In “The Funeral,” author Henry James evinces the narrator’s inflated sense of self through a lampoon of the lower class—primarily via tones of irreverent degradation and supercilious condescension. Amidst the impoverished masses, the speaker finds himself intrigued by their dejected existence and paltry attempt to mourn the death of Mr. George Odger, a humble shoemaker. [add another sentence] Riddled with insouciance, haughtiness, and patronization, the author’s diction divulges the pompous outlook of the narrator. For instance, the onlooker continually mocks the “spectacle” of the funeral that he describes as one he “[would] have been sorry to miss.” Rather than expressing pity for the loss of an honorable man, he is instead merely concerned …show more content…
Particularly, the speaker profiles Mr. Odger as a man engaged in “the useful profession of shoemaker” who “knocked in vain at the door that opens but to golden keys.” Here he obliquely patronizes Mr. Odger through the implication that the lower class should adhere to the bounds of their existing social status. Thus, the narrator retains a parochial view of the poor: any attempt on their behalf to transcend social hierarchy is a ludicrous notion. Following the narrator’s escape from the crowd into a hansom cab, he describes himself witnessing the affair as if “from a box at a play.” Notably, box seats are reserved for the opulent who can afford the luxury of sitting above the general audience. Painting himself this way, he generates the image of being literally higher than the attendees in a physical sense (paralleling his higher rank in society). This notion of supremacy manifests by the same token as he recounts his initial arrival: “I emerged accidentally into Piccadilly[...]” Whilst clarifying that his attendance to the funeral is purely by chance—as a means to limit his association with the poor—his “[emergence]” from the mob evokes suggestive imagery of Jesus emerging from his burial tomb. Rendering himself as a possessor of divine status, the speaker’s hubris becomes glaringly
His compassion is not always apparent, but is delivered through his motives and clear for the reader to understand. His compassion is a quiet sound but strongly felt through his
In J.B Priestley's novel ‘An Inspector Calls’ Priestley uses a range of techniques to highlight the divergence between the upper and richer classes compared to the working poor classes. Their attitudes are represented through the characterisation of its characters significantly Mr Birling and Sheila during their first encounter with Inspector Goole. From the beginning Mr Birling is characterised as an embodiment of the social ideology capitalism and displayed all the negative consequences this belief has. In Act 1 he proudly reveals his narcissistic behaviours towards the audience and the inspector making his character intolerable to the majority. The first line of the entire text begins with Mr Birling offering Gerald the alcoholic drink
In the passage by Henry James, Odgers Funeral, on July 1877 in Lippincotts Magazine, the hard-hearted and aloofness of henry reflect the feeling he has of the less fortunate. He describes the people as “shabby” and “perverted”. James thinks it was a horrible thing for Odger to get into parliament. In these times the elite thought of the poor people as savages and animals. The only good use of them would be for work.
The Kittredges invite Geoffrey, who is in New York on business, out to dinner, planning to ask him to lend them two million dollars for an art auction. During the dinner, there is a sharp contrast between what is going through the Kittredges’ heads—“two million dollars two million dollars” (15)—and how hospitably they treat Geoffrey; this disparity demonstrates their aptitude in creating masks for themselves, and the ulterior motives that often accompany their social interactions. Likewise, during Geoffrey’s visit, Louisa mentions the difference between the appearance of helping people and actually helping them. She criticizes herself and their milieu by saying that if she and Flan visited Geoffrey in South Africa, they would demand to see the “poorest of the poor” and say, “are you sure they’re the worst off? I mean, we’ve come all this way.
He asks us to understand his tragic story, to pity him and perhaps to sympathize with
Patrick Henry Argument Analysis Throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many literary devices to convey his thought and opinions to his audience, and with it, he hopes to alter or sway their views on the subject matter. Starting from the very end of Henry's speech, he states “but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”, this now infamous line uses the logical fallacy of false dilemma. This fallacy, also known as either/or, plays to his advantage as it makes the problem seem greater than it actually is by only presenting two extreme options, liberty or death. Another literary device Henry uses in his speech, is ethos, which appeals to the audience's moral or ethical plane.
In Patrick henry’s Speech at the Virginia Convention, he sought to get his opinion across to the colonists. In this speech Patrick Henry tries to persuade the colonists to declare war against the British. Patrick Henry uses appeals of shared values, facts and data, and figurative language to entice the colonists to join the fight for independence. Patrick Henry uses appeals to shared values in order to address the colonists that they all share the same mission. For example, Henry claims “But different men often see the same subject in different lights.”
I took my seat in a third-class carriage of a deserted train” (Joyce 25). In the end, after recognizing that he does not have money to buy anything, and his quest has become pointless, he contemplates: “Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity: and my eyes burned with anguish and anger” (Joyce 27). Furthermore, at the bazaar, the young woman and the two men are the only characters who are in possession of economic, social and cultural power; they are seen counting money, while boy was listening “to the fall of the coins” (Joyce 26), while he spent the most of his budget getting there. More importantly, though, they seem to be superior to him because they are English, reflecting on the oppressive power of England over Ireland at the time. By mentioning their accents and their arrogance and indifference to the story’s narrator, Joyce is making a reference to the imperial colonization of
Henry James in the funeral article of Lippincott’s Magazine from July 1877, issues a negative tone on describing the people attending, but is being positive about Mr. George Odger. The diction of James is agitating for the people that are present yet magnificent because it’s the funeral of an honorable man, who defended the poor. The occasion caused Mr. James talking “indecent “about the low class people, calling them “dregs” of “itinerants”. He is discriminating the poor and insulting them.
William concluded that the best judge of character is one’s ability to be impulsive and…. One of William’s greatest struggles was deciding whether or not to enlist in the war. He was trying figure out his role in the War, despite his fathers efforts to protect him, the eldest son, from danger. He soon had the belief that “certainty was moral death” (75). As a result, one could argue that William learned through experiences, Menand argues it was "self-conscious impulsivity".
The man then describes how the funeral had a "serious comedy" tone, but he still found the funeral to be "one of the finest of the year. " This comments are interesting due to the nature
He could imagine his deception of this town “nestled in a paper landscape,” (Collins 534). This image of the speaker shows the first sign of his delusional ideas of the people in his town. Collins create a connection between the speaker’s teacher teaching life and retired life in lines five and six of the poem. These connections are “ chalk dust flurrying down in winter, nights dark as a blackboard,” which compares images that the readers can picture.
In An Inspector Calls, J B Priestley highlights the social inequality prevalent in 1912, in pre-war Britain. At the centre of the play are the Birlings, an ambitious upper-middle class family. Priestley uses gender stereotyping, contrasting characterisation and symbolic actions to depict the presence of social inequality. Priestley conveys his socialist view, that the upper classes should be responsible for others as well as themselves, and projects his disapproval of class, hence evoking a social and moral conscience amongst the upper class.
There were generally no legal or financial repercussions for not abiding by what was seen as ‘proper mourning.’ Regardless widows frequently donned all black, an aesthetic that came to be known commonly as ‘widows weeds’ with only the dications and directions of social expectations as guidelines. While true notions of emotion likely played a role in the time of grieving itself for many of these women, the considerable dedication toward being the ‘perfect widow’ speak to larger motivations than that of purely sentimental feelings. When examining widows in particular, the vast array of options for remaining within the expectations of a grieving women while staying fashionable to current trends within society show that larger statements were being made through this time of mourning. From gowns made out of the expensive, but extremely popular black crape, to the highly sought after Whitby Jet jewellery, to be the idea of mourning was no small task.
Henry James: A True Literary Genius Henry James, throughout his life, made a name and reputation for himself as an iconic American literature writer. Throughout the text, one will find that James lived an exciting yet calm life, from living across the Atlantic, to writing many novels full of emotion and charisma. As one might read they will find that James was born into with his father being one of the most notorious intellects of his time associating himself with the famous Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. This paper will include a biography consisting of James’ early life, middle life and late life. The text will also include where he went to school, various awards he received throughout his life and his marriage and family.