The Macomber's Life Before Dying

“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin both have the common theme of death; however, in “The Red Convertible”, the death of Henry ends the very close relationship that he has with his brother Lyman while in “Story of an Hour”, the death of Mr. Mallard marks an opportunity of independence and freedom for Mrs. Mallard which shows that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard was unsatisfactory.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, the icon of beautiful lyricism, uses many intriguing patterns within his novel, The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald, in his writing of the 1920s, introduces the reader to the world after the Great War; a world of overindulged wealth, unrealistic dreams, and undeniable poverty. Where there is wealth it is not used in an honorable way; where dreams may form, they are impossible to accomplish due to their exorbitant standards; and where dust accumulates, there poverty gathers as well. Throughout his novel, Fitzgerald uses the pattern of dust and ashes to display his essential themes of immorality, poverty, and death.

In the short story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver, a group of friends are sitting around discussing their thoughts on what they think love is. Overall what the reader can see is that none of them can exactly define it because love is always changing. One day a person might be madly in love and the next day the feeling could be gone.

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin introduces us to Mrs. Mallard as she reacts to the sudden death of her husband. Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard’s emotions as sad, yet happy that her husband has been killed. Kate Chopin’s “ The Story of an Hour” argues that when a person is controlled and made to live under another person their mental state of mind is affected. The story also argues that when that person is freed from the controlling person their true self can finally be achieved. Kate Chopin portrays these themes by the use of character development; plot control, and irony throughout the story.

Realizing is to understand, while denying is to contradict. We as people understand that there is more to any relationship than the just the surface. The Great Gatsby, a mysterious but intense novel, is based off of the ideas of denying but realizing, leaving the story intriguing to readers. Not only does one of the most important characters in this novel, Daisy Buchanan, realize what is going on in her reality but she also chooses to deny it. In this case, her convenience is more important than the truth. Daisy is a victim of denying what is below the surface. This is seen in many different aspects throughout the novel. By approaching reality in a deeper way, everything will automatically become more complicated in countless ways. Even as readers, we do not know everything there is to know, especially when dealing with Jay Gatsby, but what we do know still manages to be contradicted by the complicated character of Daisy. It is recognizable that Daisy continually denies reality for her own convenience within her individual relationships mainly involving Tom and Gatsby, which deal with Tom’s affair, the situation of Gatsby, the feeling of regret following the realization of her first love, and her past of loving Tom.

Irony may appear in difference ways within literature. Irony changes our expectations of what might happen. It can create the unexpected twist at the end of a story or anecdote that gets people laughing or crying. Verbal irony is intended to be a humorous type of irony. Situational irony can be either funny or tragic. Dramatic irony is usually an over the top, tragic form of irony. Both Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” are great examples of an ironic situation. Every expresses the common theme in their own way. Although both of these literally pieces provide us with the theme of irony, Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" gives the reader a sense of suspense with the irony that proves to be more effective.

In the book “The Great Gatsby” the story centers around a character named Gatsby, and the story of his dreams being reached, but there are many hardships that need to be pushed through in order to reach his dream. This dream is something he wants, but can’t reach for it is but a fantasy created to help cope with the reality of the harsh world. This same statement could be used on the dreams of many illegal immigrants, or just people coming to the united states, and that’s the American dream. These two dreams seem to be reachable, by the eyes of the person, but there are many boundaries that are in the way, for the American dream there is the social boundaries, and also racial boundaries. Gatsby has his own boundaries too, because his lover,

When Richard’s heard the news of her husband’s death, he assumed Mrs. Mallard would be devastated. While everyone knew Mrs. Mallard was “afflicted with heart trouble” (57), him and her sister, Josephine, wanted to give her the news with “great care” (57). Josephine broke the news to Mrs. Mallard in “broken sentences”

John Brown was a man with a strong hatred for slavery who tried to lead a rebellion against it. After this he was called a “misguided fanatic” by Abraham Lincoln. Which leaves the question, was John Brown a “misguided fanatic”?

In the book, “A Separate Peace”, by John Knowles, a tragic event happens, someone dies. Although this event is straightforward, a boy fell and later died of his bone marrow entering his blood, what led it to occur is as complex as perhaps the war that was going on at that time. This death, like so many others, was not caused by one thing or person but instead it was a culminating event, the climax and end of our lives. Gene Forrester did not directly kill Phineas by causing Phineas to fall or by his own envy but he made it more likely. He was not the murderer but he was still someone to blame. Brinker Hadley’s constant earning for the truth of what happened contributed to Phineas’ death but he was not a killer. Phineas’s constant ignorance

People like the idea of believing in religion and a higher power because it gives people something to believe in when nothing seems to make logical sense. This is exactly the case for John in A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. As stated at the very beginning of the book, Owen is the reason John believes in God, and it’s because it helps John make sense of everything that happens that doesn’t seem possible. The things Owen does and the things he knows prior to them happening are only possible if there is some higher power guiding Owen’s life. Thus, when Owen knows when his life is going to end and what he needs to do leading up to it, John can’t help but believe Owen has some sort of connection with God. Since Owen has a certain knowledge of the future, many of his actions foreshadow his inevitable death. Therefore, a major theme all throughout the novel which adds immensely to one’s understanding of the story is the idea of foreshadowing.

Successful people are driven to be where they stand today. Without the focus of always striving for what one believes, individuals would not be as victorious. In Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day,” the past seven years have been rainy; therefore, the students read about the sun to find out the peculiar mishappenings. Similarly, in the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford pushes himself to solve the mystery of the unknown rainforest. Both authors create the tone and mood of the story to represent how one should always strive for what they believe.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem once wrote, “The dragon sits by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” The dragon that he spoke of was temptation that distracts us from God and from the route we are meant to take. In many of Flannery O'Connor's works, including "Good Country People," "A Late Encounter with the Enemy," and "The Displaced Person," the dragon takes the form of pride and vanity. In these three short stories by O'Connor, the characters of Helga, General Sash, and Mrs. McIntyre are all distracted, by their pride and vanity, from reality.

Every person has the right to be and feel free. They have the right to be independent and live happily. Kate Chopin’s, “The Story of an Hour,” focuses on sixty minutes in the life of a young Mrs. Mallard. Upon learning of her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallard experiences a revelation about her future without a husband. Her life, due to heart problems, suddenly ends after she unexpectedly finds out her husband is actually alive. Mrs. Mallard’s actions cause the readers to contemplate a hidden meaning woven into the story line. Mr. Mallard is assumed to die in a railroad accident, leaving Mrs. Mallard devastated. Instead of feeling sadness or grief, Mrs. Mallard actually feels free. "There would be no one to live for her during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature" (Page 499). Chopin makes her strong statement in this quote from the story. Mrs. Mallard has no one to answer to but herself, and she feels liberated that her husband can no longer control her. During the late nineteenth century, women quite frequently had to suppress themselves to the will of their husbands, or to some other man who had a significant amount of control over their lives. Chopin successfully uses vivid imagery, point of view, and irony that gives a different view of marriage that is not typical of today.

Edgar Allan Poe was a genius before his time, and his riveting works are immortalized in the hearts and minds of his readers. For hundred of years, adults and children alike have been intrigued by Edgar Allan Poe’s stories. Many of Poe’s works differ from one another especially, “William Wilson” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”. Although it may seem like there are more similarities between the two works, their differences are much more significant. “William Wilson” and “The Tell-Tale Heart s”’most of the tremendous differences are found within characters, conflicts, and themes. “William Wilson” and “The Tell-Tale Heart”’s differences outshine their similarities.