Often, as children and young adults, the world tries to inflict its own view and instill its own morals, which are often wrong and misleading. This is what Daniel Handler, as an author, has set out to try and fix through his writings. Throughout nearly all of his books, Handler tries to take genres, ideas, and material not normally thought of as being for children and young adults, and writes them for children and young adults. Yet inside of each book, particularly his A Series of Unfortunate Events series, he fills its pages to the brim with ironic quips that jab at the traditional things that children are taught. One of the quotes that best epitomizes his use of dark humor to get across his point is taken from the fourth book in the series, …show more content…
In The Wide Window, for example, he makes fun of the old wives’ tales of things like reading in the dark can ruin eyesight, or waiting to go in the water after eating. The main new character in this book is a widow that fears everything, for example never cooking anything on the stove for fear of it bursting into flames, or that the refrigerator will fall on her. Furthermore, the lake she lives on his inhabited by leeches that will eat humans if they smell food, meaning that if one goes into the water less than an hour after eating, the leeches will eat the person, eventually the ironic demise of the woman. This is a very dark, yet ironic take on old wives’ tales that also shows how willing Handler is to make fun of things that adults say. In fact, Handler himself talks about becoming suspicious of the phrases and proverbs that adults say to children, “and that to me feels like the journey of childhood, that you have many authority figures telling you that the world is one way, and you begin to suspect that the world is another way and your own mind and your own morality are guiding you on this path in a world where everyone else seems lost. That feels like childhood to me.” (LA Review
It is a sad reality that this book forces its reader to
The book Daniel’s Story describes events that happened during the Holocaust through a fictional character, Daniel. The way the Nazis treated the Jewish people was awful and cruel. Many of these actions made me sick to my stomach, knowing that this actually happened. From his uncle’s ashes being sent in the mail, people beating up the Jews, a SS officer shooting a young boy, and the living conditions of the Jews in the ghetto, these are some of the events that were horrifying.
Literature that stimulates the feeling of pity, sympathy and sorrow is Pathos. The two pieces of literature express pathos in different lights, showcasing a rollercoaster of emotions for the reader. John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men and Christie McLaren’s article “Suitcase Lady” both expose heartache and social inequalities to deduce the feeling of commiseration. The bleak hardship of life affirms the heartache through Lennie and the Suitcase Lady. Lennie is loyal to George and is terrified of upsetting his friend.
Aristotle wrote, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light (Aristotle)”. The Holocaust was one of the darkest times humanity has ever seen. A machination brewed by an extraordinarily perverse man that resulted in the deaths of millions, and robbed millions more of their faith and hope. Families were torn apart, towns were destroyed, and humanity lost, all to satisfy one man’s extreme racism and psychotic agenda. If however, one only chooses to focus on the darkness, they might overlook the light, specifically in the two stories of boys who survived against all odds and shared their tales years after defying death.
As innocent children, we grow up with intentions of being just like our mommies and daddies. We dream that one day, we can wear the same powerful red cape, that we watch our parents wear with courage and bravery on a daily basis. Sadly, not every child is fortunate enough to have superheroes as parents; some children have villains as their mothers and fathers. When the walls of naivety begin to fade away and reality comes into play, certain children have to face the harsh reality that what should be their number one supporter(s) is actually their number one offender. In A Child Called It by David Pelzer, Pelzer learns how to survive abuse from his mother, and isolation from his entire family.
Her full use of strong language diminishes pieces of literature’s worth and questions their true significance. She claims this in a critical tone by stating, “Like most parents who have, against all odds, preserved a lively and still evolving passion for good books, I find myself, each September, increasingly appalled by the dismal lists of texts that my sons are doomed to waste a school year reading”(Prose, 176). She uses words like dismal to describe the book choices students would have to read according to the curriculum of the educational system. By using words like dismal, she expresses her feeling of disappointment towards the curriculum. She
Budge Wilson, in “The Metaphor,” writes about Ms. Hancock, a beloved teacher. Charlotte writes a metaphor in seventh grade relating her mother to a cold, grey building. When Wilson writes about Ms. Hancock, she describes her as being colorful and warm. Charlotte saw Ms. Hancock more as a mother figure than her own mother. However, when Ms. Hancock stops being her teacher, Charlotte starts to become more like her mother.
Cullen connects with reader’s emotions as he invites them to imagine a boy trying so hard to not have emotions, to
Such dreary diction stirs up emotion of desolation and misery as Hawthorne’s word choice connects and reminds his audience of dark thoughts. By opening his novel with such a grim subject, Hawthorne creates a contemptuous tone as he indirectly scorns the austere Puritans for their unforgiving and harsh manners. With the demonstrated disdain, Hawthorne criticizes puritan society and prepares his audience for further
In chapter one of Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, his purpose behind his use of excessive tragic irony is to display the astonishing amount of innocence and unawareness the Jews have about the Germans’ plans. For instance, Wiesel displays the Jews’ ignorance when he writes, ““There was joy, yes joy. People must have thought there could be no greater torment in God’s hell than that of being stranded here, on the sidewalk” (16). This exemplifies how the Jews truly believe that the situation was going to get better. This is tragically ironic because their situation was not going to get better, it was going to get much worse.
It is wholly recurrent to blindly skim through a detailed piece of literature and be unconscious to the likeness it shares with other pieces of literature. I am surely guilty of this ignorant practice, however. As I was reading “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde and “On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins, I didn’t truly perceive the connection right away. The obvious was already divulged in my mind; they’re both in the points of views of children. They, however, both have a mutual theme; growing up brings uncertainty and disappointment.
To Suffer or Not to Suffer As human beings, we try to eschew from the suffering and adversities that plague human morality. Nonetheless, society remains drawn to the surplus of tragedies in plays, movies, and literary works. Not only do these works provide an escape from our own hardships, but suffering and tragedy is a significant aspect to the development of human society. Personally, I have experienced my own share of sorrow, trauma, and difficulties in life. While they may not be as severe as those faced by the characters in A Doll’s House and Never Let Me Go, a pervasive theme still manifests in the presence of suffering.
The Landlady by Roald Dahl is a short story about a young man, called Billy Weaver, who is on a business trip in a little English town called Bath. Unfortunately, he arrives at the wrong place and that might involve getting him into trouble. In Roald Dahl’s short story ‘The Landlady, the author uses foreshadowing, characterisation, and irony to convey the idea that one should not take things as they seem. First of all, the author uses many examples of foreshadowing in the Landlady.
In some works of literature, childhood and adolescence are portrayed as times graced by innocence and a sense of wonder; in other works, they are depicted as times of tribulation and terror. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding the author portrays that children are not completely innocent. Golding’s representation of childhood and adolescence also shows us the attitudes children have towards participating in work. In Lord of the Flies Golding portrays that children are not completely innocent.
Life is overfilled with messages, like weeds in a sea in unmaintained grass. Whether it’s warning a person, or pointing out a flaw; these little lessons are there to further grow the positive parts of that person’s personality. A simple demonstration of this is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. An old, children’s book serving no meaningingful purpose is what it may seem, nevertheless, it actually is a novel that offers a unique outtake on all aspects of human life. In the book, two children Jem and Scout, who learn about equality, racism, and social class through court cases, tea parties and more.