In her novel, The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath uses diction and tone to juxtapose the internal strife a character may experience with an an external normalcy. Protagonist Esther Greenwood exemplifies the tear that can occur between society and one of its members. The repetition of the word and idea of death is prevalent throughout the novel, found a majority of the time within Esther’s internal dialogue, portraying that she is obsessed with death, but contains it in her mind to avoid others knowing.Her reason for her secrecy reveals itself to be fear of appearing outside society’s realms. She proves this when each attempted suicide takes places far from the presence of others, such as her basement or any empty beach. Experiences of losing control
Did you know that only 310 out of every 1,000 sexual assaults are reported? Melinda was one of the 690 people that didn’t report her sexual assault. Speak was about this girl named Melinda and she had something happen to her right before school started and she didn’t tell anyone. Then as the school year progressed she wasn’t making any friends and even the only friend she had unfriended her. THen at the end she finally told someone.
Suicide in this society is connected as no person shows much concern for anyone who commits suicide as they have machines to filter blood and pump their stomachs to “bring them back from the dead” or resuscitate them from death. Therefore, giving further proof of lack of human connection as they showed a lack of concern as well. Though, some people showed signs of concerns. Concluding my argument, the themes of lack of human connection and censorship were the main themes of the book. Though, some could argue that it also included the dual nature of humankind.
They said that every time the person who lost control on their body need to be visually focused on every move; otherwise, they would fall. However, I believe that a body lose control should has a reason. According to the article, “Eight Reasons Your Brain May Not Be Functioning Like It Used To (And How to Improve Your Brain Health)”, there are nine reasons that body lost connect with brain: over drugs, depression, thyroid problems, vitamin B12 deficiency, candida and poor digestive health, the affect of digestive health, toxins, poor nutrition, and lack of sleep. In other words, the human body and brain function will decrease over time, and it has many reasons. Also, they are many reason that people still cannot explain.
Laurie Halse Anderson conveys a lonely mood through the use of imagery, dialogue, and tone in her book “Speak”. Throughout the novel, the reader sees the struggles of a freshman girl named Melinda after she was raped over the summer. Laurie Halse Anderson uses imagery to create a lonely mood. “Built-in shelves filled with dusty textbooks and a few bottles of bleach… A cracked mirror tils over a sink littered with dead roaches crotched together with cobwebs.” This quote helps the reader create an image in their head of a dirty, forgotten place where it makes the reader feel the same feelings of loneliness that Melinda felt in the story.
In Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Crossing the usage of multiple techniques like figurative language and detail to convey the narrator's experience as negative with the wolf. From the start of the passage, McCarthy uses a precise vocabulary to convey the visual and tactile experiences of the main character. Besides the basic scenery being described in the phrase “talus slides under tall escarpments”, McCarthy provides important details that hint at the main character’s current state. This detailed sentence can be portrayed as the narrator being at the base of a tall mountain, he’s at a low point in his life both literally and physically.
Thoughts in regards to suicide often include empathy for the dead, and wonder as to what drove the person to end their life. All too often, people ignore a rather important consideration: the thoughts and feelings of those left behind. The loved ones are left with the remorse, despondence, and grieving, while the dead are absolved of their worldly anguish. In “The Grieving Never Ends”, Roxanne Roberts employs a variety of rhetorical tactics including metaphors, imagery, tone, and syntax to illustrate the indelible effects of suicide on the surviving loved ones. Roberts effectively uses metaphors to express the complex, abstract concepts around suicide and human emotion in general.
In the novel, As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner shapes the plot based on the looming presence of the absentee protagonist, Addie Bundren. The reader’s knowledge of Addie accumulates through the monologues of other characters, so the reader gains only bits and pieces of Addie’s character. However, after her death, the reader obtains a better understanding of Addie’s voice through her own monologue and as a result, is characterized as cold and selfish. Through the use of similes and interior monologue, Faulkner shows Addie’s tendency to detach herself from the people in her life, which relates to the novel’s overall theme of solitude as Addie adheres to her father’s philosophy that the reason for living is no more than “to get ready to stay dead a long time” (169).
In the novel, “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, there is a young high school girl that is named Melinda, she has something to hide from people that she know and love but eventually she will reveal her dark secret. I believe that symbolism plays a major role in the novel because many of the symbols represent how Melinda sometimes acts at times. Throughout the novel, Unarmed is used to symbolize Rabbits, Prey, and Fear in relation to how Melinda develops. I believe that Rabbits represent Melinda as an unharming animal who can’t defend herself from problems in life. This symbol also represents Melinda in a way that she can’t fight back, all she can possibly do is hide like a rabbit in her closet or run away from Danger.
Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel, Fever 1793 takes place in colonial Philadelphia, during the time of the yellow fever outbreak. Mattie Cook, a young girl during the outbreak has to cope with the many hardships brought onto her by the disease. While the fever brought many terrible things to Mattie and her family, she is able to move past them and build her life up again. By using character development and figurative language, Anderson is able to create the theme that good things can always come out of something bad. The theme that prevails throughout the novel Fever 1793 is that good things can always come out of something bad.
Societal adversities carve an individual’s outlook and character, which may continue unaltered until their untimely death. Susan Eloise Hinton, author of the coming of age literary text, The Outsiders, depicts the prevalent teenage social rivalry in the 1960s between the Socials (Socs) and the Greasers. Through a series of consequential incidents, various characters are challenged and undergo a progressive transformation throughout the story, while others remain static and do not respond with a shift in character. Dallas “Dally” Winston resists change despite the numerous opportunities for transformation as Ponyboy Curtis’ most distinctive gang member. Dallas Winston as a static character, remains self-preservative and detached from society, as seen in Ponyboy’s assessment of him at Buck Merril 's party, his conversation with
1.2 Plath’s use of symbols & motifs to depict the theme of social conventions The idea of social convention, ‘the way in which something is usually done in mass similarity’, is one of the most prominent ways in which Plath depicts female entrapment within her novel. The entire novel revolves around a woman 's battle with herself and the life she wishes for herself. The social convention aspect is all in all a synonym for what society expects of us. What society expects of an individual.
So fat. And all the lines in her face, the purplish blotches..and the blanked she wore over her head-ragged and filthy (Huxley 171).” From this, the reader can clearly imagine a older fat woman in ragged clothes standing in a doorway. Huxley has used imagery to create numerous atmospheres. Huxley uses the provocative imagery of death to create a feeling of solitude for the reader, with words such as “pale”, “corpse-coloured”, “cold”, “frozen”, “dead”, “thin” and “ghost.”
Laurie Anderson’s young adult novel “Speak” is fulfilled with symbols, good and bad, static and not static. The high school girl, Melinda Sordino, stops speaking after being raped by a classmate. The author uses symbolism in order to illustrate Melinda’s emotional trauma, and how Melinda tries to overcome it. Three the most complex symbols in the novel are a poster of Maya Angelou, an oak tree, and a name of her teacher –Mr. Freeman.
There are countless times within The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini where powerful diction is used to convey a certain image, or idea; in many instances Hosseini chose violent diction to control how the audience perceives a character and their actions. This is shown in the quote, “I was on the ground laughing, Assef straddling my chest, his face a mask of lunacy, framed by snarls of his hair swaying inches from my face. His free hand was locked around my throat” (Hosseini,303). The use of the word “straddling” shows the control Assef has over the situation; he is not just on top of Amir, his is completely pining him to the ground. This creates a vivid image for the readers to view the scene with.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a semi-autobiographical novel in which Plath relays her own experiences through protagonist Esther Greenwood by highlighting the struggles she faced in navigating societal expectations, depression, and her own desires. Having spent time in college and later in multiple mental health institutions, Plath tells her story through Esther in a way that blends fiction and reality. Through Esther, we see Plath’s own interpretations of her triumphs, failures, values, and the slow but seemingly inevitable diminishment of her mental health. The story starts with Esther Greenwood in New York City, where she is spending a month working at a magazine because she won a scholarship to a special summer program for female writers.