Explanation Of The Poem 'Woodchucks' By Maxine Kumin

The first example of this is the “mock hunt”. In this hunt Ralph trails behind Jack and his group when they are looking for a pig. He is overwhelmed with excitement when he knicks a pig in the snout. Ralph realizes he lost his humanity while on the hunt and it confuses him. Another instance of Ralph being influenced by fear into doing inhuman things is the scene where Simon is murdered.

“Woodchucks” by Maxine Kumin, which narrates her experience with woodchucks and how she lost her humanity trying to protect her garden from the pesky creatures. She uses such a simple past experience to symbolize something more profound. Throughout the poem she is at war with the woodchucks and as the story progresses, her means of extermination do as well. In the end, she uses a rifle to kill them all she is left saddened as she watches the last woodchuck die. The simplicity of the title is perfect for this poem because it leads the reader into thinking the poem is going to be a happy story about an encounter with a woodchuck, when in reality it is the retelling of the author killing woodchucks..

the forest) and refining his hunting abilities. All of these events lead up to Jack’s eventual split from Ralph’s rule and his complete succumbing to his negative impulses. This is epitomized in his vicious and thoughtless attack on the sow, during which he, “…was on top of the sow, stabbing downwards with his knife” (Golding, 135), exhibiting his brutal nature. His merciless assault on her was described by Henningfeld as, “…rife with sexual overtones”, displaying his completely impulse-controlled demeanor that shows no consideration for any logical thoughts. His abandonment of logic is also shown through the killing of the sow due to the strategic value of the sow due to her ability to bear more pigs for them to eat.

Due to the brutal nature and darkness in all of the boys’ hearts, the island becomes destroyed after they have inhabited it, just like the Garden of Eden. Fire Contrast to the word ‘darkness’, the subject of study in this essay, the fire is another essential symbol that stands for hope and man’s dependence. It also plays a significant role in bringing out the innate evil in the boys. Golding creates the impression the fire has its own life, comparing the fire to different animals, first squirrels then jaguars. He uses phrases such as ‘scrambled up’ and ‘began to gnaw ’ to emphasise this effect.

Savagery is the cause of the word choice the author used in this chapter. The effect of the boys killing Simon caused William Golding to use sad words. In Chapter nine of the “Lord of the Flies”, William Golding utilize animal imagery, natural image, and diction to represent the theme of when you fear an object or a person it can regulate great savagery. Throughout chapter nine it describes the boys in the novel as being afraid of the beast. This causes them to kill one of their own.

In this excerpt of the short story, a biblical allusion is evident. The allusion to the forbidden fruit, the apple, was used when the father threw an apple at Gregor making the reader and Gregor realize that physical action could be done to him; it is now apparent that the family, or at least the dad, wants to get rid of him. It breaks the humorous tone of the piece, with the fantasy idea of being turned into a bug, into a more serious one with the realistic prospect of Gregor being wounded or killed. Throughout the piece, Gregor’s father has always expressed contempt towards Gregor because of Gregor’s “unhappy and hateful” state but never directly took action until now (Kafka 65). The way how this scene breaks the seemingly imaginative piece

After hesitating, he murders King Duncan and this starts transforming him into a paranoid person. His paranoia causes him to order the deaths of close friends and allies. This transformation demonstrates how evil takes over good compared to Beowulf where there is already an evil creature present. Beowulf is a story about an evil creature named Grendel who terrorizes the castle of Hrothgar, killing many. Hrothgar calls Beowulf to kill Grendel and other villains which shows the distinct line between good and evil.

It is easy to understand that the beast’s actions were just followed by horrible feelings. First, the monster was abandoned and stricken mentally. Then, the people in the village threw rocks at the beast with rage. Along the feeling of self-consciousness, the creature had to deal with loneliness. Without love and responsibility, the monster killed Frankenstein’s best friend, Henry Clerval.

“Now out of the terror rose another desire, thick, urgent and, blind” ( 152, Golding). The chant that is sung after the death or the event of killing a pig is cruel and extremely violent. This is an example of a dehumanized since they are not chanting to thank the pig for its life, but the joy in killing it in cold blood. Throughout the story there are other examples of Ralph and the other living in a dehumanized state such as the death of Piggy. “The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee ; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist” (181, Golding).

A lot of people want something someone else has. In hamlet some sins are even multiplied together, for example the ghost wants his revenge on claudius and he also wants his crown back which is both wrath and envy. Throughout the play the seven deadly sins will appear frequently. Claudius, before the play even began wanted to be the king of denmark. In the graveyard scene the ghost tells hamlet that claudius, filled with envy and wrath came into the orchard where king hamlet slept and poured poison into his ear killing him.

[…] Horrible germs and things […] eat ‘em, go home and die. In agony”. Due to his knowledge about germs, Willie gains status over Peter because he knows more about germs and how dangerous they are. Also, the pause before “In agony” is a scare tactic he uses against Peter. However, Peter ups Willie with “My dad controls hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of men”.