Passage In Joyce Carol Oates's 'We Were The Mulvaneys'
Everybody will die eventually, and every one of your heartbeats brings you closer to death. This is Judd Mulvaney’s recurring thought and the theme of the excerpt from the novel, We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates. Set in the Mulvaneys’ driveway overlooking the brook, the excerpt gives an insight of the thoughts of Judd Mulvaney. Judd is hypnotized by the water and has an epiphany that makes him realize something terrible. In order to characterize Judd, Oates uses different literary techniques throughout the passage.
One of the literary devices Oates uses is motifs. As Judd looks at the flowing water, he loses himself in his own heartbeat and thinks “Every heartbeat is past and gone!” (Oates 21). He is realizing that every heartbeat of his could be his last and he will never get it back. This thought recurs two more times in the passage, and shows Judd has a pessimistic view of life. Knowing this, it occurs to Judd for the first time that he would eventually die. He thinks to himself, “I did not believe Judd Mulvaney could die” (Oates 34). This thought arises again when realizes that
…show more content…
At the start of the passage, Oates uses dark imagery and gloomy words. He describes the scene as “Sky the color of lead and the light mostly drained” (Oates 4). This imagery suggests a gloomy scene and corresponds with the morbid thought Judd has. After the first occurrence of Judd’s deathly thought, Oates illustrates the scene again, “A light gritty film of snow on the ground, darkest in the crevices where you’d expect shadow so it was like a film negative” (Oates 28). This also highlights the dark thoughts of Judd. Lastly, Oates depicts one of the trees as being partly dead. This relates to Judd’s idea that everyone is partly dead. The imagery used in this passage reflects Judd’s thoughts and further characterizes him by creating a feeling of gloominess towards
Poem Analysis: Eating Alone By Li Young Lee
831 Words | 4 PagesThe speaker of the poem walks through a reaping setting, alone. Lee uses the image of a bird who flies quickly away before the speaker can catch glimpse of it: “I turn, a cardinal vanishes”. This matches the memory that the speaker rekindles from earlier that morning, when his deceased father’s image seems to appear within the trees, and disappear again just as his child draws near. Lee beautifully uses concrete language to portray the picture, specifically the throbbing emptiness when the vision is substituted by a “shovel…in the flickering, deep green shade” (18-19). The sad, uncanny sensation showed by the event creates the lonely, sorrowful mood of the
Death Of A Toad Poem Analysis
447 Words | 2 PagesThe poem “Death of a Toad” has many elements that reveal the speaker’s response to the toad. In the beginning, the poem explains the accident in which the toads leg got caught by the power mower. The audience knows the author was in war, so the”power mower” could be a comb or tank used in the war. The author also uses alliteration when he says “chewed” and “clipped”.
William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
549 Words | 3 PagesAs I Lay Dying by William Faulkner “She would tell me what I owed to my children and to Anse and to God. I gave Anse the children. I did not ask for them. I did not even ask him for what he could have given me: not-Anse. That was my duty to him, to not ask that, and that duty I fulfilled.
How Does Delillo Present The Inevitability Of Death
1202 Words | 5 PagesRegardless how unique and unparalleled individuals throughout society may seem, there is one inevitable commonality that all of humanity must encounter: death. Don DeLillo presents the inevitability of death through the Gladney family in his post-modern novel White Noise. Through the journey and characterization of protagonist Jack Gladney, readers are capable of recognizing how uncomfortable the subject of death truly is, as well as how individuals repress their fear of dying. However, DeLillo’s also focuses intensely on other aspects of American society, such as consumerism and humanity’s impact on nature, through his unique implementation of literary elements. Analyzing DeLillo’s White Noise through the Marxist, psychoanalytic, environmentalist,
Rhetorical Analysis Of We Were The Mulvaneys
721 Words | 3 PagesThese literary devices not only help to do so, but they help to draw out the anxiousness Judd Mulvaney experiences. They also help show his maturity level, which is higher than most since he is able to accept his fate with death. Overall this passage teaches a lesson on maturity and helps the reader to become more aware of the fact that no one is
The Pedestrian Mood Analysis
651 Words | 3 Pagesone of the many times he uses imagery throughout this story is when the narrator says, “on his way he would see the cottages and homes with their dark windows, and it was not unequal to walking through a graveyard where only the faintest glimmers of firefly light appeared in flickers behind the windows” (Pg 1). By using imagery to compare walking through the neighborhood as walking through a graveyard shows that it is completely silent and there is no activity in any of the houses. Most people wouldn't describe their neighborhood as a graveyard, this also develops the mood. Another time he uses imagery is when the narrator says, “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in mid-country” (1). This shows mood because the narrator describes him as a hawk in mid-country, that means that he is all alone in what he feels to be like a barren or abandoned place.
Disorganized Syntax In Joyce Carol Oates's We Were The Muulvaneys
774 Words | 4 PagesIn an excerpt from her novel We Were the Mulvaneys, Joyce Carol Oates uses disorganized syntax, detailed imagery, and repetition to characterize the speaker, Judd Mulvaney, as a young, curious boy, coming-of-age and suddenly aware of his maturity and of the realities of life. In the excerpt, Oates uses disorganized and unusual syntax to display the enormity of Judd’s revelation, thus alluding to his sudden awareness and depicting him as a young boy shocked by the brevity of life. As Judd comes to terms with the fact that one day he will die, he becomes disturbed by the reality that death is inevitable and his heart rate quickens. He interrupts his sentence to describe its rhythm: “ONEtwothree ONEtwothree!”.
Hi Howya Doin Literary Analysis
781 Words | 4 PagesThe New and Lonesome Normal Joyce Oates’s “Hi Howya Doin” depicts the violence that has captured and encapsulated today’s culture. The un-deemed murder of an innocent jogger in the end of this story validates and justifies the fear that so many individuals feel. In Oates’s short story, “Hi Howya Doin”, the protagonist is depicted as a “Good-looking husky guy six-foot-four in the late twenties or early thirties, Caucasian male…..solid built as a fire hydrant, carries himself like an athlete, or an ex-athlete” (214). Through the police report, giving the description of the protagonist, Oates foretells his surprising fate at the beginning of the story which in turn, creates tension and suspense for the reader as the protagonist goes about what
Billy Collins Schoolsville Analysis
742 Words | 3 PagesHe 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.
Similarities Between Wheatley And Anne Bradstreet
677 Words | 3 PagesAlthough they lead different lifestyles, Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley both deal differently with death in Before the Birth of One of Her Children and To a Gentleman… the latter in a way that is more optimistic than the former. Many similarities are present throughout the writings of the two poets when it comes to the way they speak of death and how to cope with it. Both poets acknowledge their christian beliefs in saying that God holds all power when it comes to death and we, humans, are powerless in that domain. When talking about the fragile subject of death, Bradstreet says, “No ties so strong, no friends so dear and sweet,/ But with death’s parting blow is sure to meet./ The sentence past is most irrevocable,/
The Motif Of Death In Tea Cake And Janie
754 Words | 4 PagesThe constant death that encircles Janie is a persistent reminder that no one can defend against their finite lifespan, so instead, death should not be feared, or fought in order for new beginnings to arise. The motif of death relates to the book as a whole because both Tea Cake and Jody fear death and try to avoid it, often emotionally and physically harming Janie to their dying breath. A fear of death causes a person to live a life void of true freedom and peace. As Janie’s grandmother nears death she states, “[The] angel [with the] sword is [going to] stop by here”(15).
How Does Ray Bradbury Use Symbolism In The Pedestrian
764 Words | 4 PagesHe used the tomb-like houses and empty streets as a form of symbolism. And repeatedly mentions the frosty air and cold november night in his story. He gets a clear message across when he shows how the world has become cold and hard. Each word or paragraph he uses and writes are there for a reason. Everything he does is intentional and nothing is a small detail you can overlook.
The Role Of Justice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
977 Words | 4 Pages“As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped for much, much more than a moment.”, states the narrator of the story. The most interesting feature of this passage of the book, after Curley’s wife death, is that narration – alongside with time and sound – finally stops. Opposed to the fast pace of the book, this moment reflects through words what death is like: everything stops for an endless
Analysis Of Planting A Sequoia By Dana Gioia
1100 Words | 5 PagesThe agony the writer is feeling about his son 's death, as well as the hint of optimism through planting the tree is powerfully depicted through the devices of diction and imagery throughout the poem. In the first stanza the speaker describes the setting when planting the Sequoia; “Rain blacked the horizon, but cold winds kept it over the Pacific, / And the sky above us stayed the dull gray.” The speaker uses a lexicon of words such as “blackened”, “cold” and “dull gray” which all introduce a harsh and sorrowful tone to the poem. Pathetic fallacy is also used through the imagery of nature;
The Death Of The Moth Analysis
1001 Words | 5 PagesWith further analysis and a more in depth look at its message, it is an essay filled with literary devices, diction, detailed descriptions, and use of contrast that provide us with a clear perspective on Virginia Woolf 's acknowledgment of our ultimate destiny with death. Throughout the essay Woolf did an
More about Passage In Joyce Carol Oates's 'We Were The Mulvaneys'
Poem Analysis: Eating Alone By Li Young Lee
831 Words | 4 PagesDeath Of A Toad Poem Analysis
447 Words | 2 PagesWilliam Faulkner's As I Lay Dying
549 Words | 3 PagesHow Does Delillo Present The Inevitability Of Death
1202 Words | 5 PagesRhetorical Analysis Of We Were The Mulvaneys
721 Words | 3 PagesThe Pedestrian Mood Analysis
651 Words | 3 PagesDisorganized Syntax In Joyce Carol Oates's We Were The Muulvaneys
774 Words | 4 PagesHi Howya Doin Literary Analysis
781 Words | 4 PagesBilly Collins Schoolsville Analysis
742 Words | 3 PagesSimilarities Between Wheatley And Anne Bradstreet
677 Words | 3 PagesThe Motif Of Death In Tea Cake And Janie
754 Words | 4 PagesHow Does Ray Bradbury Use Symbolism In The Pedestrian
764 Words | 4 PagesThe Role Of Justice In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men
977 Words | 4 PagesAnalysis Of Planting A Sequoia By Dana Gioia
1100 Words | 5 PagesThe Death Of The Moth Analysis
1001 Words | 5 Pages