J. D. Salinger's The Laughing Man
J.D. Salinger often works around the mannerisms of child-like and adult-like people; “The Laughing Man” is no exception to this pattern. There are many examples that correspond with this rule of his in the short story “The Laughing Man”. One of the instances of this template is the poppy-petal mask of the Laughing Man. The poppy-petal mask in “The Laughing Man” represents the advancement from childish characteristics to adult-like ones. The poppy-petal mask is created by the Chinese bandits that adopted the Laughing Man; the original purpose of this mask is to hide the true face of the Laughing Man due to his extreme deformities (Salinger 59). This mask is made of poppy petals and is described with “reeked of opium” (Salinger 59), therefore, …show more content…
Since the Chief expresses himself in the character the Laughing Man, he shares many qualities with him, such as the child-like nature and his dynamic progression. At the beginning of the story the Chief is child-like just like the Laughing Man is. As certain series of events unfold, the Chief becomes less of a happy child-like character and he changes into more of an adult-like one. After the knowledge of Mary’s pregnancy, the Chief is forced to face the adult world and “push off his mask” (Salinger 68). The Chief expresses this sad progression through his installments of the Laughing Man’s fictional story. Much like the Laughing Man, the Chief morphs from a childish happiness, to an adult realism. Throughout this story there are many reminders of these two characters’ dynamic progressions. The poppy-petal mask showcases their transition from child-like to adult-like throughout the story. This story focuses on the fact that the characters are faced with the unfortunate force of making this devastating switch of personalities, and it is all captured by a simple head ornament. At the beginning of this story, these two men start out as happy and wistful personalities, but come out with sober and negative
Chief Bromden Figurative Language Essay
646 Words | 3 PagesIt invigorates the fact that he is no longer in a state of mind in which he doesn’t know what he is doing. The change of seasons can also be viewed as a metaphor illuminating Chief’s drastic change in character. “Fall. Right outside here it was spring a while back, then it was summer, and now it’s fall-that’s a curious idea.” This sudden epiphany of the change of season is an indication that Chief is now clear in the mind.
Insanity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1310 Words | 6 PagesChief sees something in him that he saw in his father before he submitted to his mother. Through McMurphy, Chief is able to gain his voice back. Chief spends days watching McMurphy and narrating about him. It is clear to the reader that he has a weird connection with McMurphy that makes him love him and willing to do anything for him. One day, Chief opens up to McMurphy.
Why People Wear Mask Analysis
1000 Words | 4 PagesThe oldest found mask is from 7000 BC, and experts believe it was used for rituals and ceremonies. Masks have an important cultural context in history, and as the use of masks has progressed, humans have adopted masks into other forms of entertainment and festivities. In present times, with better understanding of human psychology, society has come to understand that people wear emotional “masks” as well. Masks have a somewhat important context in both Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask”. Both works describe masks as a way to hide one’s true self from everyone; Dunbar, however, depicts masks as an emotional barrier to cover up one’s true emotions or feelings, while Golding uses masks as a physical object to hide behind.
Needs In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'
693 Words | 3 PagesThe ward, in many ways, fails to help the men feel safe and secure in their environment. Throughout the entire beginning of the book, until part three, Chief is afraid to reveal his big secret of being “deaf.” The orderlies think Chief is deaf and dumb. In reality, he hears just about everything that goes on in the ward. In the book, after Nurse Ratched ordered him to complete a task, Chief states “But I am too scared to get out of my chair.”
Holden Caulfield Red Hunting Hat Analysis
687 Words | 3 PagesThe depressed teenager cuts himself out from the rest of society because he can not stand how "phoney" most of the peers around him are. This is why Salinger included the red hunting hat throughout this novel because Holden likes to wear his hat backwards so he can be divergent from society. The boy will do anything to make him happy, or different "... I swung the old peak way around back-very corny, I'll admit, but I liked it that way. I looked good in it that way" (Salinger 18).
Conformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1000 Words | 4 PagesThe true events that happened will never be revealed. Chief may go into to catatonic state or some other type of mental event. The fog euphemizes his episodes. The
The History Teacher Analysis
500 Words | 2 PagesBy referring to the Ice Age as the Chilly Age, “a period of a million years when everyone had to wear sweaters,” the War of Roses taking place in a garden, and the Enola Gay as “dropping one tiny atom on Japan,” Collins use of euphemisms demonstrates the great lengths that adults will go to preserve the innocence of children, such as the parents in Wilbur’s “A Barred Owl.” However, the poet quickly portrays this negatively through the use of ironic imagery to show the history teachers’ students “leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart.” Ironically, the teachers’ efforts to keep his students from becoming jaded actually make them ignorant and oblivious to the fact that they falsely think they know everything they have been taught. They then torment those portrayed as “weak” who know the actualities of the events. Unlike “A Barred Owl” Collins shows a negative aspect of shielding the truth from children.
Catcher In The Rye Text Analysis
2272 Words | 10 PagesText Analysis Practicum Course Instructor: Dr. Lorelei Caraman Dimişcă Bianca-Melania Russian - English Childhood vs. adulthood in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” “The Catcher in the Rye” is a novel written by J.D. Salinger in 1951. The book is one of the most controversial books ever written and its popularity comes from the author’s rough attitude towards society from the perspective of a teenager. “The Catcher in the Rye” is thought to be J.D. Salinger’s masterpiece and it is listed as one of the best novels of the 20th century. In 2009 Finlo Rohrer affirmed that even 58 years later after the book has been published it is still considerate “the defining work on what it is like to be a teenager”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catcher_in_the_Rye)
Holden Caulfield Satire
573 Words | 3 PagesSalinger uses satire as the tone of this novel most popularly seen in Holden. Holden's witty remarks and smart alec nature is effective tool in what makes this novel work. This book appealed to me on logical way. After seeing what Holden had experienced this makes the outcast world seem more understandable and why certain individuals act and feel the way they do.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparison Essay
566 Words | 3 PagesIt shows he has psychological problems. In the film audiences were not given this information, therefore it give the impression that Chief does not have any psychological abnormalities. This makes the film less effective because throughout this story mental illness of Chief plays a huge part. It helps readers understand why Chief is a patient of the mentally ill and it indirectly created a bond between him and McMurphy. For example, if Chief was not mentally ill, he wouldn’t think he was “small in size” and McMurphy wouldn’t offer to help Chief gain back his size; “make him
Analysis Of The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson
1009 Words | 5 PagesThis short story shows that the author has been mastered the art of foreshadowing, symbolism and irony by her diction, narration and the shocking revealed at the end. Despite of the joyful tone Jackson tells the story that started with a beautiful summer day in June, the author gave away some foreshadow hints and symbolism throughout the flow of the plot that we can somehow predict what will happen in the future. However, the audiences will not know the moral of the story until the end of the story. For example, the children imitated the adult to collect stones “...the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson pp.279).
Literary Devices In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party
234 Words | 1 PagesIn the duration of, “The Birthday Party”, by Katharine Brush, the narrator dictates a couple who’ celebrating the husband’s birthday. Brush uses literary devices in the short story in order to show, an open interpretation that men could be cruel people in a specific situation. Proceeding through the beginning this short, Brush uses caricature in order to show the youth of the couple. Even if, to an audience of the twenty-first century, they are young at the age of thirty and above, they are a loving couple.
Shaving Poem Analysis
935 Words | 4 PagesAs one begins to face life challenges, one’s maturity is put to the test. In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the speaker allows his ego to rise above him which ultimately causes the death of his brother. On the other hand, the speaker in “Shaving” by Leslie Norris acknowledges that his father is dying maturely steps up and takes his father’s role in the family. The speaker in Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “Annabel Lee,” has an immature response towards the death of his loved one and cannot cope with the reality of the situation. The speaker in each work has to rely on their maturity to lead them through the hardships life has to offer.
Examples Of Sympathy In Catcher In The Rye
934 Words | 4 PagesThese moments illustrate his foremost value which is his longing for a better society. Through Holden’s sympathy for Ackley, Sunny the prostitute, and the nuns, J.D. Salinger symbolizes
Conformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay
1380 Words | 6 PagesChief Bromden is a quiet patient that pretends to be deaf and mute. His transition to being a narrator is an important metamorphosis from his state of silence. As Thomas Scally states, “The Chief's movement from the pretense of deaf-mute to the status of narrator means to him that he has once again become "big" enough to resist the forces of the Combine” (Scally). Through the narrative, Chief Bromden constantly has delusions of a world controlled by the Combine. This group's intentions are to force conformity and total control on the world.
More about J. D. Salinger's The Laughing Man
Chief Bromden Figurative Language Essay
646 Words | 3 PagesInsanity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1310 Words | 6 PagesWhy People Wear Mask Analysis
1000 Words | 4 PagesNeeds In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'
693 Words | 3 PagesHolden Caulfield Red Hunting Hat Analysis
687 Words | 3 PagesConformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1000 Words | 4 PagesThe History Teacher Analysis
500 Words | 2 PagesCatcher In The Rye Text Analysis
2272 Words | 10 PagesHolden Caulfield Satire
573 Words | 3 PagesOne Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparison Essay
566 Words | 3 PagesAnalysis Of The Lottery, By Shirley Jackson
1009 Words | 5 PagesLiterary Devices In Katharine Brush's The Birthday Party
234 Words | 1 PagesShaving Poem Analysis
935 Words | 4 PagesExamples Of Sympathy In Catcher In The Rye
934 Words | 4 PagesConformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay
1380 Words | 6 Pages