The second notable binary in this novel is before versus after the disaster. The father, who was well into his adult life once the unknown catastrophe occurred, deals with recurring flashbacks or memories from the time before. The boy, however, was born into this world and therefore does not have any recollection or grasp of what life was like prior to the world ending. The father clings onto happier times before the obfuscated disaster, whether it is with his wife or just the beauty of nature as a whole. However, they heavily focus on only two aspects of time: then and now. Rather than only looking at the present or taking it day by day, both characters consistently bring up the beautiful world they wish to revisit. These opposing ends represent two very different sides of life, one they desire to …show more content…
The past is described as stunning, radiant, and eloquent in his memories. However, the present is dull, harsh, and lifeless. This use of lyrical syntax is another branch under deconstructive criticism, which illuminates the appeal of the world before the dilapidation of the normal society. Due to his yearning for a better life, or the life he once had, the dreams he experiences only cause him to seek death more. The only thing keeping him alive, of course, is his son. When reflecting on the visions he frequently gets lost in, he says “the right dreams for a man in peril were the dreams of peril and all else was the call of langour and of death.” (McCarthy 18). This signifies that he is disguising his lack of will to live by living in the past, essentially escaping from the present to relive his best memories. The parallels McCarthy creates to distinguish then and now with happy and sad emphasize the sorrow the characters are dealing with, and shows the man’s incapability to let go of the past for fear of losing it
These two characters showed significant psychological work in hopes of changing their “problematic” social identity. Both of these characters were conscious of the stigmas that surrounded their identities, each, however, had distinct ways in which they dealt with those stigmas and changing their meanings as they grew older. Many would say that the way in which they were able to transform their identities meant either embracing it or denying one’s own identity fully as the film progressed and new societal pressures arose.
Equally essential as the narrative in poetic writing is the overall effect of language structure and description. Although there is no distinct rhythm or rhyme to this poem, it is through language and structure that the text is made inviting. In the blank verse, “Why are you still seventeen.../ dragging a shadow you’ve found?” (1), this metaphor for a borrowed lifestyle facilitates a feeling of lost identity and nostalgia for the past. By incorporating such language, and by choosing a self-proclaimed rhetorical question, the speaker adds to the effect of personal obscurity. An immense component of the entire poem are the combined stanzas: “that's not the road you want,/ though you have it to yourself.” This emulates the feeling of regret. In continuation of the metaphorical self-evaluation of the poem, it supports the idea
In the poem “For That He Looked Not upon Her,” by George Gascoigne, the speaker is tormented by the feelings that he still has for his lover. Gascoigne reveals the speaker’s sorrow and complexity of emotions through the structure of an English sonnet, visual imagery and dejected diction.
George Gascoigne’s sonnet, “For That He Looked Not upon Her,” portrays a sullen man, hurt by the woman he loved. Through the uses of form, diction, and imagery, the sonnet evokes a complex attitude in each quatrain elaborating on the stages of torment the speaker receives from his ex-lover. By using these literary devices, the speaker portrays the dangers of desire and the conflicts that arise from within it. Gascoigne conveys a solemn and melancholy complex attitude developed throughout the use of such literary devices. The attitude of the speaker, expressed through the form of the sonnet, explains the dangers of gazing at the woman who burned him.
Throughout the novel, survival is a constant objective for the boy and his father. McCarthy’s gripping and frightening moments are most obviously interwoven with this theme. Soon after the death of his father the boy looks up and sees that “someone was coming. He started to turn and go back into the woods but he didnt. He just stood in the road and waited, the pistol in his hand” (McCarthy 281). With the approach of this new potential threat, the boy’s safety and survival are brought into question. As the strange man comes near, a tension builds while the boy tries to make a decision that could quite possibly affect the rest of his life. The tension dissipates when it is revealed that the man is not a threat, but a
Both characters have profound experiences--causing the good to vanquish the evil inside.
Mccarthy creates a bleak post apocalyptic society through the use of imagery. He describes a world where there is no wildlife and all that’s left are the ashes. “The road was gullied eroded and barren. The bones of dead creatures sprawled in the washes. Middens of anonymous trash”(177). While the man and the boy travel the road, they rarely come across other living things. The boy even shows a lack of knowledge about animals, constantly asking his father questions about them. They always have to keep moving due to the constant threat of danger. Their nomadic lifestyle prevents them from becoming attached to anything. This gives the feeling of absolute isolation. Throughout the novel, the man often has dreams of life before. His dreams are described in vivid colors, "walking in a flowering wood where birds flew before them he and the child and the
Ross Gay’s book Against Which, portrays his poetry to readers allowing them to gain understanding of the cruel world that one lives in. Moreover, the unusual brutalities that people are inevitable confronted with in life. The common denominators within Gay’s poems such as violence, love, fear, and loss allows the reader to visualize characters’ transformation within his poems. In a world of calamity, Gay has created poems that portray the corporal conforming to gender and sex but also human development. Using a reader-response criticism lens, I will be demonstrating my interpretation of Ross Gay’s poems and the meaning that I believe to be a common interpretation of his work. Within, Gay’s poems, “It Starts at Birth” and Angels Out of Reach” one is able to see a pattern of human transformation. By experiencing pain, love, loss, fear, and wisdom one is able to see Gay’s characters evolve through the narrators and readers gaze. In doing so, one is able to reflect on Gay’s poems and gain wisdom themselves.
The use of McCarthy’s style of writing is written in a way that someone can detect the feelings of the character rather than the story of what happened. The purpose for narratives is to focused on the plot of the story but McCarthy wants the readers to really feel exactly what the characters feel so he in repetitive of how “Cold and Grey” (McCarthy 19) the world around them is Even when they are physically battle something like hunger, you can really feel that they were almost always “Out of food” (McCarthy 197).
In addition, McCarthy uses personification, metaphors, and similes to convey his message about the struggles of survival in such cruel settings. For example, in The Road McCarthy used personification during a conversation between the man and the woman, “I've taken a new lover. He can give me what you cannot,” and the man replied, “Death is not a lover,” (The Road 29). The use of personification in The Road often refers to death because it is what drives the man to keep fighting, unlike his former wife who gave up succumbed to it. Therefore, the man knows death too well and will do anything hold onto the little bit of life he has left for the boy so he can, “carry the fire,” (The Road 145). Furthermore, in All the Pretty Horses McCarthy uses
Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “Sonnet IV” follows many of the conventions of the traditional Petrarchan sonnet. It follows the traditional rhyming scheme and octet, sestet structure. However it challenges the conventions of the typical subject of the Italian sonnet, unrequited love. In the octet at the beginning of the poem Millay uses images that give a sense of transience and in the ending sestet of the sonnet she contrasts the sense of impermanence given earlier with the idea that the speaker cannot forget the smiles and words of their ex-lover. This contrast between permanence and transience illustrates Millay’s interest in a fugacious relationship with everlasting memories. After further analysis of Millay’s highly structured rhyming scheme which puts emphasis on the last words of each line. She uses these words to further express her interest in exploring impermanent relationships by using words that are associated with an end or death.
As you can see, these two stories, more than embodies the true themeand how it feels to have hopes and
Any literary work is unique. It is created by the author in accordance with his vision and is permeated with his idea of the world. The reader’s interpretation is also highly individual and depends to a great extent on his knowledge and personal experience. That’s why one cannot lay down a fixed “model” for a piece of critical appreciation. Nevertheless, one can give information and suggestions that may prove helpful.
From the beginning, McCarthy establishes a stage for his readers with a beautifully worded yet painstakingly morose description of the wasteland in which his characters occupy: “Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone
Style is the special way an author creates his or her work. Gabriela Mistral exploits an informal style in her poem “Ballad”. The poem discusses the poets feelings and is written in first person point of view validating its informality; “My heart’s blood.”-Line17 using ‘my’ and describing her heart confirm this. Diction contributes to style in an extensive way. Repetition is a form of diction that is heavily spread out through the poem. “Saw him pass by.”-Lines 2/6, “He goes loving.../...in bloom”-Lines1-2/11-12, and “He will go.../through eternity.”-Lines 19-20/23-24. The repetition emphasizes the authors style an diction. In this poem diction is displayed through negative connotation. Choosing to describe her emotional state as “,wretched,”-Line 5, instead of sad or unhappy, and by adding a