Ismat Chughtai’s The Crooked Line reads like a classic Bildungsroman in many ways. It is the story of a child born in an environment which is fairly hostile who grows up and is able to move away from this hostile environment on a journey of self discovery. This basic structure is, however, where the similarity ends. A Bildungsroman is a novel of development of the central protagonist from birth to a position of stability within the social sphere. This normative form functions as a basis for Ismat Chughtai’s novel The Crooked Line but instead of being the pattern followed, it is the path not taken. The normative Bildungsroman is that against which this novel rebels and tells the story of a protagonist who follows a trajectory which is individualistic …show more content…
As it avows to depict reality and change is a fundamental feature of reality, it is imperative that the realist novel changes constantly as well. This implies that the structural foundation of a Bildungsroman would also have to be modified in order to make it contemporary and also realist. The nature of this change, especially in the European context is obvious in terms of the transformation of the novel from depicting stability into a genre which hinges on the inherent instability of a society. In his essay on this topic, Franco Moretti in his introduction to The Way of the World argues that the new novel is the transformative novel. In this, he uses the model of the novel of adultery in which the growth of a character is located in the sphere of adultery and thereby is essentially an unstable stability. This instability forms the foundation of the novel form in one more significant aspect; one which is critical for Chughtai’s Shaman as well. Youth is important for the central protagonist because it is the site of potential which is hitherto untapped. This potential encapsulates the heroic potential of the protagonist and manifests itself in the larger system of causality in the text. The trajectory which the central protagonist will choose to follow is begun in a young age. The decisions of the character work as milestones against which one may measure the success or the degree of closure provided by the ending. However, as Moretti further elaborates, this Bildungsroman encapsulates within it another paradox; the individual’s growth cannot be parallel to societal growth as the social sphere exists in order to suppress the individual. This implies that any authentic Bildungsroman hinges on the discovery of a stable and viable alternative. That the protagonist will in some way find a balance between the self and the world and therefore s/he will be able to develop personally as well as socially. This developmental
In today’s society, racism and stereotyping occur in every aspect of life. No one should ever take anything for face value before they examine it first. In reading the narrative, “The View from the Bottom Rail” by James Davidson and Mark Lytle and “Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas” by Harold Bloom. I became very aware on how American history can be looked at as one sided or bias. Even in today’s society, there is still a lot of biasness presented in American history that is told when it is related to the history of slavery. For us to understand history, we must enable ourselves to look deeper into the articles and examine the prejudices and the source
In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, William Butler Yeats’ “The Song of Wandering Aengus” and George Orwell’s 1984, each literature piece exemplifies all of the connections in Joseph Campbell’s 17 Stages of a Hero’s Journey in order to demonstrate the changes in the character’s development and the motivation behind their transformation.
Bigotry and stubbornness are perceptible attitudes of small-town communities in 1960's Western Australia. The notion that the inhabitants of the tight-knit community of Corrigan are racist, prejudiced and ignorant is explicated in Craig Silvey's coming of age novel, Jasper Jones. The bildungsroman is narrated by Charlie Bucktin, an adolescent from the small town of Corrigan. Charlie becomes unexpectedly involved with a local indigenous boy, Jasper, as they set out to discover the truth about the death of a young girl from their community. Throughout this quest, Charlie comes to many realisations about life, ultimately, that society can be very cruel. The prejudism and ignorance of the tight-knit community of Corrigan manifests in the
Often in literary works the author includes a theme to go along with their story. Two examples of this are the “The Seven Ages of Man” by Shakespeare and “Demeter” retold by Edith Hamilton. Both literary works follow similar themes throughout their story’s. The theme of both of these works is one of a cycle, “The Seven Ages of Man” being the cycle of becoming a man and the cycle of seasons in “Demeter”. The two cycles can be compared through the point of view they are told from, the amount of emotion in their stories and the importance of their cycles.
The author agrees with the idea of women as victims through the characterisation of women in the short story. The women are portrayed as helpless to the torment inflicted upon them by the boy in the story. This positions readers to feel sympathy for the women but also think of the world outside the text in which women are also seen as inferior to men. “Each season provided him new ways of frightening the little girls who sat in front of him or behind him”. This statement shows that the boy’s primary target were the girls who sat next to him. This supports the tradition idea of women as the victims and compels readers to see that the women in the text are treated more or less the same as the women in the outside world. Characterisation has been used by the author to reinforce the traditional idea of women as the helpless victims.
The theory of Bildungsroman defines a genre that has been employed in several literature pieces albeit most novels have employed the framework partially. The Bildungsroman literary genre convention dwells on the growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood morally and psychologically. Works that have employed the literary genre can also be referred to as coming of age genres. The novel by Viramontes entitled Under the Feet of Jesus gives an account of the plight of a family that lives as migrants. It has aspects that indicate similarities with the theories of the Bildungsroman. The essay evaluates how and to what extent the events of the novel fit the genre conventions in the Bildungsroman. Furthermore, the essay will delve into the justification behind the choice to use or not to use the genre conventions to enhance the theme of struggle as Estrella and her family experience hardships, focusing on migration and adolescence which characterize the life of the protagonist, Estrella, and her family.
Changing perspectives is defined as the change of how an individual sees something or someone. Melina Marchetta uses changing perspectives in a variety of ways in her novel ‘Looking for Alibrandi’, highlighting that change is a lifelong process because no one is ever completely mature or knowledgeable, and that it can be unexpected and subtle or gradual and natural. Marchetta demonstrates this concept of change through her characters and certain events, experiences, perspectives and people they associate with. She enables readers to develop their own perspectives of each character as they mature and change by using literary techniques to intrigue the audience and provoke thought about the changing perspectives of the characters.
This essay will explore the function of the narrative which helps the readers to perceive the meaning of the narrative. It will do so in terms of the point of view, narrative voice as well as the structure of the narrative. Furthermore, the setting of the story will be another focus which exploits the generic convention which reflects the social anxiety behind the story at the time. I
A bildungsroman is a novel in which the moral and psychological growth of the protagonist is depicted from the genesis to the denouement of the given work.
In any great work of literature, each action and thought should contribute to the underlying meaning of the entire work. No action should exist for its own sake; it must instead advance the plot and reinforce the symbolism of both the characters’ actions as well as the truth of what the composer or author is trying to convey. This is especially true of acts of violence; great literature must carefully articulate the violence into a logical meaning. Most importantly, violence and acts of extreme passion work best when communicating a character’s inner-struggles as they relate to the motive and effect of each scene and action.
Regardless of the setting and the time, maturity and development are key processes that reshape individual’s character. Although on the surface, Hayao Miyazaki’s film, Spirited Away and The Epic of Gilgamesh have nothing in common based on their different historical and geographical settings, they are tied together by the genre called “Bildungsroman”. A genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood, also known as a coming of age novel. The film, Spirited Away, is about Chihiro, a young girl who is taken down an unusual road by her parents while moving to a new home in an unfamiliar town. Their curiosity leads them into what appears
The context of the plot found in “The School” presents the readers with the timeless question of the meaning of life. However, this question does not seem to present itself immediately to the reader. In order to appreciate Barthelme’s work in this piece, it is crucial that one utilizes the New Criticism’s approach to reading. New Criticism was first developed in the 20th century and it makes reading and interpreting literature a systematic activity. New Criticism as an analytical tool helps the readers to understand and gain insight into all forms of the written works through sheer understanding and by reading closely. This means that our focus
The actions of people in relation to “taboos” or forbidden behaviors often generates some of the tension in novels. Show how in different or similar ways texts in your study have employed this and other sources of tension to ensure the engagement of the reader.
They are living in a moment of revolution, of innovation, of speed and steam; and they are longing for returning to past ages where everything seems easier, like the Ancient Rome or Greece. But especially they are going to look for that innocence and purity in their inner souls, in something that everybody has had the pleasure to experience. For the Romantic poets childhood is vital, for they understood that the child has a wider overview of the world given that he has not lost the innocence that characterizes him; there is something magical, pure and divine in a child’s vision of the world and that is what the Romantics are longing
The time periods that each text is set in varies and it is therefore interesting to note that this does not change the fundamentals, we are prepared to make sacrifices for love. All the characters were forced by restrictions of the time to make difficult decisions and in these cases they were willing to give their lives, either physically or emotionally, for their love. It shows the extremity of love, that it is worth more to these literary