“Oh I lost my sock or my shirt.” Sayings like this might seem important, although they are incomparable to the loss experienced by the characters in “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry. The characters all share the fact that they experienced great personal loss, which effected their characters. These authors use loss to help develop or reveal something about their characters. In “Gwilan’s Harp” the author uses loss to help progress the storyline and reveal to the reader Gwilan’s thought process after such a tragic loss. While in “The Washwoman” the author uses the loss of the main characters life to expose to the reader one of the key themes of the story. And lastly, in “The Last Leaf” the author uses the loss of Behrman’s life to help shock and surprise the audience of readers. Overall, these authors all use the process of loss to help enhance and better their stories.
Out of all the short stories, Ursula K. Le Guin story, “Gwilan’s Harp” consists of the most loss. The story revolves around the idea of loss,
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Henry’s surprising story “The Last Leaf” tells a more different and unexpected story of loss. The main character of the story, Johnsy, is losing her battle against a fatal case of pneumonia. Losing the will to fight the illness, she decides when the last leaf falls on the ivy vine outside her window she will die. “When the last one falls I must go, too” (Henry). Mr. Behrman, a gruff man who lives in the apartment below them hears of Johnsy’s predicament and believes he can help. So he paints a realistic leaf and goes out in the icy, harsh, and unforgiving weather; placing it outside her window. He commits the ultimate sacrifice and he exchanges his health for Johnsy’s life. A sacrifice that ended up costing him the loss of his own life. Although different from the other stories, the theme of loss still exists through the loss of Behrman’s life in exchange for Johnsy’s
Through her grief the protagonist discovers her purpose has not actually died only the person who inspired and helped her to her true self. This renewed sense of purpose give the narrator the relief she needed to move on from her short time with Abuelita and continue to grow in a courageous
Personal sacrifice can be nearly impossible, but is a necessity in life. This first began in the novel when Saul loses his family, persisting at the school and surfacing again once Saul 's hockey career gets serious. Saul’s life is made up of devastation, quickly making the story a miserable one. Introducing with Saul 's siblings being taken away, his home soon following, his childhood. The first tremendous sacrifice the reader experiences on a more empirical level was Saul’s grandma giving up her life so he could survive.
She lost so much in a matter of seconds and then with time. With the loss of her home, her children, and the person she once was, Mary Rowlandson grew to appreciate her life. To wake up one day and see that everything you had in your life is being taken away is astonishing. It's like not having the ability to breath from one second to the next.
In our lives there will always be grieving in some type of form, in “ The Valley of Broken Hearts” Mrs. Joe lost her husband 13 years ago due to lung cancer. In “ New Development Stirs Old Case” the wife of Mr. Renfroe was strangled and found dead on his kitchen floor. Lastly in “French Quarter’s Black Tapping Feet” Rose suffered a great loss the loss of a parent. In every article, each individual had one thing in common they all had a heartache that dealt with death.
The fact that the family lives in a very precarious place - next to a mountain where there have been many landslides and that a slide can occur at any moment -- is significant in this story because at the end, a slide does occur and the family and the guest are killed. Nature represents fate in the story. Neither the family nor the guest has any control over what happens to them in the story, in spite of the "ambitious" plans of the guest. The fact that the guest did not achieve any of his goals and how the family members did not achieve any great accomplishments become irrelevant when they are all killed. The irony of the story is that in spite of his plans, no one remembers the guest.
The Sad Fisher Family In the short story, “Blood Knots” grief is revealed in different ways. In the beginning of the story the main character is described as calm and laid back. This gives the reader the sense that she does not care for her father’s death and she announces, “I am still waiting for my own emotion to surface in what I am anticipating will be a sense of overwhelming, loss”(Burton 33). The main character is in great shock that even she cannot describe it.
In countless people's lives, the loss and grieving of a loved one, will most probably be experienced. In Steven Herrick's novel ‘by the river’ many of the characters from this novel too face the loss of loved ones as well due to death or physically leaving the town of which the novel is set in. These characters deal with the losses in a myriad of ways, however the most prominent of them would be the rituals that are undertaken to respect the person that they lost. They also try to escape the town physically and mentally, and feel the presence of their loved ones.
“When a relationship is over, leave. Don’t continue watering a dead flower” (Anon). That advice would have been helpful for Leon in the book Playing with Matches by Brian Katcher. The book is about a teenage boy named Leon, who is desperate for love. He has had a crush on the school's prettiest girl, Amy, for years now.
When I was nine years old (2010), death touched my family through my older sister, Margot Kate Jackson Fowler, known by many as Katie Fowler. This affected me in tremendous ways which will stay with me for life. Whenever I see or hear of death regarding family members, I draw instant connections to the death of my sister. When guddu and Saroo were separated that night, not knowing that it would be their last moment together; they didn’t say goodbye. I can relate to this on a personal level as I never got to say goodbye to my sister.
Then he realizes that he was not going to stay with his money when he die. At the end, he helped his employee with a monetary situation. Further, he went to his nephew’s Christmas dinner. Significantly, this novel helps people retrain the meaning of being humble and kind with others. Something that is very important about this novel is that it teaches a lesson of helping others, because you are not going to stay with your money when you die.
War can have a profound effect on soldiers who have witnessed the atrocities that occur on the battlefield. Death becomes a part of their everyday life, however; it is the reaction to this and the coping mechanisms that soldiers use that defines true self from that of the field. This essay will examine Tim O’Brien’s short stories “The Things They Carried” and “How to Tell a True War Story” in order to show how the soldiers dealt with death through their responses and attitudes. For the most part the reader is able to identify some common themes in responding to death between the two short stories.
When someone is alive people do not see the value of life and how precious it is, they do not realize it until it is too late. Many people would not notice such a small moment like this in their lives and would take it for granted. However, the characters seen in the novel treasure every moment similar to how they treasure life. They are able to see the value of life and how each person 's struggles has helped them heal. People are able to see that the obstacles an individual faces, which leads them to survival.
When people are traumatized by an event they are pushed to experience the five stages of grief. The “Gospel”, by Philip Levine and “the boy detective loses love”, by Sam Sax both use characters that are going through one of the stages of grief. Levine and Sax both explain the thoughts and process of what a person thinks when they go through these stages with imagery. Levine uses symbolism, a sad tone, and a set setting in “Gospel” to illustrate that grieving takes you into a depth of thoughts. Sax uses anaphoras, an aggressive tone, and an ambiguous setting to convey that grieving takes you into a tunnel of anger and rage.
Critical Analysis “Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé” by Marguerite Yourcenar The text that I have decided to study is “Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé” by Marguerite Yourcenar. The extract is located after the first paragraph at the beginning of the story. We are introduced to the characters Ling, Ling’s wife and Wang-Fô .
Further, situational irony is present through the reaction that Louise Mallard has after learning about her husband’s death. Upon first learning of her husband’s death she is very devastated and distraught. As soon as she is alone in the bathroom however, it is clear to the readers she is not as upset. In fact she is slightly relieved in that “she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome” (235).