We have all dreamed of having that perfect something; that thing we expected would be there and would make us happy for a particular moment or for the rest of our lives. Whether it is traveling to the best vacation spot, attending one’s dream school, working our dream job, etc., we have all had expectations of having the perfect thing. Unfortunately, not all our dreams have turned out the way we had hoped; sometimes we realize that perfect thing we have always dreamt about does not exist. This disappointment of realizing that perfect something is not what we had hoped for can be found in Gerald Manley Hopkins’ “Spring and Fall”. “Spring and Fall” is written as if the speaker is speaking to a young girl named Margaret. The poem starts off with the speaker asking the young girl, “Margaret, are you grieving over Goldengrove unleaving?” (S&F, lines 1-2). Margaret appears to be upset the leaves are falling from the trees, which is a sign the seasons are changing from summer to fall. Since she is a young child, she would see the leaves falling and be disappointed she will not be able to play outside as often. She would notice …show more content…
Now, the once perfect world she once knew is no longer perfect, and she will look at all things she loves as only temporary pleasures. There is nothing she or anyone else can do to prevent not knowing this realization of death. The speaker knows this because everyone will go through this. Everyone is going to experience this inevitability because “It is the blight man was born for”, the blight being death (S&F, line 14). All things, no matter how long or how short live for, will die. Everything has to have a beginning and an end. No matter who you are, everyone will experience the same grief of death and human
If there was a favorable circumstance under which one could endeavour all their hopes and visions, wouldn’t one pursue it? The American Dream was introduced as an interpretation to cause the people of America in the early twentieth century to work tougher. The American Dream is the opportunity to reach the goals one sets for themselves. It is about having your dream job and life one has always fantasized about. The dream is also about having freedom and equality. In the novel, “Of Mice & Men”, John Steinbeck uses symbols and motifs such as the vicious slaughtering of virtuous animals, Crooks’ rubbish bunkhouse and Lennie and George’s deception of an ideal farm to exhibit the perception that materialistic success results in happiness is a major flaw in our thinking about the American dream, and it is this thinking which makes the dream unattainable for many.
As Americans, many of us believe in this principle of the American Dream. The American Dream, in its simplicity, is the notion that anything, especially career wise, is achievable. We usually associate this concept with obtaining material things, such as cars or a fancy house. But, even if you achieve your American Dream, complete with a car and fancy house, does that really mean you achieved happiness? The poem “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson is a testament to this idea that although someone may have everything there is to want, that does not really mean they have true happiness.
Aspiring to be free, to be successful, to be a picture perfect family, and to be happy; these are the traits of the American dream. Although, in one 's mind a specific picture forms when reading about the American dream this does not mean everyone is seeing the same landscape. A prevalent theme in The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Flight by Sherman Alexie is the potency and prevalence of diversity on the American dream. In each of these compelling works, connoisseurs get a taste of life from different demographics’ viewpoints and a measure of what it means to be yearning for the diverse definition of American ideals.
In the final stanza, he makes the reader sad as he assumes the inevitable will happen and she will die. He expresses this through metaphors such as a “black figure in her white cave”, which is a reference to the bright white hospital rooms and although he is the black figure he thinks she just sees a shadow which could be the grim reaper or even death himself, coming to end her journey. No one wants to deal with the sorrow of losing a loved one for good, as
A major part of life is to pursue dreams. Life would almost be pointless if people did not have ambitions, people wouldn’t have a reason to get out of bed if they did not have a dream that they want to achieve. Anne Laurel Cartier, the author of the short story “Leaving the iron lung,” specifically looks at how having a dream can affect one’s life. Carter uses conflicting characters, character transformation, and the setting to illustrate to be content with life one needs to follow their dream, to commit and sacrifice to it if they want achieve it.
“Spring Storm” uses metaphors and Similes to remind us that anger passes, and that something good can come out of bad. The main idea of the poem is to show us that if you are angry their is always a form of good that can come after the bad has passed. First Wayne uses a metaphor to compare man to a wind storm: “He comes gusting out of the house”(1). This shows his anger and how it feels to have that anger inside, and Wayne uses a simile to compare the stormy sky to his anger: “He moves like a black cloud / over the lawn and---stops”(3-4). This part of the poem shows the storm that is in the man's mind. The poem “spring storm” shows how after any storm (anger) their can be calm (happiness).
It is the natural inclination of all men and women to dream. In John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men,” the American dream is sought after by many different characters. However, the main theme in the story is how these dreams are unattainable, and how because of the Great Depression, all American dreams were dead. But what is the American dream? A unitary definition does not exist, however, the meaning of living the American dream is something that differs for everyone. For some people, the American dream might be acceptance and equality. On the other hand, for others, it might mean fame and fortune. In the short story called “Of Mice and Men” the American dream seems unreachable for a number of characters, such as George, Lennie,
The poem begins by describing the leaves during fall. “In the deep fall / don’t you imagine the leaves think how / comfortable it will be to touch / the earth instead of the / nothingness of the air and the endless / freshets of wind” (Oliver). Oliver begins by engaging the reader. She also creates this image of fall and an atmosphere of peace. Then the poem transitions into talking about fall.
However, we must remember an important fact: our generation of American faces the same wall of hopelessness that stood before those who lived through the Great Depression – and they overcame it. What we can take from them, is that we can succeed if we accept the simple fact that we must do what must be done, even if it isn’t desirable. If we graduate with a degree in fashion marketing and fail to secure employment, we work at a retail store in order to pay rent and get the bills paid. Running around for hours to work in a store takes grit; being underemployed takes gut; learning from experience and applying it to one’s life creates character. And one day, we grow. That in my belief is “the Dream.” For too many versions of “the Dream” equate prosperity to happiness, happiness I feel is not so simple. This makes it seem that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making the dream more like a cruel joke rather than a genuine dream. Perhaps, what our generation needs is to
Both poems have their own kind of method for depicting an autumn day, as Carl Sandburg and George Cooper show power in their unique vision. In the poem “Autumn Movement” by Carl Sandburg he applies an imagery “ The field of cornflower yellow is a scarf at the neck of the copper sunburned women”. Sandburg used one image in his poem which is the scarf
The title itself gives us important clues about this poem. From the beginning before even reading the first line of the poem, we know that it will be a sad story. The widow being someone who has experienced a loss and lament is a word used for passionate grief and sorrow. Springtime is a time of growth and rebirth, the affirming of new life. Williams’ title may lead us to believe that the widow is in the early stages of life without her husband and the early stages of grief. This may be her first spring without her husband. She is exploring the overwhelming feelings of grief over losing her husband, comparing her grief to the new life or blooming of her yard.
The seasons in the poem also can be seen as symbols of time passing in her life. Saying that in the height of her life she was much in love and knew what love was she says this all with four words “summer sang in me.” And as her life is in decline her lovers left her, this can be told by using “winter” as a symbol because it is the season of death and decline from life and the birds left the tree in winter. The “birds” can be seen as a literal symbol of the lovers that have left her or flown away or it can have the deeper meaning that in the last stages of our life all of our memories leave us tittering to our selves.
The concept of the American dream has been related to everything from religious freedom to a nice home in the suburbs. It has inspired both deep satisfaction and disillusioned fury. The phrase elicits for most Americans a country where good things can happen. However, for many Americans, the dream is simply unattainable. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams,” Dexter Green, a hardworking young man born into the middle class, becomes wrapped up in his pursuit to obtain wealth and status in his life. These thoughts and ideas represent Dexter’s fixation on his “winter dreams,” or, the idea of what the American Dream means to him: gaining enough wealth to eventually move up in social class and become somebody, someday. As Dexter attempts
Dreaming is essential for the human spirit, the reason homo sapiens sapiens wiped out the neanderthals was because we could believe in something bigger than ourselves. Even when our dreams are far from fruition, we as humans still believe in them as it is in our nature. S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders and in John Steinbeck’s book Of Mice and Men have certain characters that possess dreams that they believe in and work towards, whether they’re achievable or not. Many unique personalities such as Crooks the stable buck, Dallas Winston, Curley’s Wife, Darry, and other characters in both books are disenfranchised from a notion henceforth referred to as “The American Dream”. “The American Dream” is a very vague phrase. However, it can be amounted to being a lower-class citizen (frequently an immigrant) and then moving to America. Then (in America) they get a stable job with good income, buy a house, have a family, and live happily ever after. The frequency and large application for the term “The American Dream” is what initially drew a large amount of immigrants in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s because it was viewed as the land of freedom and most importantly, opportunity. “The American Dream” can be, and is a widely used phrase but in this essay shall be used to refer to many characters’ own hopes and dreams for their future. Characters in Of Mice and Men and in The Outsiders are frequently disenfranchised and held back from ‘The American Dream’ by an aspect out of their
In the third stanza, the speaker praises the urn for its eternal youth and zeal. "Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu.”(lines 21-22) He admires the trees that cover the lovers for they will not loose their leaves over the changing seasons. For this he it seems is grateful and feels happy. Moreover, the use of word spring is of key importance for spring signifies the start of a new seasonal cycle of