Natural Born Killer Symbolism Analysis

J.D. Salinger fully utilizes the literary device of symbolism in characterizing Holden Caulfield in the novel, Catcher in the Rye. Whether through a red hunting hat symbolizing a desire for individuality or ducks representing an escape from life’s challenges, Salinger conveys Holden’s struggles deftly, his traits elegantly, and his character development insightfully.

The mass media have enormous influence of the perceptions in the United States of America. It effects our decisions in one day or another through commercials advertising their products, our thoughts on what is considered “beautiful” and shift the interest of social issues from one point to another. Films are no different in this case when it comes to adapting historical events—the message, themes, and overall tone and structure of the film can contribute Americans into thinking one way about certain events in American history—regardless of whether or not the accuracy of those events is consistent. Although there are positive outcomes of films dealing with topics because it brings forth conversation, negative outcomes drives from the inaccuracies

Ray Bradbury’s, The Whole Town’s sleeping, is about a woman Lavinia Nebbs, who is going to the theatre with her 2 friends, Francine and Helen. On their way, they find a dead body, which was their other friend Eliza Ramsell’s. Assuming it was the anonymous serial killer, nicknamed “The Lonely One”, they call the police. After the theatre trip, the friends head home. However, Lavinia senses someone is following her. Little does she know that someone is in her home? The genre of this book is Thriller/Suspense.

John Kessel’s essay, Creating the Innocent Killer, is a character study of Andrew ‘Ender’ Wiggin, from Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. The essay provides an interesting look into who Ender actually is underneath all of Card’s world manipulation, and the message that Card was trying to send through Ender’s existence in the story. Essentially, the message that Kessel sees in the novel is that ‘actions should be judged based on intentions, rather than results,’ which is a belief that is generally be untrue. The theory that this message was intentionally being portrayed in Ender’s journey is backed up by large amounts of evidence, both from the book, and from Card himself. This isn’t all too hard to prove. The big problem with it all, is that Card failed at following his own belief. He takes the ‘Ender-is-a-saint-no-matter-what thing’ too far, and doesn’t compensate properly. This opens up a lot of holes in his argument.

Ann Petry pens a stimulating expositional read in her 1946 novel, The Street. Running with the over-arching anticipated universal theme of vulnerability, Petry establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship with the urban setting quite succinctly. Through her use of well-placed literary conventions, Ann Petry delivers a piece that will withstand the test of time.

In Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer uses the symbol of money repeatedly to show the motives behind Chris’ madness. In the story Chris is motivated to venture off into the rough Alaskan wild to truly live out his life the way he wants too. Chris leaves behind all of his money and abandons society. Throughout the story we see many instances of money used as a symbolic explanation for Chris’ actions. Towards the beginning of the story in Chapter 4 we experience Chris burn all of his money before his trip, here money is shown as society and through him burning his money we are able to see his views against society and his needs to disconnect form it. We are faced with another encounter with the symbol of money in the author’s note when Jon describes Chris’ life talking about how he belonged to a family which was well off, here the symbol of money plays a vital role towards understanding Chris’ personal morals as money isn’t as valued to him as the rest of society (Chris’s disconnect from society is shown again). Money comes up again towards the beginning of the story in Chapter 1 when Chris is

The first example of symbolism is the rooms in the abbey. Each room was a different color and line up from east to west. This is a symbol for the progression of life and death. The first room was blue, representing birth, then purple representing youth, green representing adolescence, orange representing adulthood, white symbolizing old age, violet symbolizing imminent death, and black and scarlet symbolizing death itself. This is also a metaphor as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; it can also be seen as symbolism for the progression of a day. As Prince Prospero and the masked guest go from room to room, they are symbolizing the progression of life from birth to death. This is an important symbol in the story because it emphasizes the theme of inescapable death. The next example is the Black Clock in the black room. This symbolizes the span of life. In the story, the clock struck midnight and the Prince’s time was up, symbolizing his life being over. The clock is black because black symbolizes death, which can mean that the clock could also mean one’s time left until death. The next example is Prince Prospero; his name representing prosperity. By hiding in his abbey and building iron gates, he symbolizes human desire to escape death. As he tries to hide from death, it is ironic that death walks undetected into his abbey that was so heavily guarded. The final example of

Affairs affect people in different ways, but no one could imagine an affair destroying their ability to psychologically function. The “killings” by Andre Dubus is a shocking story about a killer named Richard who murders frank the man having an affair with his wife, who is his pride and joy. Riveted with murder and passion the author revels the characteristics of Richard Strout’s in the “killings” as a psychological obsessive and controlling person; these traits effect his emotions and behaviors throughout the story.

Foreshadowing is a very powerful literary device used in most, if not all, pieces of literature. Authors who intentionally add this aspect to their story use it as a way of building anticipation in the reader’s mind, thus adding the feeling of suspense. Ken Kesey masterfully applies this concept throughout his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by utilizing the intricate web of connections that he spins between characters and other elements present in the text. McMurphy’s eventual downfall is foreshadowed through subjects that he is subtly linked to such as both the dog and Ruckly.

For hundreds of years, people have used art as a way of portraying strong emotions such as passion, lust and joy. One of the more powerful of these emotions is that of loss, which is often portrayed as a overwhelming and devastating feeling. Various forms of art have different ways of conveying emotions, whether it be through the use of melody in music, with colors in paintings or through the thoughts and actions of characters in literature. Several characters in Andre Dubus’ “Killings” clearly display their feelings of loss in the story through the way they are characterized and this highlights the devastating power that loss has on those who are forced to experience it.

Within the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” the author uses specific symbols throughout the book to get certain points across. He uses symbolism through the setting of the book so we are able to read between the lines. The weather and specific objects in nature are two symbolic representations used consistently throughout the novel. Other forms of symbols can include the way he uses character names, senses, and animals. The author chooses to use all of these at specific points in the book to make our attention really drawn to key factors in the novel.

It should be established before anything else that the author I have chosen, Kurt Vonnegut, was heavily influenced by World War II. The idea of war, along with its devastating effects, gave Vonnegut a rather cynical and twisted view on human nature. This perspective bleeds over onto his writing and can be seen in many of his major and minor works, including one of his most impactful, “Slaughterhouse 5,” in which he uses time travel, alien planets, and other farfetched ideas to describe the physical and emotional consequences of violent acts.

In the book “Lamb To The Slaughter,” written by Roald Dahl, was a really cliffhanger story. During the story Mary’s husband decides he wants to leave Mary after she’s already six months pregnant with her husband. Something tweaks in her head and ends his life with a leg of lamb, that she was going to cook for dinner. Once she settled down she acts fast with faking a story by going to the store and coming home to the police. She ends up using the weapon as dinner for the police. The author showed how Mary used cowardice throughout the story through the literary devices of Symbolism, Foreshadowing, and Tone.

The Sixth Sense is a supernatural horror movie of 1999, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This psychological thriller has received various 53 awards nominations and has won 32. In additional, it was nominated in six various categories in the prestigious Oscar Award. This movie grossed about $672.8 million at the box office. Including the regular nominations in the cherished Oscar award of Actor and Director, this movie is also nominated in the technical aspects like - Screenplay and Writing. The movie featured by - Bruce Willis, Toni Collete, Olivia Williams and others. In general, the plot of the movie tells about a successful child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe, who is happy in both of his personal and professional life. On the other

Racism. Violence. Prohibition. Three words that sum up the 1920’s. Ernest Hemingway wrote “The Killers” in 1927, in his home town of Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway is also the author of The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man and the Sea. Most of his stories are written with little interpretation and accustomed to a form of violence. Hemingway usually writes about a hero, distinguished by the way they act and react to different situations. He usually writes a very distinct, exact plot that could evolve into something much more complex. “The Killers” demonstrates the story of Nick Adams, and the choices he makes throughout an autumn evening, that could determine his fate. Hemingway portrays his characters using language and heritage to distinguish