were surrounded by tall brick walls to provide privacy for the residents. I loved her street because without cars,stores,vendors, and beggars, it was quiet. The air was filled with mouthwatering fragrance of sauteed onions and garlic.”
Racism. Violence. Prohibition. Three words that sum up the 1920’s. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Killers” in 1927, in his home town of Oak Park, Illinois.