Stephen Crane lived in a time when people were becoming weary of the answers religion was able to provide. When faith alone was no longer enough to quench the amateur philosopher’s thirst for knowledge, he had to turn to logic. Although not recognized as a philosopher, Stephen Crane used symbolism to hint at several philosophical concepts as he creates the abstract idea in the reader’s mind. The philosophy lies in the essence of his writing, in which there is an ever-present form of life and death. As humans, we can never truly understand what such concepts mean, but we can try to make sense of the thought. Crane provides subtle suggestions that when linked together can show his view on the meaning of life and death.
During his writing career,
6. I think that Crane’s purpose was to give the reader the feeling that they were on the battlefield with the soldier. He does not report his actions to anyone but rather describes what it looked like in the field from a soldier’s prospective. He described how the men looked in great detail after being confronted by the enemy. This was more of a view from someone involved in the battle.
As Ichabod Crane and his horse walked out into the moonlight he saw the figure in the road. He stood in shock. “I am here,” I said. “Do you known why am here.” As he looked across the bridge at me he said “no I do not,” so scared.
Unable to bear the tattered man’s questioning and realizing his gun lesions are turning fatal, he abandons him to die alone in the woods. Continuing on, he stumbles upon a rotting soldier corpse that puts all the death he has witnessed into perspective. The body serves as a powerful reminder of exactly what’s at stake. This is where Crane establishes the switch in Henry’s mind: the vain belief that human life is a reputation unearned, and the realization that, regardless of your status, all human life meets the same
Edith Wharton’s novel “Ethan Frome” is a story filled with symbolism. Every part of the story has a purpose and reasoning behind it. Edith wrote the story with the intention of her readers having to think about what they are reading and dig deeper into the meaning of the story. The order of events of the story was carefully decided by Wharton to entertain and create suspense for the audience. Symbolism is strongly placed in the story, things like the color red, the setting of the story, the cat, and the pickle dish are some of the most obvious symbols.
All writings, whether fictional or nonfictional, have a purpose. Whether it’s an argument or a theme, the author is trying to convey something. The use of rhetorical devices can help express the author’s point. Then “The Masque of the Red Death,” a gothic short story by Edgar Allan Poe, symbolism and allusion are used to express the theme that death is inevitable. Unlike most, “The Masque of the Red Death” is jampacked with symbolism, the two most prominent being that of the seven rooms and the large ebony clock.
The character of Ichabod Crane is very different in the movie as compared to the story. In the story, he was a schoolmaster in Tarry Town and singing master, so he comes to Sleepy Hollow to work. He was a superstitious man whose indulging in tales of the supernatural, so leads to him being scared at night often. In the end of the story, he was attacked by the Horseman, then going missing. He is inspired to Katrina by her beauty as her family’s wealth.
In the essay “I’m Jumping Off the Bridge,” Kevin Sampsell argues that life has more meaning to it than what is recognizable in order to convince the audience that no matter what feelings one has inside, assuming that there is no one and nothing to live for is not the truth. Sampsell deals with his struggles of depression and harmful thoughts after he meets a man at his job that expresses his feelings and desires to commit suicide by jumping off of a bridge. In this essay, Sampsell uses morose word choices to effectively show insight, heartbreak, and the responsibilities that involve one’s life after death. He is eloquent in his description of pain and desolation and has a rhetorical appeal, oriented around pathos, in his relatability. The reader
The theme of an occurrence at owl creek bridge is that every person will have different reaction to death and how they handle the fear
A closer analyzation of Ambrose Bierce’s most famous work, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” shows that the pain of death, although inevitable and extremely keen at its onset, fades as the consciousness loses track of time and reality. In describing the death of Peyton Farquhar, Bierce uses a third person omniscient narrator to describe the pangs and sensations of death through synesthesia. As we read through the passage, we are able to feel Farquhar’s pain “shoot from his neck down through every fiber of his body and limbs” because it is described in a way that triggers our sense of touch. We become aware of the burning sensation felt throughout his body, imagining the “streams of pulsating fire heating him to an intolerable temperature”
When an author uses symbolism this makes their writing this means they know how to make people feel. Symbolism is to writing as metaphors are to talking. One of the most popular and well know in his this book is T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes. T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes are thought
Throughout life, we all go through rough moments where we think all is lost. However, we as humans always grow from these experiences and turn into beings with a new awakening and understanding of the world. In a passage from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, the narrator describes a striking ordeal, in which a man is coping with the death of a she-wolf. Despite the cause of death being left ambiguous, this dramatic experience has a vivid effect on the main character—causing him to change and grow into a new man by the end of the passage. McCarthy uses eloquent and expressive diction to create imagery which gives the reader an understanding of the narrator’s experience, supplemented by spiritual references as well as setting changes, elucidating the deep sadness and wonder felt by the protagonist.
and it was everyone has to die someday or at sometime death is just a big part of life and everyone has to die so they will be free. In the second story called "The Crane Maiden" it was a big problem with this story as well. A man found a crane 's leg that has been trapped in a snare. A snare is a trap for catching small animals and birds.
The Open Boat This story makes clear one more times the idea that nature is ultimately indifferent to the human condition, possessing no consciousness that we can understand. The reality of nature’s lack of concern for human beings is becoming increasingly clear in The Open Boat, by Stephen Crane. The oiler’s death and lack of explanation surrounding it reinforce the randomness of nature’s tricks and symbolize the indifference of nature toward man.
but it also must be a virtue one sees in him/herself. Similarly, the constant symbolism of nature contributes to the outlook Henry has himself, courage, and the truths of war. After battle Henry is astonished by nature’s indifference, Crane wrote, “As he gazed around him the youth felt a flash of astonishment at the blue, pure sky and the sun gleaming on the trees and fields... Nature had gone tranquilly on with her golden process in the midst of so much devilment” (Crane 38). Henry is astonished that after so much bloodshed and death nature appeared indifferent and carried on.
He found the dead man seated like the tree. Crane describes how the dead man’s body was dressed in a blue uniform that had since faded to a shade of green. His eyes had also changed to the dull hue like that seen on the side of a dead fish. His mouth was open with red having changed to an appalling yellow. His face was gray with ants running over it, with one trundling a bundle of some sort along the upper lip.