It is a valley of ashes, a place of uninterrupted desolation. The eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are an indelibly grotesque image. These are eyes unattached to any face or body, gazing out over a wasteland. Fitzgerald's description of the drawbridge and passing barges makes an allusion to a mythological river which one crosses to enter the realm of the dead. Like the scene in which Gatsby reaches for the green light, high symbolism is given priority over the demands of realism.
Homers complex writing is devoted to the extend he gives on the perspective into the Greek underworld, stories in which were prevailing in the Greek society. The numerous conditions of the reality of the afterlife are deeply described rather than the setting of the underworld. The underworld is described as the House of Hades which is where your death and inevitable fate lies. It is signified in The Odyssey Book XI, concretely in the scenes of Odysseus mother’s death in the Cimmerians, the Greek culture expresses a depressing but inevitable view of death as a complete dichotomy of the fate but shows the indication of more than just one afterlife.
Pandora, was a beautiful curse. Pandora, meaning “all-gifts”, was brought down by the Gods as a gift to Epimetheus, Prometheus 's brother. She had been the curse to the world of men. One of the Gods, Hephaestus, gave Pandora curiosity. This curiosity however, made Pandora do things she was told not to do.
In the story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates the outcome and the meaning relies solely on the reader. For some it’s a riveting fight between good and evil and for others it’s a sordid tale of seduction and loss of innocence. Connie and Arnold Friend represent the struggle between good and evil. Oates’s mixture of literal, figurative, psychological and allegorical makes this a great and suspenseful tale. Oates unmasked Arnold Friend as a satyr which is a demi-god from Greek and Roman mythology.
In Dante’s Inferno, he writes about his journey through hell for the purpose of recognizing his sins. He goes through this journey with Virgil, a voice of reason for Dante. Dante meets people through his journey of the many circles in the Inferno that lead him down into the center of hell, where Satan is. Satan is seen as being monster-like with three heads, representing a mocking of the Trinity and blowing his wings around the cocytus river. The final thing seen here is the fact that Dante’s description of Satan is a bit disappointing compared to the other descriptions he has written about the inferno.
There are numerous topics on which this brilliant author touches but one sticks out. The epic poem Beowulf deals with the vast moral struggle between good and evil with topics of heroic feats against evil monsters, protecting ones friends and family or taking revenge for a lost loved one, and internal conflicts such as being heroic or cowardly. At the beginning of the poem the man eating monster known as Grendel is introduced to readers. He is viewed as the main villain or evil of the story.
The Great Gatsby is a well-structured story that represents the decline of the American dream in the 1920’s. Not only does it tell about the facade between the east and west egg, but also the dreams and hope that are corrupted by the false idea of their own utopia. Not to mention the Valley of Ashes demonstrates the wasteland of America’s obsession and waste that shows the ugly consequence that occurred. As the green light vanished, the rusty billboard saw the interactions that took place throughout a land full of dust. Ultimately the symbols represent a life that was unattainable to reach which led to a tragedy in the end.
From extract 2,”My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard — it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion. ”In this quotation, we can see a very indisputable contrast between Gatsby and Nick’s house. Nick’s house was only fifty yards squeezed between two buildings
From the blazing, scorching feathers of the mythical Phoenix to the disturbing, terrifying image of a mechanical horror, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 is littered with symbols that told other stories in their short meanings. Throughout the story, they represented the world and life that the main protagonist Guy Montag lived in. The Mechanical Hound represented death and darkness, the Sieve and the Sand symbolised the knowledge sought for by Montag and his mind trying to grasp it, and the mighty Phoenix represented the human race rising out of the ashes of failure and starting over again. Though there are numerous examples of symbols from the story, these three are the most meaningful of them all.
The Holocaust is not an easy subject to talk about, let alone read an entire book or watch an full movie on the affair. Yet, to present the despicable situation in a tasteful manor that not only causes people to think, but also creates such strong emotion is truly brilliant writing. That is exactly what is found in both Night and “Life is Beautiful.” Both of these works are masterpieces in their own right. It is truly a spectacle that both of these works cover the same harsh topics yet feel so completely different.
In truth the masquerade license of the night was nearly unlimited; but the figure in question had out-Heroded Herod, and gone beyond the bounds of even the prince 's indefinite decorum. There are chords in the hearts of the most reckless which cannot be touched without emotion. Even with the utterly lost, to whom life and death are equally jests, there are matters of which no jest can be made. The whole company, indeed, seemed now deeply to feel that in the costume and bearing of the stranger neither wit nor propriety existed. The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave.
He is the governor of both mortal and immortal world. Prometheus is a Titan who violates Zeus’ will, and fire is the sacred object that belongs to the Gods. Lastly, humans are just simply a creation of Prometheus. If readers interpret closely, they can clearly see the correlation between Prometheus myth, Frankenstein, and The Adoration of Jenna Fox. In Frankenstein, mother nature is parallel to Zeus because it has the most power compare to human, and Victor Frankenstein is Prometheus that violates mother nature’s will to create life from death.
In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the deficit of a controlled mindset leads to a colossal tragedy like no other, greatly exemplifying the power of our actions and the consequence it has on others. Strongly articulated throughout the book is an element of hardship, which is shown in numerous situations along the way. The mental incapability of Lennie continuously highlights the worst of him, and does not portray who he truly is. Various aspects of Lennie’s personhood such as obsessions and innocence are conflated by his poor mental health, creating a life full of challenges for Lennie to overcome.
Dead tree trunks rise from the muddy ground and clouds of smoke obscure the view of the background. The searchlights piercing through the murky clouds give off a sense of lostness, but may also signify that among the barren wasteland, there is still a sign of humanity and hope. This painting exceptionally illustrates how the war changed beautiful, innocent meadows and fields into grotesque and frightening wastelands. Paths of Glory by C.R.W. Nevinson carries an ironic title.
When someone says Egypt the first thing that comes to mind is often the Pyramids of Giza but, so much more lies beyond that. Many people don’t know that after Sumer, Egypt was one of the civilizations with its own form of writing. When the Rosetta Stone was uncovered it was universally acknowledged that the French had struck gold. This magnificent stone uncovered mysteries of the ancient world that would lead to new discoveries for centuries to come. Thirty-five miles northeast of Alexandria, in a small town known as el-Rashid (which translates to Rosetta) long before the modern day, a slab of black granodiorite was used to inscribe some of archaeology’s most precious words.