The extract from Ian McEwan’s novel The Comfort of Strangers tells the story of Robert and his distant relationship with his family. Robert, the narrator, revisits the time that his parents left him and his sisters home alone in his efforts to see if his sisters did in fact hate him. During their parent’s absence Robert followed his sisters into their parent’s room and watched them play dress up with their mother’s things. The extract follows a sequence of event: the first is dress up in the early after, then, clean up in the late afternoon, followed by dinner. In this extract, Ian McEwan shows Robert’s distant relationship with his sisters, father, and mother by demonstrating the unreliability of appearances and through the use of details. …show more content…
The author’s choice of the word “hate” is prominent as it speaks about Robert’s relationship with his sisters years after this took place, but it also raises the question of whether his sisters still hate him. While Robert is sitting on his parents’ bed, he observes his sisters in great detail as “They put creams and powders on their faces, they used lipstick…” (McEwan, 4-5). The use of a list shows how the image of his sisters slowly disappeared with each layer of makeup. In addition to the list, the author also frequently repeats “they”, which increases the distance between Robert and his sisters. Indeed, throughout the extract, McEwan and Robert always refer to Eva and Maria as “my sisters” or “they”, grouping them as one individual person allowing them to become interchangeable. Eventually, Robert’s sisters tell him to close his eyes while they change; when he opens his eyes, he is “shocked because these were not his sisters, these were American film stars,” (McEwan, 12). McEwan’s choice to describe Robert’s sisters as American film stars furthers the distance between Robert and his sisters. The stereotype of
We had already acquired the habit of doubting ourselves as well as the place we came from” (pg 96). Although all four sisters were beautiful individuals, America’s perception of “beauty” caused self doubt in the young girls. They were too busy trying to look like something they were not to enjoy their true
As a whole, the Dead Family effectively shows how an individual begins to become isolated from society, and how they may resolve the issue of lack of sense of belonging. Morrison’s work illustrates the voice and feelings that are existing as a result of isolation. According
(33). This excerpt shows Robert’s extreme numbness and emotional emptiness in the matter; she is just going through the motions, cold and
“But now her looks were gone and that was why she was always after Connie.” (Oates 614). Also, there is another opportunity for friendship within the family, between Connie and her sister, however, that is lost in their rivalry and hostility. “Her sister was so plain and chunky and steady that Connie had to hear her praised all the time – by her mother and her mother's sisters.” (Oates 614 ).
In James Baldwin’s essay, Stranger in the Village, he depicts a distant village that has become isolated from outsiders, however, strangers are welcome into the village. Having little distractions, Baldwin finds an ease at mind for focusing on his writing. However, being isolated does have fallbacks. For instance, upon visiting the village, the residents were so unfamiliar with African Americans, which caused many people to stop and view him. Some would put their “hand on my hand, astonished that the color did not rub off” (65).
This analysis studies Phelan’s quest for attaining forgiveness and reconciliation rested on improving four important ongoing struggles, relationships, economic status, dependence, and depression. Upon the death of his child, Francis, completely shattered, unable to ever express the situations to anyone. Francis had just turned from “Father” to “Killer”, because “Gerald
to still keep established pace and tone, which is that calm, disassociated mood. At this point the father, the reader might think, is a construction of the husband’s mind, because the husband had focused on “the idea of never seeing him again. . . .” which struck him the most out of this chance meeting, rather than on the present moment of seeing him (Forn 345). However surreal this may be in real life, the narrator manages to keep the same weight through the pacing in the story to give this story a certain realism through the husband’s
I can close my eyes and form my sister’s face behind my eyelids, but not my parents’ faces. Where their eyes should meet mine, nothing (128).” This paper will explain how a toucan, a baby, and some thin ice all come together to dramatize the theme of the effect of social isolation. One of the recurring symbols in “I’m a Mad Dog Biting Myself for Sympathy” is the toucan. The narrator is currently about to purchase a, “huge stuffed part with purple wings and a yellow beak.
In the story, the protagonist Winifred explains about her past experiences with her elder brother Zachary from her early years of admiration to her later years facing the similar circumstances of her brother with her youngest daughter Stephanie. During her younger years, Winifred admired her eldest brother and appeared as an obedient slave to him. Later on, however, she then faces with the disillusionment as her brother’s habits are warped to extreme measures such as smoking and drinking which later accumulates to the sorrow that she and her family faced from losing their youngest daughter Lizzie to leukemia. The death also strikes a permanent blow on Zachary, who later leaves the family due to his strained relationship with his
Family reunions are often used to dwell upon the past and reflect upon one’s life. Richard Rodriguez, in is his passage, goes to extreme lengths to explain to the reader his carefully taken observation of his family’s life. Looking deeper into the words and feelings of the passage, Rodriguez portrays a sense of strong family values. It is apparent (by his selective use of diction and narrative structure found throughout the passage) that Rodriguez is writing to a more mature, experienced audience. As a mature writer, Rodriguez knows that the best way to connect with his audience is through the one day responsible for some of their greatest childhood memories -- Christmas.
In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, the protagonist, Offred, expresses her wish that her “story [is] different,” that it is “happier,” or at least “more active, less hesitant, less distracted” than it is ultimately portrayed (267). However, as her story is told, these characteristics are evident in the way she talks and acts, especially around those with authority. Hesitant to express her true thoughts and feelings, and distracted by memories from her previous life, Offred attempts to piece together her role in the society that has taken her freedom. The result is a compilation of moments, of memories, both from her present, her past, and even speculation about her future.
After hearing that his younger brother, Sonny, has been put in jail due to drug use, he remembers his childhood, and how they both never did really get along. Both Sonny and the narrator feel a sense of “darkness outside”, and this “darkness” is what creates the miscommunication between the brothers (Baldwin 338). Sonny changed his normality due to not being noticed during his childhood, and the drastic change causes the older brother to feel uncomfortable seeing his brother, because Sonny told him that “he was dead as far as [he] was concerned” (351). Their struggles caused them to lose contact, and to slowly build that invisible barrier between their
According to traditional gender roles, the father is the provider for the family. He is expected to work hard to support and provide for his family’s essential needs: food, shelter, and clothing. Burdened with the responsibility of ensuring the security of the other members of his family, he is sometimes perceived as a distant and detached figure, in contrast with the stereotypical warm and nurturing image of the mother. The father 's burden is further compounded by a socially-perceived expectation that males have to be less emotional as a sign of strength of character. Robert Hayden’s sonnet “Those Winter Sundays” explores some of these dynamics by examining the emotional distance between a father and the son for whom he provides.
As a matter of fact most frequently critics have looked at how prejudicial her mother’s philosophies have been for our character, and attributed to Editha Mowbray the “fallness” of her daughter. In her essay “The return of the prodigal daughter” Joanne Tong contemplates how “Mrs. Mowbray pays too little rather than too much attention to her daughter” (2004: 475) the outcome of which is a misunderstanding of her position in society with regards to the strict laws of etiquette and feminine ideology in eighteenth century England. Cecily E. Hill also blames Editha for Adeline and Glenmurray’s extramarital affair and their inevitable moral condemnation, and instead of accusing the lovers she sees Editha as the soul villain of the novel. Contrary to the typical concept of a mother who provides a safe education to Adeline, she experiments with dubious theories that ultimately foreground her daughter’s tragic
In fiction, the narrator controls how the audience connects to and perceives the various characters in a story. A good author can manipulate the narration to connect the audience to certain characters and deepen the reader’s understanding of their conflicts. In “Previous Condition” and “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin illustrates themes of loneliness and isolation in the pursuit of finding a space that feels like home. Although this theme is clear in both stories, Baldwin is able to portray it very differently in each story through the relationship he allows the reader to the characters struggling with these feelings. While “Previous Condition” provides a more intimate relationship to the narrator, “Sonny’s Blues” is able to deliver an additional level of understanding by telling the story through Sonny’s brother, therefore disconnecting the reader in a way that forces him or her to share the characters’ feelings of isolation and confusion.