Anorexia can cause many losses in a person 's life, but losing a baby because of the mental illness is one of the extremes. In Elena Vanishing, Elena loses her baby due to her anorexic lifestyle. With the loss of her daugter, Elena starts to understand what this illness is really doing to her life. And with this new sense of being, Elena finds a way to push away the anorexia thoughts and the manipulating voices that haunt her. During Elena’s fight with anorexia she loses her daughter, and because of this, she loses the fear she once had for the voices in her mind.
Writers from all over the world use symbolism to enhance their stories and create something so beautiful in each of their pieces. In To Kill a Mockingbird and Night, symbolism was so effective because it provided depth to the text, allowed the reader to break through the surface layer of the story, and gave readers the freedom of interpreting the story in different ways.
Layers of illusions are burned away and all Paul has left is reality. In Willa Cather’s tragic short story “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament,” the flowers capture the reality world Paul departs from. For instance, critic Sherry Crabtree asserts that the red carnation symbolizes Paul’s alienation from the world of Cordelia Street (Crabtree 206). Crabtree observes the patterns of how the flowers reveal Paul’s negative outlook on life. On the other hand, some critics claim that the flowers capture the fantasy world Paul envisions. For example, author of short stories Edward Pitcher claims that the flower in Paul’s lapel portrays his world of illusions with his “own sense of color and need for embellishment” (Pitcher 547). What Pitcher fails
In the book “Roll of thunder hear my cry”, Mildred D. Taylor uses symbolism to provide context, and background information of the how their community is, and who the Logan’s fit in it. A great example when the author provides context and background information would be the fig tree. When the author is describing the fig tree, she describes it as “It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it’ll never get big as them other trees.” (pg 206) The author is trying to describe how the Logan family fits in in the community. Knowing that the Logan family owns land, and that they are the only black family that owns land; we can assume that what she means by “knowing all the time it’ll never get big as them other trees.”, the other trees that
In the short story Marigolds by Eugenia Collier, a girl named Elizabeth and her family struggle through living in the time of the Great Depression. Elizabeth is an African American girl that is on the threshold of womanhood. Elizabeth's family is very poor and is forced to live in a shantytown. Elizabeth and her family have to live through the struggle of poverty, poignant and meaningful arguments in the family, and Elizabeth is caught between the chaotic emotions of a child and a woman.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is a story about two workers named George Milton and Lennie Small who are working in a ranch outside of Soledad, California. George takes care Lennie ,who is mentally disabled, throughout their adventure. Throughout the book, there is profound language, racism, and sexism found. These factors make people question if it is appropriate for high school students to read and analyze this book. Even though it includes these factors, Of Mice and Men should not be banned.
Symbolism plays a major role in the two novels Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible. The most significant symbols in Things Fall Apart is fire and the locusts. A couple of symbols in The Poisonwood Bible are the parrot, Methuselah, the garden, and the Poisonwood tree. These symbols not only reflect various parts of their respective books, but also provide deeper meaning to the novel.
“The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson has a truly unexpected plot and Mrs. Strangeworth has changed throughout the story. Mrs. Strangeworth is the main character in this book and in the beginning, she is a pleasant, caring old woman who enjoys roses and talking to others. The other people in the town have received rude and harsh letters from an anonymous person. During the end of the story, the reader soon finds out that Mrs. Strangeworth has been writing the letters and as a punishment, the people destroy her roses. Mrs. Strangeworth dramatically changes through the story and she teaches us the theme of appearance can be deceiving.
“Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life”. (Barbara Kingsolver) Fiction is an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation as defined by Dictionary.com. There are many literary devices that writers incorporate into their works. The main reason literary devices are used is to connect with the reader. When we read, we want to truly enjoy what is written we need to become a part of the story. And literary devices help us to better see and feel the storyline. A good storyline captures all of our senses, these devices draw the reader in, paint a picture, heighten the senses, and pull at us emotionally. Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story The Birthmark, some of the key literary devices used were irony symbol and theme.
Edgar Allen Poe was a well-known American author, born on January 19, 1809, who wrote the story “The Angel of Odd” (Merriam Webster 1). Poe has always been a popular writer who writes poems, short stories, and novellas with “an aesthetic of obscureism” (Garrison Jr. 1). “The Angel of Odd” is a short story about a man who believes that all the odd occurrences and odd deaths that he sees in the paper are simply made up. The man is later visited by the Angel of Odd who shows him that odd things can happen with bad luck. The main literary devices that this story demonstrates are irony, symbolism, and suspense.
Foreshadowing is a major element that serves as a key in story-telling specifically William Faulkner’s writing. Male author, William Faulkner, wrote “A Rose for Emily,” is one of many literary works that foreshadowing plays an instrumental role in. William Faulkner is effective in his numerous instances of foreshadowing that build suspense, create a dark and sinister theme, and emphasize irony.
Within the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” it’s shown that the author uses symbolism through the setting of the book to make the novel more interesting and have a more significant or deeper meaning behind it. The author uses key symbols to let us readers know more than just what is on the lines in front of us. By using character’s names the author shows us the difference between how the character is personed versus how they actually act. The author also uses symbols through the setting like the weather or nature, like rivers, birds, and flowers to represent and sometimes even foreshadow
It uses a few literary devices including end rhyme pattern, repetition, parallelism, pathetic fallacy and imagery.
In literature, certain characters are incorporated in order to influence the plot. In the play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Williams shows the audience specific aspects of characters in order to influence how they are perceived. The character of Laura Wingfield develops the plot and the audience’s perception of her transitions from a timid girl to a normal woman because of her interactions with Jim O’Connor.
When creating a story, symbolism can be a crucial factor that helps represent ideas and morals that build onto the characters and the work as a whole. Things Fall Apart and The Poisonwood Bible both use a great amount of symbolism to create a picture for the reader and connect ideas throughout the plot. In Things Fall Apart, the harvesting of yams is used as a symbol to represent wealth and fire is also used to describe Okonkwo’s aggressive behavior. The Poisonwood Bible uses a parrot named Meshuselah to represent The Republic of Congo and what they go through. They also refer to the poisonwood tree and the word “bangala” when speaking about Jesus and religion. All of these forms of symbolism help shape the themes and conflicts that arise in the characters lives.