Categorizing complex characters as purely good or purely evil is not one of the easiest of tasks. As a result, it is best to characterize them as morally ambiguous. In Edna’s case, she is morally ambiguous due to her romantic affiliations and role-defying actions, but both are immensely vital to Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening” as a complete whole. In fact, a majority of literary characters and real-life people are so complex that it is impossible to distinguish them as a good or bad person. This simply means people are complex in many ways, but at the end of the day, each contribute to a bigger meaning or
It is common for people in everyday society to conform to society’s expectations while also questioning their true desires. In the novel, The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, the main protagonist Edna Pontellier is said to possess, "That outward existence which conforms, the inward life that questions." In other words, Edna outwardly conforms while questioning inwardly. Kate Chopin, uses this tension between outward conformity and inward questioning to build the meaning of the novel by examining Edna’s role as a wife, mother, and as nontraditional woman in the traditional Victorian period.
Everyone has done something in their life that they have deeply regretted and mostly refer back to their childhood. However, from a young age a person may not understand the issue until they grow into an adult. The author, Susan Perabo shows this to be especially true in her short story “The Payoff”. The use of the main characters Anne and Louise reveal how unwise a young mind can be in realizing the most simple of things. However, through the use of these characters an important message is suddenly conveyed over the story. In order to fully understand the story it must be evaluated to show what lesson is to be learned from the reading. The story has an epiphany implemented into the writing which gives a new realization in the importance of this part.
William Dean Howell writes fictional stories that seem to be real by the way the characters portray real life humans and the plot resembles real life situations that humans face in their day to day lives. In the realist essay “Novel-Writing and Novel-Reading: An Impersonal Explanation,” William Dean Howell makes the argument that fiction should be used to portray men and women as they would be in real life scenarios, and this idea is displayed in his story “Editha” through its characters emotions and how the characters reacted to certain events in their life.
Yet, Louise Erdrich’s poem, “Advice to Myself”, she talks about feminism and how women need to make their way in the world, she tends to focus a lot on multiculturalism including conflicting religious beliefs. Most of her poems and books are mainly about supernatural happenings with odd events. She is important because from her novels more readers have begun to appreciate that contemporary Native Americans have important stories to tell that go beyond retelling their ancestors’ rich creation myths and legends. Her life accomplished experiences and culture beliefs within her writing. After all, she is a poet and novelist of Chippewa and German descent, Erdrich has become one of the most important authors writing Native American fiction in the late twentieth century. Many writers would mine this observation for tragedy, but Erdrich instead turns to healing. In book after book, she finds ways to resolve the extremes of life while never shying away from hard facts: death, pain, guilt, and
In Kate Chopin’ s novel, The Awakening, there are three identities inside of the female leading role, Edna Pontellier, being a wife, mother and own self. Edna was born in 19th century at the Vitoria period, a patriarchy society, women have low freedom to achieve personal goal. She married with Léonce Pontellier, a wealthy man with Creole descent. After having a child, her life is still unchangeable and as bored as before. Until she encountered Robert Leburn, Mademoiselle Reisz, and Alcée Arobin, her value of self-cognition has changed. For these three identities, Edna often struggling in the dilemma, but then, her aspirations on physical or mental are lacking. It can be regard as she is not satisfied with current situation, and, to seek the
How does one’s social class affect one’s honesty and morality? In the book, Fitzgerald makes commentary on various themes, such as the American dream and the passing of time and so on. Of the various themes being illustrate, none is more developed as the impact of social class on one’s moral identity. The book offers vivid peak into the everyday society in time period of the Jazz age. The idea of one’s morality due to one’s identity is being illustrated and explored in the book, as the author, Scott Fitzgerald suggests that honesty and morality are interconnected with one’s authority and social status. This is being portrayed through the author separation of characters into the two distinctive
Throughout the course of a given year, approximately 5.2 million people are affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nearly 7.8% of the United States population will experience PTSD in their lifetime, and 3.6% of adults ages eighteen to fifty-four will experience PTSD (“What is PTSD?”). Henry is one of these people. Using symbolism and foreshadowing within the story, “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich portrays a few motifs throughout the story and these include the bond of brotherhood, sacrifice, and the effects of war.
Going through a traumatizing event such as rape may alter a victim 's life, including those of their family. To recover from such an incident finding justice can be the best resort. Geraldine the victim in “The Round House” was raped and found covered in blood. Life on the reservation means that Geraldine will never be able to seek justice against her rapist. Her son, Joe, the protagonist in the novel further explains how he feels at the young age of thirteen. In the novel “The Round House” written by Louise Erdrich depicts the story from the perspective of Joe. Joe’s point of view outlines the development of his childhood. The themes of the novel tie together to tell the story of Geraldine 's rape. The novel “The Round House” incorporated three themes which include the discrimination on native women, the Judicial System, and having to grow up too quickly.
Louise Erdich’s novel, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, narrates the lives of Father Damien and the others living on the Native American reservation, Little No Horse. The time frame for this novel is from the year 1912 to the year 1997. Within the reservation, there are both Catholic priests and sisters as while as Native Americans. The mission, according the Church, is to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. Their mission although its’ “good intentions” destroyed the lives of the Native Americans. Louise Erdrich critiques of Catholicism and its conversion, especially those on the reservation, Little No Horse through the Catholic religious figures like Father Damien and Sister Hildegarde Anne.
Louise Erdrich's novel Tracks (1988), from which "Fleur" is taken, has two main storytellers: Nanapush and Pauline.
In the story, LaRose, by Louise Erdrich, the author tells the tragic tale of two families. The setting takes place in a modern Native- American community, where a man named, Landreaux, often goes hunting. One day when Landreaux is hunting a deer, he accidentally shoots his neighbor’s kid, and his entire world is changed. Devastated, Laundreax and his wife, Emmaline, decide to give their only son, LaRose, to their neighbor’s as a replacement for their lost son, Dusty; this is not uncommon for Ojibwe Indian customs. The name, Larose, is a name passed down through generations of Emmaline’s family meaning something holy, or a saint. As time passes by, LaRose’s family begins to miss him, and they want him back in their life, but their neighbors learn to love LaRose as they once loved Dusty, and do not wish to give him back; eventually, the two families decide on sharing
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening was written at the end of the nineteenth century, where many roles for women began to change; therefore, the it appears to have been a turning point for females (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). These changes in female roles were mostly due to the actions of women themselves, motivated by their desires to break away from the limits imposed on their gender The nineteenth century was a critical point in time for women, in regards to their roles in society (“The Role of the Wife and Mother”). In The Awakening, Edna goes through noteworthy changes in the course of the novel, which reconstructs her into a woman who goes against societal ideals regarding motherhood and marriage .
Edna Pontillier in Kate Chopin’s novella The Awakening seeks independence and freedom via an unconventional lifestyle that creates her internal conflict. The conflict is sparked by the Apollonian and Dionysian ways of life that surround Edna. The two contrasting forces influence her decisions and the way she interacts with others. Edna’s Dionysian and Apollonian influences effect the way that she treats her children, interacts with her husband, and relates to other women in her town. The freedom from responsibility and rules is attractive to Edna; however, it is a challenge to escape the rigid order of the Apollonian lifestyle. Edna’s struggle exemplifies the challenge facing all women of the nineteen-hundreds who strived to go against
This essay will argue what is meant by the representation of the Other in the novels The Icarus Girl and Shadow Tag. The other is a representation of the questions surrounding identity that arise in these texts. The Icarus Girl focuses on the alternate identities of Jessamy Harrison and her struggle to find a fitting identity because of having a multi-national heritage. Shadow Tag takes a different approach to the question of identity, as Irene America attempts to escape her identity as a domestic abuse victim in the blue diary that she keeps hidden from her husband Gil. There is also the question about the identity of the narrative voice of the novel. Thus, this essay will examine how identity is portrayed in each novel.