Psychologist Albert Ellis, after years of intensive research on the human mind and its wellbeing, had this to say about the conundrum of depression: “You largely constructed your depression. It wasn’t given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it.” Robert Frost begs to differ. In his poem “Acquainted with the Night”, Frost asserts that depression is much more than a mental mindset, but a physical ailment as well. A chemical imbalance, that is, that cannot be cured by strained musings of “it gets better” and “others have it worse” by concerned loved ones. While these colloquial expressions may contain a bit of truth in them, they are by no means a “cure all” for the staggering effects of mental illness. In other words, they are “neither wrong
Dickinson and Frost both support their overall meanings of darkness through point of view, while at the same time contrasting one another. Dickinson uses the word “we” while Frost uses the word “I”. This is perfectly correlated with their meanings of darkness. As mentioned in the last paragraph, Dickinson believes that darkness is uncertainty, and that all humans go through uncertainty, but support from loved ones helps keep them going. By saying “We grow accustomed to the Dark”, Dickinson is showing how “we” as humans all go through uncertainty, but we get through it together. Frost, however, with the idea that darkness means depression, only uses the word “I”, which again shows how alone the speaker is. By stating “I have been one acquainted with the night”, Frost once again exhibits the idea that darkness, or depression, is often fought alone, and is not something universal that everyone goes through, unlike Dickinson’s
Marked by the dehumanizing and horrific genocide of the Jewish people, the Holocaust was a significant conflict that fueled the militant period of the twentieth century. As the spearhead of the Nazi Party of Germany from 1934 to 1945, Adolf Hitler sponsored the brutal persecution and genocide of around six million Jewish individuals, along with many other casualties. Subjugated to the tyranny of the concentration and labor camps where they were stripped of their identity and liberty, the individuals that survived the Holocaust will carry the burden of their traumatic memories through their lifetime. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel explores his harrowing experiences imprisoned in multiple concentration camps as a teenager during the Holocaust.
In the darkness of night, it’s hard to know what happens in the shadows without light leading the way. In the novel Night, the author ,Elie Wiesel, uses literary devices to show the “light” that leads a young boy through the holocaust. Using devices such as setting, irony, symbols, and point of view help us understand the background, what he thinks is happening vs. what know is happening, and how he sees things that help us realize the twist on words that the narrator uses to direct problems into someone else’s path.
When placed in particular situations, humans rank which cultural or personal values they found the most essential. Consequently, certain ideals are not considered. During the infamous incident known as the Holocaust, this occurred frequently. As a result, the people that underwent these horrible situations nominated particular personal or cultural values over others. This selection determined the difference between life and death for several individuals. One instance of this is a Jewish survivor known as Elie Wiesel. His first person narrative Nigh publishes his horrific experiences during the Holocaust. The memoir discusses the impressions the event had on him. Upon analyzing Night for the personal or cultural principles that were prioritized during the Holocaust, Wiesel utilizes literary devices to reveal that humans begin to lose faith, hope, and morality when subjected to circumstances of injustice.
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed.”(p. 34)
“Yes, you can lose somebody overnight, yes, your whole life can be turned upside down. Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind.”- Shania Twain. At times, it appears unviable for one’s life to transform overnight in just a few hours. However, this is something various individuals experienced in soul and flesh as they were impinged by those atrocious memoirs of the Holocaust. In addition, the symbolism portrayed throughout the novel Night, written by Elie Wiesel, presents an effective fathoming of the feelings and thoughts of what it’s like to undergo such an unethical circumstance. For instance, nighttime plays a symbolic figure throughout the progression of the story as its used to symbolize death, darkness of the soul,
In the novel Night, the word night contained great significance and has very deep meaning. Elie’s memory of everything in this time period is dark and tragic. It is called Night to show what he felt like during this whole time period, and it felt like one long, painful night to him. Night represents the pain, fear, death, and darkness from Elie’s past.
Throughout life, one learns through experiences to cherish even the simplest of comforts. Through pain and unimaginable suffering, it is impossible for one to not lose faith or hope in life. Throughout the book Night, Elie Wiesel’s experiences from before he even enters the camps, to the end where he is free. Explains the mind of one who has endured great suffering and lost, causing them to finally break after continuous torture. Leading to loss of faith in religion, life, and even humanity. Where one can’t begin to comprehend the reason why someone of such cruelty can choose whether someone shall live or die.
After reading the poem, we realize the writer’s reason for entitling it as such. The writer talks of when daylight begins and what he thinks about the beginning of the day. The hopeless lines of the poem are not describing
Phenomenal Woman, by Maya Angelou is an inspiring poem that encourages women, including myself to be confident and to love themselves just the way they are. It encourages women to be independent and confident despite what others think about them, especially men. In “Phenomenal Woman”, there are various literary devices used, some of which include repetition, parallelism, metaphors and personification.
In “Acquainted with the Night”, poet Robert Frost examines the inner workings of a lonely, depressed mentality. Through his extensive use of symbolism, Frost demonstrates exactly how confined and flustered someone in that conditions feels. There are two specific symbols that, if analyzed, unravel the meaning behind the poem: the symbol of darkness, the symbol of walking, and the symbol of large distances.
The Novel ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel is about Elie and his experiences during the Holocaust. In this novel, Elie struggles to maintain his humanity. Some things that show his loss of humanity include the relationship between him and his god, the train ride to Auschwitz, and the killing for bread.
After reading the book ‘Night’ by Elie Wiesel I realized that there was more significance to the title than I had thought before. While the title could just be referring to the time of day, it is much more than that. Night symbolizes emptiness and the evil that fills people’s hearts. Night refers to the fear and safety the night brings. Night is the time when the SS came for the Jews, and when they were evacuated to concentration camps. In this perspective night was a time to be feared, since it was dark you couldn’t see anything. However night was also a time where the Jews could cry and let down their guard because no one could see them. In this perspective night was a time of relaxation and comfort. A twisted double-edged sword. One
Love and romance are a common genre found in poetry, where one is able to express their true emotions toward a particular person or thing. Love itself has come to represent both the emotional and personal connection between two lovers. Pablo Neruda, a renowned Chilean poet, explores the concept of love and separation in the form of the poem, “I can write the saddest verses.” In this poem, Neruda communicated his longing for his past love, whom he still loved at the time. While the words of the poem create an effect and feeling in the reader, which is related to the sad aspects of losing relationships, more can be uncovered about Neruda. This, in turn, this would contribute to a central idea and the overlying themes that encompass this poem.