J. Hillis Miller Essays

In the novel, “ The Catcher in The Rye”, written by J.D. Salinger, uses symbolism, cruelty, and deception to help convey a very strong portrayal of loss of innocence. This novel tells the story of a teenager named Holden Caulfield and his crazy journey on how he ended up in a mental institution. Caulfield starts off by describing how he flunked all of his classes in his private school and was going to get expelled. He decides to run away to a hotel in New York City where he then calls up a prostitute

Consequentialists are a group of philosophers who asses whether an act is right or wrong based on the consequences of the action. There are different types of consequentialism including: ethical egoism, act-utilitarianism and rule-utilitarianism. These three branches of consequentialism will be discussed later in this paper. A supererogatory act is something that is good but is not obligatory; these acts involve rendering aid to others that go above moral requirement. Consequentialists claim that

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller is a modern tragedy portraying the final days of Willy Loman’s life. Willy was once a well-liked salesman who could provide for his family. Sadly, as Willy is ageing, he is no longer able to make ends meet. Willy suffers from both depression and anxiety, the cause of which is his disintegrating career and his guilt of a past affair, which his eldest son, Biff, causing a great strain on their relationship. As the play advances, Willy becomes less able to differentiate

As one experiences the unpredictability of personal and business relationships, it becomes increasingly difficult to feel content with oneself. In Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” Willy Loman demonstrates startling similarities to Chris Gardner in Gabriele Muccino’s “The Pursuit of Happyness.” The impact that their sons have on their decisions, the level of support from their significant others, and the men that offer them a pathway to happiness are all noteworthy relationships that reinforce

In the play “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, the story begins as Willy Loman a traveling salesman from Brooklyn, New York is returning home from a sales trip that he could not complete. He tells his wife Linda “I am tired to the death” (963). He is an older man past sixty who is feeling worn down from the travels that he has taken over the years and is feeling enormous stress in his life. He has been demoted from a salary position to commission only and is worried about money and how he will

Silent Racism George Saunders ' "The Semplica Girl Diaries", is written in the style of a diary in which the narrator of the diary is a lower middle-class father is just trying to make ends meet. The father seems to have good intentions by always putting his family 's happiness as his priority; however, the consequences of his actions never seem to be quite as good. One lucky day he happens to stumble upon a winning lottery ticket and as expected, he spends it on objects he believes will make his

American Beauty follows the last year of Lester Burnham’s life. Lester is a middle-aged husband, father, and advertising executive, as well as the film’s narrator who shares his struggles as an average suburbia inhabitant trapped in a boring routine. In the film, he is the omnipresent narrator who is trapped in a loveless marriage with Carolyn, a real estate agent who is obsessed with appearances and not able to fulfill her full potential as a businesswoman. Their daughter, Jane, is a typical rebelling

A Gay Modern Cowboy Meets Alien Tim Mcdowal was a modern gay cowboy in search of a new boyfriend. He had his heart broken by his ex and now he was being very careful. It was difficult for him to trust another man. However, he was feeling extremely lonely and horny. He decided to go at a bar and have a one night stand. This way his heart was at least safe. He wasn’t ready for feeling or a deep, meaningful relationship. He just needed someone to make him cum. At the bar, he saw a handsome tall

The Trial, published in 1925, after Kafka’s death in 1924, depicts the internalized conflict Joseph K faces in a society flawed by its abusive power in the law system. The oppressive and mysterious trial wins the reader’s attention in trying to figure out, at the same time as K himself, what the latter is accused of. On the morning of his 30th birthday, Joseph K disregards his accusation as he presumes to be innocent. However, as the protagonist evolves throughout the novel, his conviction of an

Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller addresses a man 's suffering to accept the change of people and society surrounding him. Everything revolves around the main character 's, Willy Loman, actions during the last 24 hours of his life. The plays begin in the home of Willy Loman when he returns exhausted from his last sales trip. And it concludes with him suiciding, subsequent with a funeral. It is noticeable that Miller never mentions Willy 's sales product, perhaps, to characterize Willy to be anyone

Salesman (1949) by Arthur Miller ‘’ what you watch is yourself, struggling against the fate you made for yourself’’ (Kazan 198). ‘’…To me the tragedy of Willy Loman is that he gave his life, or sold it, in order to justify the waste of it’’ (miller 14). Arthur Miller’s first version of Death of a Salesman was a short story which he wrote in his seventeen, Miller in his own words said that this story based on a real man who thrown himself under a train, after that Miller in his autobiography admit

The Pulitzer prize winning play Fences by August Wilson follows the ups and downs of a single family in 1950s Pittsburg. Lead by Troy Maxson, father, husband, and brother, the play shows the struggles and triumphs of the family relating to his choices and actions. The job of a man is to be well rounded in the workplace and in the home. Men are responsible to be there for their children and to be loyal to their spouse. They should not cheat, lie, or make irrational decisions. Troy disobeys almost

The Sacrifices That Must be Made In The Crucible, Miller portrays the idea that even though it would be ill to their conscience, characters fork up crucial items that play a part in their lives. He displays the concept superbly through two characters. Throughout the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, people went around accusing others of even the smallest of reasons, leading the people of Salem to believe that those certain people were witches, and that their hanging is required in order to follow by God’s

Satire in the 18th Century The 18th century called for monumental social and economic change. Societal ways were changing and the overall beliefs of Europe was making a huge shift. In Voltaire’s Candide, as well as “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathon Swift, satire is used to critique the ways of society and allude to a better idea in turn. Candide is a philosophical tale testing Alexander Pope’s idea of “Philosophical Optimism.” The term philosophical optimism is the belief that all things are how

Do You Know Why You Are Afraid…? In the movie The Sixth Sense, Cole describes the anger of the dead, “You ever feel the prickly things on the back of your neck...And the tiny hairs on your arm, you know when they stand up? That’s them. When they get mad...it gets cold.” This quote illustrates two important concepts in the film. Thematically, these characters, especially Cole, have fears that they must face. Conceptually, M. Night Shyamalan uses symbolism to highlight the presence of death in the

In Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua shares her experiences of raising two children. In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry tells the story of the Youngers who try to overcome their racial and economic difficulties. In “Spoiled Rotten”, Elizabeth Colbert describes the actions and decisions of spoiled kids. In these three texts, misconceptions are present. In turn, it is vital to force one to confront their misconceptions by experiencing failure, success, and consequence. Experiences of

Have you ever imagined what it is like to see the world, a single person or an event with different lenses? When two or more people have different opinions about the same person or event, it is like they are seeing a certain situation through different lenses, with different points of view. For example, Rachel thought that Megan was a model or a fashion designer based on how she looks and Anna thought that Megan was a very bad person because she killed her own baby, while Megan in reality, did not

Arthur Miller was born in Harlem on October 17, 1915, the son of Polish immigrants, Isidore and Augusta Miller. Miller's father had established a successful clothing store upon coming to America, so the family enjoyed wealth; however, this prosperity ended with the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Financial hardship compelled the Miller family to move to Brooklyn in 1929. The Crucible was a play written by Arthur Miller it is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of Salem that took place in the

Often, allegorical references mark a work of literary fiction, or in this instance play, as truly well written, because it symbolizes the knowledge of the author. Even though Lillian Hellman, the play rite of this particular drama, meant it to be realistic in nature, she could not say away from Biblical references, including naming the title after a verse in the Song of Solomon. Stereotypes in the Bible commonly match the character traits of almost any literary character, however, the characters

The play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, mimics the red scare in the 1950’s about the spread of communism using the Salem witch trials to represent how the people of the United States acted toward the spread of communism. Arthur Miller used parody, exaggeration and irony well to break down the way America acted in the 1950’s towards the red scare. Arthur Miller used parody well in The Crucible by showing how it relates to the red scare. Danforth says “Danforth. Now hear me, and beguile yourselves