Summary In 'Mains Street And Not Doctor Street'

In Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison utilizes the significance of religious names in the creation of her characters. However, Macon Dead is one of those with an exception. Named after his father in an unfortunate situation his name becomes both his identity and his lack of one. Macon recounts the story to Milkman of how his father was given his name, looking back upon his father in shame. The history of his past drives him to try and find a way to disconnect from it, both the memory of his father and his relationship with Pilate. The name ‘Macon Dead’ represents an inescapable part of his life, in which he recognizes the dissatisfaction it brought him and gives him motivation to change. He runs from everything his father and his sister are, becoming

When the term “Strawberry Spring” comes to mind, one assumes that it means something pleasant, and almost sweet sounding to the ear. Yet for Stephen King’s short story, “Strawberry Spring,” the phrase becomes a whole different meaning. Dressed in murder and painted with the vivid colors of narration, the short story reflects upon the deception of a false spring in the early beginnings of March 1968. Several themes and ideas appear within the story, and readers receive the messages that are hidden between the lines. Murder becomes a touchy subject to the college students; the author mixes together a suspenseful atmosphere throughout the community college the protagonist attends as the short story progresses. It almost feels like one is on the edge of their seat when reading it. William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily,” displays suspense and tones of slight insanity, but it cannot compare to the undertones that lay beneath Stephen King’s work. The narrator’s foreshadowing of uncovering the truth through his own detailed point of view creates a well written short story dubbed “Strawberry Spring.”

Is the abandonment of those you love worth the liberation of freedom and responsibility? The liberty to return home and leave behind obligation has its appeal. But, are these tasteless temptations worth deserting your posterity? In Song of Solomon, a young and wealthy African-American, the son of a greedy landlord, goes on a quest in search of his ancestral roots, which first began as a search for family gold. Milkman sets out to Shalimar, Virginia and learns about the “flight” of his great-grandfather, Solomon, who abandoned his family to fly back to Africa and escape slavery. During his expedition, Milkman witness’ the freedom of learning about familial roots through the “flights” of Solomon, Pilate, his aunt, and in the end, learns how to

William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying follows the Bundren family on a journey while it explores the subject of heroism and discusses its subjectivity. The family travels on an expedition to bury Addie, the deceased mother of the protagonist, Darl Bundren, and his siblings. As days continue to pass, however, the journey seemed interminable. During the adventure, the family takes a stop at Gillespie’s barn for the evening. While they rest Darl sets the barn, in which the coffin sits, ablaze. Darl Bundren’s act of arson exhibits heroism because he performed the act for the sake of others. Faulkner uses irony to subvert the preconceived notions of heroism. Although the protagonist was sent to a mental institute at the end of the novel for

A situation an individual will commonly find themselves in is their expectation to live up to a standard imposed. However, this individual is often faced with the dilemma of being unable to achieve said standard due to some circumstance that limits their ability to attain it. As a result, an individual traps themselves in a vicious cycle of trying to live up to an impossible standard, only inflicting anguish and despair upon themselves as they fail to attain it. However, in Toni Morrison’s The Song of Solomon, escape from this situation is shown to be possible. The Dead family falls into the exact same predicament Morrison symbolizes the constraints imposed on the characters by their societal expectations, ultimately resulting in the desire

Within society, materialism is often associated with success and prosperity. In the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, there was a pattern of how even though the most successful characters were also the most materialistic, they were not always the happiest. Two characters that were at either end of the scale of materialism were Macon and Pilate. These very different lifestyles that Macon and Pilate lived, Macon being heavily materialistic and Pilate not at all, caused them to develop different attitudes that were influenced heavily by materialism. Through the analysis of the mystery of Pilate’s and Macon’s lifestyles, Morrison illustrates that materialism destroys people and prevents them from achieving freedom.

filled with "invisible dry dust" as a symbol; Emily thought of Homer like a rose, one she

The Other Wes Moore is a novel about two men named Wes Moore, who were both born in Baltimore City, Maryland with similar childhoods. The author, Wes Moore, describes the path the two took in order to determine their fates today. Moore, the author, is a successful scholar, decorated veteran, and a political and business leader, while the other, who will be differentiated as Wes, ended up serving a life sentence for murder. Within both of their life stories, the novel’s sensory, description, and metaphors, can be analyzed into a deeper meaning. Wes had been living his whole life in the streets of Baltimore, grew up fatherless and was left with a brother named Tony who was involved in drugs, crime, and other illegal activity. Starting in the

The use of fake identities is one of the motifs of the play. The use of motif is important to

In Toni Morrison's novel, Song of Solomon, the “Dead” family, including Milkman, Ruth Dead, and Macon Jr. Dead are the protagonists of the novel. Even though each of the main characters of the book expresses dissimilar characteristics and actions toward specific events as Milkman’s name, several of them become alike and similar without noticing. A major factor that evolves throughout the novel is the symbolism of the name “Dead”, and the main character that this symbolism applies to is Macon Dead Jr. Other subjects that correspond to the meaning of “Dead” are the characters’ social classes and their way of living life. Wealth and money are recognized as the two main elements that symbolize the liveliness and happiness of life. However, in this

Pilate Dead is the sister of Macon Jr. and the Aunt of Milkman. Throughout Song of Solomon Pilate is shown as being a down to earth and caring woman who is righteous in her actions and in her beliefs. Following the death of their father, Pilate and Macon chose to “continue” the legacy of their father in drastically different ways, Macon chose to honor his father by striving to accumulate money, this would lead to a horrible disconnect between him and his wife and son. Whereas Pilate honors her father by being a down to earth woman, who wants to continue her father’s legacy of love and wholesome values. Pilate’s name is also ironic in a biblical sense and a literal sense. Pilate’s name is biblically ironic as she is in similar and different

“A Rose for Emily” is a unique short story that keeps the reader guessing even though its first sentence already reveals the majority of the content. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is the epitome of a work that follows an unconventional plot structure and a non-linear timeline, but this method of organization is intentional, as it creates suspense throughout the story. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” follows an unusual plot structure, which creates an eccentric application of suspense to a short story.

The short stories, "A Good man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Conner and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner are rather horrifying; one tale is about a grandmother and her family brutally murdered by a coldhearted killer, and the other tale is about a lady who murders her lover and then sleeps beside his rotting body. Not only have O'Conner and Faulkner created similar plots in their respective stories, both authors criticize the Southern corruption through the distortion of the characters' world view of reality.

The short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson is full of literary elements. The old and innocent, small town atmosphere creates the perfect stage for this ironic tale. Several literary elements are evident throughout the composition but three specific elements stand out the most. Jackson’s unique ability to use tone and style, symbolism, and theme are what makes this story so fascinating.

Pilate’s use of singing builds her feminine characteristics, and builds her strength as a mother. Singing has been a cultural symbol in the black community for many years. It was a symbol of comfort and hope to the people in slavery, and even things as simple as comfort to a child before bed. These are traits that are present in the “typical mother” and Pilate has these despite her masculine physical features and personality traits. In the very beginning, she is seen singing in the line “The singing woman wore a knitted cap pulled far down over her forehead.” (Morrison 5). This is during the chaotic time in which Mr. Smith was going to “fly” off of the building. Pilot’s singing is a beacon of peace in the situation, and Morrison uses this as