Category: Comparative Literature

Janice Mirikitanis Suicide Note and Robert Burns My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose are both poems that are extremely simple to read and understand. Yet, on comparison, the wide contrast between them is more glaring than the similarities. The context behind Janice Mirikitanis Suicide Note is included within the poem and informs the reader that the poem is a suicide note left by a young Asian American woman who apologizes to her parents for not attaining a perfect grade-point average and expresses her intent to end her life. Robert Burns poem My Love is like a Red, Red Rose on the other hand has no such serious background. It is a simple translation of a Scottish folk song. However, they are similar in that the poets have a foreign cultural link in these two poems- Janice Kirikitani to Asian American cultural issues and Robert Burns to the Scottish musical scene.

Janice Mirikitanis Suicide Note, the voice in the poem, a female voice, shows the reader what it is like to feel desperate, lonely, and suicidal. The poem is in an apologetic note and the girl apologizes to her parents for failing to live up to her parents high expectations of her. Her reason for her desperation is well etched out in the recurring line: not good enough not strong enough not good enough. The poem also provides a clue to the character of the girl as one who is a perfectionist  unable to handle the failure to get high grades. A Red, Red Rose, was first published in 1794 in A Selection of Scots Songs, edited by Peter Urbani. In A Red Red Rose Burns is telling us what the epitome of love is to him. He talks about the grandness of love in simple terms. He compares his love to a rose and a melody, indicating that love is beautiful and precious. Burns also talks about the permanent nature of love and how it can exist no matter how near or far the two people may be from each other.

The poem Suicide Note is written in a modern poetry format with crisp words and deep meanings. The poem My Luv is like a red, red rose on the other hand is written in ballad stanzas, with rhythm and repetition. The dominant meter of the ballad stanza is iambic and this pattern exists throughout the poem giving it a musical feel. The second and third stanzas discuss the deeper impact of time. In trying to quantify his feelings  and in searching for the perfect metaphor to describe the eternal nature of his love  the poet mentions the limiting factor to love, the sands o life. This suggests the image of an hour-glass and seemingly brings to mind the transient nature of the life of the red rose that is newly sprung only in June This treatment of time and beauty predicts the work of the later Romantic poets, who took Burnss work as an important influence. The young woman in Suicide note metaphorically refers to her suicidal jump to the swallows flight: It is snowing steadily/ surely not good weather/ for flyingthis sparrow/ silly and dizzied by the wind/ on the edge.

Both the poems make use of similes to convey feelings. The suicidal young woman calls herself a sparrow who cant fly in snowy weather and the ledge from where she wants to commit suicide an altar: I make this ledge my altar to offer penance. Both the poems make use of repetition to emphasize their feelings. Red, red rose emphasizes the extent of vibrant love the poet feels because of his love. The repetition of words: not good enough, not smart enough, not strong enough emphasizes the weakness felt by the poet in the poem Suicide Note. Both poems utilize powerful imagery of various elements in nature to convey the intensity of emotions. The poem by Mirikitani uses the following references to nature: bird prints, snow, sunset, pine, light, currents in the bed of wind, glacier, ice above my river, ledge, sparrow, wings, air, snow, feathers, and earth. The poem by Robert Burns has words like red rose, seas, rocks, and sands  referring to native elements of nature.

The narrator in each of the poems is quite proud and passionate. It is her pride that makes the young woman unable to accept failure in stride. It is her passion that makes her so sensitive to the world around her. To her, each failure is a glacier and disapprovals are like bootprints, and disappointments are like ice above my river. She desires to see the light in my mothers eye or the golden pride reflected in my fathers dream. However, her overwhelming sense of worthlessness is conveyed through the recurrent words: not good enough not strong enough not good enough. She is passionate in the manner she deeply feels about her parents disappointment in her. In the poem by Robert Burns, the narrator is proud of his love and calls it as a rose newly sprung in June, melodie thats sweetly playd in tune. His passion is evident in the way he admires his love and says that he would love her till the seas go dry and the rocks melt with the sun. He also promises to return to her from wherever he needs to go. The overall tone of the narrator in Suicide note is sad and pessimistic, whereas the tone in My love is like a red, red rose is optimistic and happy.

The character of the narrator is well etched in the poem by Janice Mirikitani, whereas nothing much is revealed about the character of the narrator in the poem by Robert Burns- just that he is in love and feels that he would love her forever, wherever he may be, indicating a loyal and passionate heart. The young woman in the poem Suicide Note on the other hand reveals a lot about her inner self. She is someone who loves her parents a lot and worries about their disappointment. She also feels she must make their dreams come true. This attitude is seen in the lines: I apologize/ for disappoint you. They are the center of her world and her efforts at studies are mainly to please them. She wishes she was a boy with great physical strength so that she could make her parents happy through hard work. Subtly, the poem reveals a slight inferiority complex she has concerning boys: I would swagger through life/ muscled and bold and assured, / drawing praises to me /like currents in the bed of wind, virile /with confidence. She nurtures idealistic views regarding gender and feels that as a boy she would be bold and assured and most capable. This reflects her negative self-image. She correlates womanhood with fragility, sacrifice, and weakness: not strong enough. Her comparison of herself to a sparrow show how small and weak she feels. She visualizes her death and notes drifting around her broken body whispering sorries. This shows how deeply she regrets not being able to meet the expectations of her parents. Overall, through her character, the poem deals with the undue pressures suffered by the minority immigrants to make it big. It is a current issue and relevant to the immigrant population even today.

Compared to Robert Burnss My love is like a red, red rose, the poem Suicide note by Janice Mirikitani carries a lot of depth, emotions and even has a message  parents should not over-demand performance and success from their children. But it does not have the musical tone, rhythm, and theme of romance that is evident in the poem by Burns wherein every stanza, the second line ends on a syllable that rhymes with the last syllable of the fourth line. In short, both of the works, like all good poems have the power to touch a chord in the hearts of the readers but differ radically in the theme, tone, and structure.

For many minority families, identity and self-determination have been the main problems since ancient times. The play Trying to find Chinatown by Hwang and the short story Brownies by Packer describe life struggle and hardships faced by minority people in America. Both stories describe strong religious values and ideals kept by Chinese and African-American families. Both works portray that color of skin and ethnic identity prevents the main characters from equal opportunities with the white majority and creates obstacles in their life path.

For Hwang, the task of describing families and cultural diversity raises complex issues that will remain the subject of continuing debate. The author portrays that some of these issues are concerned with the institution of the familyrelationships between the state and the family and between social change and family change and links between religion and family values, structure, and functioning. Chinese culture includes institutions, manners, habits of thought, intentions, and ways of life. It encompasses the complex web of meanings that underlie everyday life and behaviorthe understandings and expectations which guide our actions and interactions with others. The aspects of culture which are taken for granted are especially relevant in exploring family life and relationships. To not be a Chinese, a yellow, a slant, a gook. To be just a human being, like everyone else. (Pause) Ive paid my dues (Hwang, p. 33). Similar to Hwang, Packer underlines that the color of the skin is the main obstacle in the life of a young girl, Laurel. The author underlines that the familiar everyday nature of much of family life makes it particularly likely that it is seen as given, rather than resulting from a set of cultural meanings. For example, definitions of and expectations about age-related stages of life, such as adolescence, adulthood, and middle age, are culturally determined and surrounded by a set of beliefs, attitudes, and practices which, like so many aspects of culture, are often largely unexamined and taken for granted by people until they are confronted by something different.

The main difference between these works is that Packer describes racism as the main theme of the book while Hwang pays attention to difficulties faced by Chinese immigrants. Two main strands of thought exist in discussions concerning ethnicity in America. One highlights descent, or common origin, as a potentially binding force for people. The other regards ethnicity as a social construction which can be expected to vary over time and according to circumstances, and is epitomized view of ethnicity as interest groups rather than as an aspect of culture. Elise asks: I mean, like we were foreign or something. Like we were from China. What did the woman say? Nothing, Arnetta said. She didnt say nothing (Packer, p. 25). This remark shows that a major concern expressed by a number of writers is that the focus on ethnic groups and ethnicity has masked class interests and structural inequalities. In both works, ethnicity has become associated with immigrants from a non-Anglo background, with difference from the mainstream and with inequality. Nevertheless, ethnicity may often be a strong element of self-identification.

The families in both stories have different religious values and traditions but these values were based on such ideals as human dignity and love. There were these white people dressed like Puritans or something, but they werent Puritans. They were Mennonites. Theyre these people who, if you ask them to do a favor, like paint your porch (Packer, p. 26). The authors identify that the ways in which people identify themselves at different times and in different environments may not always be consistent. At a structural level, there are strong connections between religious institutions and family life. All religions include and incorporate a set of beliefs that have direct relevance for family life and relationships between family members. Religion operates to validate general notions of good and evil, the roles of men and women, and concepts of morality that impinge directly on family structures and experience. Hwang portrays that in a Chinese family, the patriarchal nature of religion has served to justify and support, in particular, traditional roles for men and women. Furthermore, religious affiliation is a strong factor in definitions of in group and out group for marriage purposes and may override cultural background in determining who is an acceptable marriage partner. DI-GOU: mentions: No. My sisters and their religion are two different things (Hwang, p. 126). The focus for a sense of belonging may be on common physical characteristics, the possession of a distinct language or dialect, a particular religion, a sense of geographical and historical continuity through living in a particular place, or a distinct lifestyle.

The main difference is that Chinese immigrants came to America while African-American family as native citizens of the country. Thus, the stories portray that one or other of these factors predominates; sometimes the factors coalesce to form a shared cultural background for large numbers of people. Country of birth is significant because it quite often coincides with some or all of the factors mentioned but this clearly need not be the case. People may be born outside a country or a nation-state yet still identify with it; boundaries and borders change. The world history of migration and the general movement of peoples have made any simple approach to culture and to ethnic identification not possible or viable. Individuals identify multiple ancestries, as evidenced by responses to the ancestry question; the cultural background of many people is diverse.

Hwang illustrates that a life story of this nature cannot hope to capture all of the complexities of the relationship between culture and families, or the full extent of family diversity. However, the framework used provides an opportunity to illustrate both diversity within and commonalities across communities, and to avoid overgeneralization. Differences which are important to peoples identity and sense of cultural history are able to be recognized. Hwang writes: BENJAMIN: Youre one of those self-hating, assimilated Chinese-Americans, arent you? RONNIE: Oh, Jesus. BENJAMIN: You probably call yourself Oriental, huh? (Hwang, p. 291). This remark shows complicated relations within the family and the outside world. All the contributors were relatively at ease with the task of describing family values from the perspective of a particular culture, although capturing the unique elements as well as the variety and richness is not always easy. Once Robert mentions: Look, son, I called the Chinese paper, used a little of my influence-they did a story on you (Hwang, p. 108). The authors depict that families are located across both the so-called private and public realms of life.

In sum, Packer and Hwang demonstrate that the impact of government policies has been particularly strong and very direct for many of the families w; the state has been crucial in the migration experience and in the experience of minority families. Assistance with the settlement, including the provision of English language classes, regulation of employment, and access to and appropriateness of services are also crucial in determining the experience of families. Packer pays special attention to racism and segregation of African-American people while Hwang describes similar problems experienced by Chinese immigrants.

Works Cited

Hwang, D.H. Trying to find Chinatown. Theatre Communications Group; 1st edition, 1999.

Packer, Z.Z. Brownies. Drinking Coffee Elsewhere Riverhead, 2003, p. 1-28

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin is a short story that particularly focuses on the feminine genders side of such marriage struggles. Caged in a patriarchal society, women have been rightfully fighting for a life worth living.

In this story, it takes an accident, particularly her husbands death, for Mrs. Mallard to realize her self-worth. The story abounds in symbols and ironies as readers are presented with the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, who symbolizes womens situation with respect to their role in society. Mrs. Mallards husband represents the patriarchal mindset of culture and society.

It is, in a sense ironic, that Mrs. Mallards sense of awakening, her birth was made possible by the death of her husband. In the same way, that her newfound freedom is cut short by her demise.

One consistent element in Chopins stories is the idea of a foreshadowing of things to come like people destroying themselves. One would ask how this particular short story carries such a particular theme. Writers are known to apply aspects of their life into their writings and works. Subsequently, an understanding into the mind of the author might reveal thematic elements of the short story into view. A further discussion regarding the life of Chopin initiated by the lecturer follows. Opinions and reactions on such personage might be solicited from the class.

Some literary critics may view such process as insignificant, citing that any analysis of such works in literature must concentrate mainly on the working body rather than any external consideration outside the work. But in our case, an authors biography is part of the short story itself. The mention of Mrs. Mallards health condition at the very onset of the short story paves the way for the consistency of the storys ending. The simplicity of the setting indicates less the material sense of the story. For everything is much a personal sensing and contradiction of the main protagonist.

In fact, this particular part of the story is significant. She writes, She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. Sensory images flood her being and all of a sudden the vision of the window means a lot to her. These nostalgic sensory images are the onset of Mrs. Mallards sense of liberation. The vision through the open windows means a fresh and alternate perspective into her life. The closing of the door and the opening of the window was very much symbolic of Mrs. Mallards closing of one aspect of her life, her marriage, and the advent of life of new possibilities.

In a sense, it was a certain kind of freedom of socially imposed prison of some sort.

In my opinion, Brently treated her wife fairly as dictated by the social norms of the time. Mrs. Mallards utterance of those words was not an implication of an unhealthy and brutal marriage but was more a declaration of Mrs. Mallard newfound sense of independence, a sort of unbinding from the social chains of familial duty. Mrs. Mallard, at the knowledge of the news, begins to feel a previously unknown sense of freedom and relief. She fights her own sense of awakening. As she imagines life without her husband, she embraces visions of the future. She realizes that whether or not she had loved him was less important than this possession of self-assertion she now feels. The happiness Louise gains by this recognition of selfhood. The doctors statement, which could have very much been spoken by Josephine and Brently, was more a literary device, suspending basic personal truths to a realm of speculative opinions and outlooks.

Marriage for women at those times was more of a one-sided arrangement in favor of the male species. Although one might argue that, at present, this is less prevalent.

But the fact remains that gender bias is still incorporated into society in such subtle ways. This is very much how Mrs. Mallard felt towards her marriage.

Her happiness was much subordinated by her sense of duty. Duty was highly regarded in the Victorian view of morality. The symbolic travel is Mrs. Mallards personal journey of liberation paved by a sense of foreboding and a tinge of sweet joy.

In much the same way, The Story of an Hour tells of Mrs. Mallard as she learns of the death of her husband from people who even exercise great caution not to tell the bad news to her right on since Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husbands death. It is the next few scenes that give us an inkling as to how she really views this death because she retreats to her room and instead of grieving, ponders on her life now that she had all the freedom in the world.

Even the train wreck is replete with vignettes from her own story. Kate has her own share of train wrecks in life. The deaths of her loved ones within a short period of time prove disastrous for her and derail her life. Her fathers death derails their family life as she is thrown into the custody of her grandmother. Meeting her husband provides temporary relief but tragedy knocks at her door once more as she copes with the sudden death of her husband. Her mother and grandmothers death seem to wreak havoc on her whole being this time. How could she support her six children with no money to spend on their needs? However, she is encouraged by a family physician, Dr. Kolbenheyer, to write stories and as if venting her emotional traumas in them, she writes them in the stories she weaves, ever so craftily drawing out from her lifes insights. For Chopins character, Mrs. Mallard, the train wreck her husband figures it signifies not so much as a tragedy but as the beginning of freedom for her. Chopin points out that Mrs. Mallard actually disdained her husband as she pens, And yet she had loved him-sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being! The character was portrayed in an understated state of joy amidst the apparently bad news of her husbands death.

Moreover, Kate Chopins personal freedom comes to her as she writes of her insights about her life after she loses her husband. She is now no longer encumbered by marriage and family matters and her feminist perspectives come out in her writings. We see how the author weaves the ideals of feminism that have survived through the years in her writing The Story of an Hour. This was the backdrop of Kates writings. Her story talks about yearnings for personal freedom, choices in life, possibilities of a wide magnitude open to women who had real personal freedom. Her freedom comes only after the deaths of her husband and mother. In the same manner, Mrs. Mallard experiences the idea of personal freedom now that she is free as she becomes attuned for the first time to scenes and sounds outside her window, She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which someone was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves. Everything seemed to spring forth with life. As Mrs. Mallard looks out that window, she is overwhelmed by the freedom that beckons her.

Reading Kate Chopins The Story of an Hour inspires driven women to write many literary pieces on the issues at that time. Therefore, it is not surprising that this literary piece of work touches a nerve in a country dominated by males. Change is highly valued by women today who feel that they are incorporating the best of the modern world into their lives. Open to ideas and innovation, women are receptive to those who can explain how the change will benefit them, just like Louise in Kate Chopins work. They now walk a narrow bridge between the past and the future. They will reject visions of the future that only repeats the past. Indeed, the theme, the setting and the characters, and some events of this story may well derive more from her own set of personal experiences translated poignantly in a short yet memorable story.

Meanwhile, Hazel, by Shields captures the emotions of a woman who takes a job at showcasing household gadgets. This is frowned upon by her family and friends and she is regarded as not really serious with that job. But she proves to all that she is able to be successful in her job and becomes the most- prized saleswoman. Hazel went on to pursue her dreams and life was kind to her as she became successful in the process, showing to all how she is capable of putting up her own business and succeeding in the process. In the end, though, Hazel comes to the realization that

Everything is an accident. She realizes that her life has been an accident, and by that, she has blundered into the heart of it.

Mrs. Maillard and Hazel are both prisoners in their own homes, relegated to take on menial tasks. Yet, Hazel is portrayed as the more expressive one. She continues her task even if she hears a lot of criticisms. Mrs. Maillard is the sacrificing one who does take her plight as her destiny and only rejoices when she is informed of the accident of her husband.

The issue of feminism, or to be more specific, the fragmentations in feminism in the stories are evident as we see the main protagonists in the story as independent women who make their own niche in society. We see how it was difficult for them to disentangle themselves from embedded power structures of gender and class. There are also notions where some white feminists themselves perpetuate a similar kind of oppression they ostensibly claim to attempt to overcome, only this time the discrimination is leveled against black women and working-class women. This bias in the feminist movementas demonstrated with the way feminist discourse generally addresses the concerns of white, middle-class womenreflects differences in power and privilege among women which serve as significant obstacles to their common goal of social transformation (Apple, 1979).

Although we may be a long way to completely removing the shackles of oppression that make victims out of womenthankfully, there are many people who remain vigilant about these issues. Job limitations for Hazel remain constricted as social boundaries are maintained. There may be conscious attempts to improve their own inferior status in society that is not too effective (Apple, 1979).

Men and women play different roles in this theater stage called life.

Men are believed to be the breadwinners, while women are supposed to stay at home and take care of their children, and the men when they come home from work. Men are more physical especially when verbalizing their emotions, while women are more emotional and more vocal about what they feel. Nowadays, the roles of men and women are interchangeable, interdependent, and independent all at the same time. People have learned that they should not let society define who they are and what they should become. Though there is still apparent gender discrimination, equality between the two sexes has now advanced since the olden days. Women are indeed, equally able to accomplish so much more if given the chance to fully develop their capabilities without the hindrance of conventional gender-based prejudices.

The protagonists in the stories of Shields and Chopin encounter inequalities in their lives and many of them are reinforced by the social structures and organizations in which they live. Though a great number of women have already proven that they have achieved equality in education there is still a larger group that incessantly encounter roadblocks to quality education. Even if their abilities put them on par with their male colleagues, women remain the lower earner. Occupational segregation and vertical segregation continue to hold women back; the former form of discrimination keeps higher-earning employment from women, while the second prevents women from reaching top management positions. Indeed, a large part of the world is still submerged in gender inequality, poverty, and the marginalization and oppression of women.

It would take sincere, dramatic, and all-encompassing change to transform the pervasive unequal culture.

References

Apple, M. (1979) Ideology and Curriculum.London, Routledge and Kegan Paul. 13.

Henry, Sherrye. The Deep Divide, Why American Women Resist Equality. The Macmillan Publishing Co: New York. 1994.

Shields, Carol. The Orange Fish. Web.

Wyatt, Neal. Biography of Kate Chopin Web.

The Norton Introduction to Literature (eight edition) Kate Chopin The Story of an Hour

Real Life: Katherine Chopin. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17

Vols. Gale Research, 1998. Web.

Introduction

While analyzing any work of literature, especially prose, it is of the crucial importance to give extra attention to the role of the narrator, because, the reader perceives the events through the eyes of this person. As a rule literary critics single out several types of story telling, like for instance, first person narration or third person relation and even second person narration. Each of these types is aimed at achieving some particular effect.

Main body

As regards the first person narration, we can say that writers usually resort to such technique in order to create the atmosphere of intimacy. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the storyteller is the main character of the novel. The reader is able to gain insights into the inner world of the person, his world perception, his views, ideas, and moral code. However, sometimes, such narrator can perform the function of the observer, who merely reports the facts, without airing his views on what he or she is telling. Usually, such device is used make the reader form his own opinion. It is often called objective narration, though such effect is very difficult to achieve.

In addition to that, it should be mentioned that the storyteller is mostly protagonist, because the author entrusts his most intimate thoughts and ideas to the character, who wins his affection or respect. It is very seldom, that the narrator is the villain. Only if the author wants to mislead the audience, he or she can employ such stylistic device.

Now that we have summarized the role of the narrator in general, it would be better for us to give some concrete examples. Moreover, we should compare and contrast the function of the storyteller in both short stories. There are several criteria for analysis, for example the attitude of the author to the main character, whether he is antagonist or protagonist. We should also ascertain whether the narrator is reliable or unreliable, biased or unbiased in his judgment.

The first short story that we are going to discuss is called The Boat, it was written by a prominent Canadian fiction writer Alistair MacLeod. In this short story, the main character relates the plot. The author lets us into the inner world of this character, his most intimate feelings. Overall, we can say the storyteller is haunted by the feeling of remorse. He understands that he simply abandoned his mother. The narrator tries to make up some excuses, saying his mother is too proud to accept any other aid (Macleod, 55).

Although, the narrator has succeeded, certainly in terms of financial and social position, it is obvious, that he is not quite content with his spiritual life. Guilt overwhelms him.

Analyzing the functions of the narrator in this story, we can arrive at the conclusion, that through him the author shows his views and ideas. To a certain degree his constant doubts represent some mental steps. We cannot say that the author associates himself with the main character, as some writers often do. The storyteller is not a protagonist, whose views and ideas are already shaped. On the contrary, he is the person, who is always inclined to hesitate, to question the rightness of his decisions. His role cannot be limited only to the relating of the story; he is some kind of medium, who conveys the main message of the author. His evolvement or probably spiritual growth is the key motif of The Boat We see that the person who is selfishly following only his dreams and inclinations will eventually reach the deadlock, which is very difficult to break.

Therefore, we can arrive at the conclusion that the main function, performed by the narrator in the short story The Boat is to render the authors thoughts and ideas. The main peculiarity is that MacLeod uses him as some example for a moral tale.

As far as the story The Loons by Margaret Laurence is concerned, it should be taken into account that it is narrated by a little girl Vanessa. Overall, it is a very difficult task to cope with, because very few adults are capable of seeing the world through the eyes of a child, it is a very rare gift. The child is able to see everything without prejudice or stereotypes.

Vanessa describes her relationships with the other girl Piquette Tonnerre. These characters grow up under the same circumstances. At first glance, it seems that they are going to be the most intimate friend forever. However, the situation drastically changes with time passing, especially when Vanessas father dies. Piquette no longer wants to be with Vanessa. The storyteller describes it in the following way Piquette looked at me with a sudden flash of scorn. Your dad was the only person in Manawaka that ever done anything good to me (Lawrence, 150). We see that their relationships are irretrievably lost.

Naturally, Margaret Lawrence could have used different person for the role of the narrator. Probably, through Vanessa, the author wants to describe the process of growing up. We can see that the girl tries as hard as she can to capture the last moments of her childhood, but the death of her father puts an end to it. The behavior of her seemingly best friend Piquette brings her back to reality. Probably, such story can appeal to every person, because everyone experienced that transition period from childhood to adolescence and the disappointments, connected with it.

It we try to compare and contrast the role of narrators in these two stories, we may see that they both have similarities and distinctions. First, in both cases, the narrator is the protagonist, the person, who has many good qualities and we can sympathize with him or her. However, these characters perceive the world in different ways.

Conclusion

Macleods narrator is an adult person, who is full of prejudices and stereotypes, the person, who has gone astray. However, he is still capable of redemption. The sense of remorse is something that he possesses. As regards Vanessa, we can say that she is still a child, but her placid tranquil world has been ruined. In addition to that, it should be mentioned that Margaret Laurences novel is to a certain degree autobiographical, the author associates herself with the character.

Thus, having analyzed these stories, we can draw a conclusion, that the function of the narrator in the novel is many-faceted. Through him or her, the author expresses the views and ideas. As regards the first person narration, we can say that it creates the atmosphere of intimacy.

Bibliography

Jon C. Stott, Raymond E. Jones, Rick Bowers. The Harbrace Anthology of Literature. Harcourt Brace Canada, 1994.

The stories The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe and Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville are absolutely different in content but what is interesting about them is the role of the narrator which is very important in these stories because namely narrators help the reader to find out more about the characters of the story and how they are connected with everything which is going on. After reading these two stories some people state that the narrators in them perform one and the same informative function, however, the others keep to the point that the narrator of the Purloined Letter has more influence on the events taking place in the story and can change them whereas the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener does not have powers to affect the course of the events. As a result, there arises a necessity to consider the differences and similarities of the roles of narrators in The Purloined Letter and Bartleby the Scrivener.

What should be mentioned above all is that the narrator in The Purloined Letter serves as means of controlling and dominating. The domination can be observed in numerous scene descriptions and in telling the readers about different characters, their appearance, and their life in general. For instance, he describes the Prefect as a person who treats the things he does not understand as the odd ones. The domination can also be felt when the crime scenes or just the interior of premises is described because the narrator is trying to show that he knows more about whats going on in the story even such insignificant details as to where the table is and in which order are the papers lying on it. This also helps the reader to feel that the narrator is perfectly aware of the events which take place in the story and this makes the readers want to ask the narrator different questions which is a sign of his domination. The narrators controlling lies in the fact that he is the only one who knows what exactly is going on and, moreover, knows what the story is going to end with thus being able to control the thoughts of the reader and influence them because it is only the narrator who can evoke in the readers positive or negative emotions about certain characters or events. The readers trust the narrator and their overall impression about the story depends on what exactly the author wants to tell because no matter which attitudes the narrator is going to express regarding this or that event or character, the reader will necessarily take after his point of view and will start thinking about the characters in narrators way.

Another role of the narrator in this story is to inform the reader about the events and about something that may not be clear from the context. He gives some explanations and additional information about new people that are introduced into the story. Dupin is often turning to his unnamed friend for a piece of advice and told him about his achievements and problems with the investigation, namely that some of his searches turned out to be unsuccessful. Whats more, the narrator is often asking Dupin questions that can help him in his investigation. For instance, he is asking Dupin what exactly he was trying to do when replacing the letter with a facsimile and how it is useful for the investigation. The narrator here performs the function of not somebody who is just shared impressions with but to some extent of a supervisor and assistant in the process of investigation. He performs the role of Dupins friend who is older and more experienced when it comes to the investigation and whose advice Dupin can rely upon and trust. The importance of the narrator in The Purloined Letter consists namely in his domination over the readers and the protagonist of the story because it evokes respect to him and makes the readers sure that everything is under control.

In contrast, in Bartleby the Scrivener the narrator is part of the story and he is telling it by using examples of what he came through. He tells the stories of other characters in a way he considers right and does not make readers choose who is a good or evil character. The narrator here is an active participant who just leaves the story to the judgment of readers trying to convince the reader in the end that he was not guilty in the death of Bartleby. Nevertheless, just like in the first two stories the role of the narrator in Bartleby the Scrivener is also informative. It is also worth mentioning that unlike The Purloined Letter the narrator in Bartleby the Scrivener does not have a role of domination or even controlling of the readers thoughts. He is just laying out the events performing the purely informative function. He does not question or gives advice to the characters. Whats more, the narrator when telling the story offers the reader to be a judge and to consider the events of the story in the way he or she considers necessary. The narrator is sort of guilty before the reader and suggests him or her this story for judgment, expecting that the verdict will not be very strict. It is namely because of this that the narrator is trying to tell the reader that Bartleby died not because of him. He is searching for excuses that would justify his actions and will make him look innocent in the eyes of other people. Just like in The Purloined Letter the narrator here is unnamed but we still know some facts about him, to be more exact, that he is a lawyer but not a very reliable one because he is not experienced. In the first story, we could observe the domination of the narrator over the reader and over Dupin, one of the characters. Nothing like this can be found in Bartleby the Scrivener where the narrator is on the same level with the reader and the character, Bartleby. He does not also exercise any control over the reader and though he knows what the story ends with he is not aiming to show this. His aim is to tell the story in all the details and let the reader have his or her own opinion about it. The role of the narrator in Bartleby the Scrivener is also very important because he is telling the story and the readers believe in it because the narrator presents himself as the participant of the story thus convincing the reader that he does not lie. His importance also lies in the fact that he helps readers to become participants of the story by offering them to judge the situation he got into.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the roles of the narrators in The Purloined Letter and Bartleby the Scrivener are almost completely different with the only similarity being informing the reader about the events and adding explanations to what is unclear. The main difference is that the narrator of The Purloined Letter is dominating over the readers while the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener imparts the story with the readers without questioning anyone or telling the characters what to do. The narrator of The purloined Letter is constantly interacting with the protagonist of the story and asking him different questions when the narrator of Bartleby the Scrivener is the protagonist himself.

References

1. Melville, H. (2011). Bartleby, the Scrivener a story of wall-street. Lightning Source.
2. Melville, H. (2021). Bartleby, the Scrivener illustrated.
3. Poe, E. (2017). The purloined letter. Litres.
4. Poe, E. A. (2019). The purloined letter. WS.

The concise format of a short story often turns out to be an ideal way of creating sharp and concentrated narratives rich with meaning. The charm and fascination of short stories consist in their focusing intensely on one incident with a limited range of characters developing within a short period of time. Each writer possesses an individual approach to and vision of the short story genre; however, there exist some universals that are characteristic of successful short stories, and the typical efficiency factors are unexpected and ironic endings, deep psychology, and a range of literary techniques that include, inter alia, foreshadowing and symbolism. It is the task of the present paper to reveal and analyze the abovementioned factors in a series of selected short stories by writers of various nations and periods.

It isnt fair, it isnt right!

Shirley Jackson

The biggest disappointment turned out to be The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. In spite of the traditional perception of a lottery as a festive event, the readers expectations are crushed by the tragic and cruel ending of the story. There is a lack of insufficient development of the victims character so that the reader is left at a loss, feeling both sympathy and pain for Mrs. Hutchinson and at the same time wondering who that woman from the crowd is and why one should feel sorry for her.

Women have no caste or class.

Guy de Maupassant

The story that strikes as the most impressive is The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant. The writer succeeds in creating convincing characters of Madame Loisel and her husband by motivating their actions on the basis of their background, social standing and psychology. The situations de Maupassant guides his characters through, and the way the characters respond to those situations appear to be vivid and realistic, as the way for them is well-paved by artfully managing the readers expectations and providing logical reasoning in the characters actions and ideas.

One of the success factors of The Necklace is its ironic ending. After the period of Loisels misery and poverty which they experienced in order to pay off the debts for the diamond necklace, after all the hardship they went through, Madame Forestiers revelation that her original necklace was an imitation sound like a bolt from the blue. It makes all the Loisels effort and toils so senseless and absurd; but at the same time, the final shock serves as an ultimate punishment to Madame Loisel for her arrogance, vanity and aspirations that exceeded her husbands means.

She carried her head high enough.

William Faulkner

Another example of a story ending ironically is William Faulkners A Rose for Emily. Miss Grierson, so pitied and not taken seriously by the citizens who prefer rather ignore her and her foul-smelling house than to confront her reluctance to pay taxes and maintain hygiene appears to have laughed at all of them, as she actually had things her own way. Her taxes had been remitted, but her own little personal victory over the traditional society who viewed her as a sad old spinster consisted in her triumphant cohabitation with the object of her love, though dead yet fully belonging to her.

Ive pulled off most of the paper, so you cant put me back!

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The ending of The Yellow Wallpaper is characterized by the irony of the nameless female narrator who celebrates her victory over the prison that her life has been. Despite all the scientific wisdom of her husband, he turns out to have failed in his treatment of her, and she finally has things her own way, creeping over him. John no longer is an authoritative family leader, but just a ridiculous nuisance on the way to freedom, which his wife easily overcomes.

The story is also characterized by foreshadowing. In the beginning, the narrator mentions that there is something strange about the house she lives in  and at the end, this strange aspect, the yellow wallpaper, leads to the womans liberation from the traditional views on family hierarchy and female obedience. Foreshadowing in The Lottery is represented by the scene where boys are gathering stones on the square (which will be later used for hitting the winner).

Once you begin a gesture its fatal not to go through with it.

John Updike

In Updikes A&P the unlucky development of events is foreshadowed by the phrases here comes the sad part of the story and then everybodys luck begins to run out. But if those predictions are further explained in the story, the narrators phrase I felt how hard the world was going to be to me hereafter leaves the reader only guessing about the possible consequences.

Symbolism greatly contributes to the short stories deep impression. In A&P Updike created a sharp contrast between the crowd of average customers who are compared to sheep in their behavior and the well-off girls whose bikinis symbolize their openness and vulnerability in face of the ordinary world. In The Necklace the prosperous world is embodied in such symbols as precious gems, exotic foreign decorations, diamonds as a token of highest success; the poor world is reflected in Madame Loisels rough hands, hard toil and absence of servant she had to experience when paying off the debt. The yellow wallpaper in the same-titled story is the representation of the womans confinement in a suffocating world of social discrimination.

The writers make use of deep psychology for the purpose of imparting a more convincing character to their stories. In A&P the narrator makes insightful remarks on the psychology of the crown and that of girls; in The Necklace de Maupassant provides observations of unique female psychology that does not recognize social and financial limitations and always strives for prosperity and poshness; in The Yellow Wallpaper Gilman traces the state of psychosis her female character goes through, and remarks on the importance of self-expression for psychological comfort.

However different the stories are, they possess a range of common features: unexpected ironic endings, deep psychological insight, and wide application of foreshadowing and symbolism grasp the attention of readers and provide for the short stories success.

Works Cited

McAleer Balkun, Mary, ed. Literature: A Prentice Hall Pocket Reader. 3rd ed. Longman, 2006.

Introduction

Life in South America had unique conditions. This was because of the unusual race relations, conflicts, problems and its history. Life was different for the descendants of the white aristocrats and of the poor whites. This paper will endeavour to discuss the South and Southerners as they appear in the short stories, Barn Burning and The Life You Save.

Burning Barns is a short story by William Faulkner. He penned it during the period after the Great Depression. The story gives us an insight in the way of life in the south as well as the southerners lives. It deals with issues such as class, race and economic hardships that were some of the conditions in the south. On the other hand, is the story The Life you Save May be Your Own by Flannery OConnor. Its setting is in South America. In this story, OConnor addresses the issues in the south. These were issues such as morality, religion, class issue and cruelty (Skein and Faulkner 57).

Economic inequality

The author uses the families of Abner Snopes and Major de Spain to show values in this society. The society was an agrarian one because we see Abner working on a farm. Faulkner also uses a family that lives on the farm and this shows that the people were at the agrarian stage. The family in the story lives in a desolate place. The two women are lonely as live far from the public roads. Just like in Faulkners story, Lucynell is a landowner as Major de Spain.

Major de Spains family represents the aristocratic class. This class is rich and can afford to live a good life. They are the owners of land and rent out their land to poor farmers in a system called sharecropping. The sharecroppers are poor and depend on this rich class for employment. They employee the poor who get low wages and continue to live in poverty. The de Spain family life is good and the kind of property they own proofs it. The kind of the life they live is one of opulence. They manage this because their exploit the poor due to social inequality. This leads to class segregation and the boy Sarty makes us aware of this discrepancy because he desires the security and lifestyle of the rich. Through the eyes of the boy, we are able to see the inside of Major de Spains house; there are gold frames, carpeted stairs and glittering chandeliers. The boy Sarty reacts to the bigness of Major de Spains house with amusement because it evokes a sense of security and he can manage to forget about his fathers menace of burning barns (Skei and Faulkner 68).

On the other hand, we can see the stark contrast of the living conditions for the underclass tenant farmers and the landowners. The tenant farmers live in small shacks. The Snopes family lives in an unpainted two-roomed house. Sarty is malnourished and illiterate (Skei and Faulkner 62). He is also dressed in faded patched jeans. This is due to poverty and his family is unable to afford the basic needs in life such as food or even education. In addition, the Snopes family has been moving from one area to another (Skei and Faulkner 65). This depicts the kind of migration that was common with the poor southerners as they looked for better chances. In Faulkners work Mr. Shiflet moves looking for meaning in his life, he comes to the old womans house and marries her daughter. Later, he abandons her and thus, continues wandering without a direction in life. He fails to save his life by failing to stay with his wife and save her life as well.

In Faulkners work, we have a family that is not badly off as they have land and a car even though it is broken down. The old woman asks Mr. Shiftlet to stay on her farm as she realizes that he could be a handy man. He repairs many things in the farm and he is not concerned about money though at the end he does the opposite. He represents the poor whites just like Abner in Burning Barns.

Race issues

The author depicts the race relations in the south in his short story through the characters of the black old servant who works for Major de Spain. The servant is dressed neatly and we see him commanding Abner to wipe his shoes before he steps on the door rug. He goes ahead and blocks the door using his body. He calls Abner Whiteman and Abner responds by calling the black servant a nigger. The kind of words they use show that they see each other in terms of their colour. They have no respect for each other and this encounter shows us the tension in racial relations that existed in the south. Abner refuses to wipe his shoes and smears the rug with the fresh horse dug Skei and Faulkner 66). The black servant in the story alludes to slavery practiced in the south.

Abner Snopes sees the house of his boss as a symbol of oppression. He says that niggers sweat was used in its construction and this goes on to show us that the rich white used the blacks. Through Abner we see that the white aristocratic class did not only take advantage of the blacks, but the white poor as well as Abner says that Major de Spain also wants to use white sweat to make his house whiter.

Class structure

Abner Snopes understands the social stratification in his society. He is aware of the hardships that the lower class faces. The southern social organization is unequal yet, the people seem oblivious to this fact. The reason why Abner is defiant and refuses to wipe off dirt on his shoes before stepping on the rug is a protest against the rich oppressive class. He is aware that his soul and body will belong to his boss while he works for him for eight months. This shows that the labourers in the south went through oppression and some protested. Abner protested by burning barns as it was the only way he could get to the rich and feel powerful. His destruction of the rug also shows that he was challenging the social organization in his society.

Due to oppression and hardship experienced by the low class, we can have an explanation for the violence unleashed by the underclass as depicted by Abner Snopes through his act of burning barns, beating his son and flinging his wife against the wall (Skei and Faulkner 64).

Simple people

In this story, southerners are simple people. Through Mr. Shiflet, we see this characteristic as he mends a fence, builds a hog pen, repairs the back steps and more importantly teaches Lucynell how to speak, as she was mute.

Morality

OConnor also addresses morality. In her story Mr. Shiftlet preaches morality yet he does the opposite (Whitt 53). We see him asking for more money and when we saw him, first he said he did not care about money. He abandons his bride on the same day he marries her at the Hot Spot and takes off. He is the kind that preaches water yet takes wine (Kenyon Review 1).

Conclusion

Through these two authors, we are able to see life in the south. The southerners were concerned about morality because it was a value in the society. In Barn Burning Sarty has to choose between betraying his father and telling the truth or lie in court to save his father from imprisonment. He eventually breaks from his fathers bondage when he decides to warn Major de Spain of his fathers intention to burn his barn. On the other hand, OConnor deals with morality through the character of Mr. Shiflet who is morally bankrupt to show how some of the southerners were morally corrupt. Hence, one gets a deeper understanding about the way of life in the south through these stories.

Works cited

Kenyon Review. Flannery OConnor. The Life You Save May Be Your Own. The Kenyon Review 2009. Web.

Skei, H. Hans and Faulkner, William. Reading Faulkners best short stories. Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1999.

Whitt, Earley, Margaret. Understanding Flannery OConnor. Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1997.

Introduction

Stevie Smiths Not Waving but Drowning (1953) and Karl Shapiros Auto Wreck (1942) differ from each other in form, style and subject. Smiths poem relates the last thoughts of a drowned man while Shapiros reflects on a traffic accident. Smiths poem is almost light-hearted in the way it reads and less poetic in the sense that it employs a freer form than Shapiros, which uses meter and imagery to achieve what Smith does use dialogue and punctuation. Smiths subject is loneliness, Shapiros is the random nature of death and tragedy. There is no mention of suicide in either poem and yet, as this essay will show, they can be read as centering on the theme of unintentional or unconsciously motivated suicide.

Main Body

Not Waving presents an allegorical situation in which a dead man, just pulled out of the water, thinks his last thoughts in response to comments from the people who have gathered to view his corpse. To these people, the drowned man had been larking (Smith) by swimming far out into the sea. In fact, the mans larking had always been a desperate bid for understanding on the part of the people who knew him, and it is suggested that his larking grew so extreme that it killed him. Even then he failed to gain his friends love and understanding, and in death has to listen to them gloss over his death as a heart attack, when actually it was caused by a broken heart.

Catherine Civello says that the friends metaphorical deafness and the fact that the drowned swimmer had been too far out from his group of friends, shows the lack of communication and spiritual alienation of the subject (59). Smiths poem was inspired by St. John of the Cross who felt abandoned by God and Man (Spalding 212), a state with which Smith found it easy to identify. She herself grew suicidal at times, feeling completely misunderstood, especially when friends found her poetry too flippant and her drawings, which accompanied her poems, irrelevant. In fact, Smith tried to commit suicide two months after completing this poem (Civello 59), indicating that she too had tired of trying to make her friends see that she was not waving but drowning.

Shapiros Auto Wreck describes exactly that but poetically, using tight meter and illustrative images to evoke most vividly a scene of carnage (Shaw 175). The ambulances bell is like the one used in last rites while the ambulance floating down is an angel coming to collect the souls of the departed which wings in a heavy curve to enter the crowd that has gathered around the bodies. Blood has pulsed out of the victims to pool in the street and all the ambulance men can do is put the mangled corpses in the back of the little hospital (Shapiro). The bell chimes once more to announce the assumption, the doors are closed as an afterthought, since nothing can save or protect the bodies, and the remains of human beings are removed from the scene.

The narrator surveys the scene of the accident, reflecting on the haphazardness of tragedy. He and his companion are in a state of derangement but matter-of-fact cops are cleaning up the scene and taking notes, or hanging warning lights from the wrecks. The narrator and his companion feel wounded by what they have seen, their throats tight as tourniquets, their feet bound with splints (Shapiro) as they try to cope with the possibility that their death, too, will be as random and as meaningless. In the end they decide that to make sense of traffic deaths would require metaphysics or even the occult.

Conclusion

Suicide, on the other hand, has caused and would therefore keep the narrators view of life intact. The question of who shall die might, in this case, be answered by pointing to the recklessness, perhaps even the abandonment of hope on the part of the drivers involved and asking if they, too, were out too far, not driving too fast but trying to die across the expedient and wicked stones (Shapiro) just as Smiths subject sought refuge in the cold waters from that sense of being abandoned by God and Man.

Works Cited

Civello, Catherine A. Stevie Smiths Not Waving but Drowning. The Explicator, 1983.

Shaw, Robert Burns. Blank Verse. Athens, OH: Ohio UP, 2007.

Spalding, Frances. Stevie Smith: A Critical Biography. London: faber and faber, 1990.

Todays world is full of so many flashy, noisy, and sometimes even rumbly forms of entertainment that it seems boring to spend a great deal more time and energy trying to read through the lengthy pages of a book. Reading has no sound, no pictures, and no possibility of shake options on the game controller. However, the importance of literature goes far beyond printed words. The movies we watch, games we play, and history we know are all based, to a great degree, on literature. Whether one realizes it or not, literature distracts the audience while it conveys some of the more important values and morals of society. By relating the story of an individuals struggles while trying to learn some important lesson of life, literature provides its audience with an example of behavior and an idea of where that behavior might take one. Popular themes, therefore, tend to focus on major transitions in human lifetimes, such as the teenage period of coming of age. This common theme can be traced through Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jane Austens Emma, and Chaim Potoks My Name is Asher Lev. The main characters in all three of these books spend much of their stories trying to figure out who they are, who they want to be, and how they fit within their greater society. The growth of these characters is conveyed to the audience through the authors talented use of literary techniques such as the incorporation of setting, the inclusion of unique character traits, and the talented construction of figurative language.

In each story, the setting provides a physical means of tracking each characters path to self-awareness. This is maybe clearest in Hucks story since it occurs as he travels down the mysterious Mississippi River. Setting includes the time period in which the story takes place. In this story, society had very strict expectations regarding proper behavior for children at the same time that they were very lenient in allowing children to roam freely. Even though society is content to leave Huck to mostly raise himself because of his drunken father, they still expect him to wear proper clothes and stop smoking like a proper child. In Austens book, she illustrates how Emmas life is very sheltered and safe in her description of the small society in which she lives. Emma is even more sheltered as the mistress of her fathers estate. However, because of this isolation and her position within it, she has a sense that she has a great deal of control over the world around her. It is a natural progression for her to go from controlling her fathers estate to controlling the lives of her less affluent friends. But when Harriet tells her that she loves Mr. Knightley, Emmas feelings are suddenly sparked into action. A few minutes were sufficient for making her acquainted with her own heart. A mind like hers, once opening to suspicion, made rapid progress. She touched  she admitted  she acknowledged the whole truth. Why was it so much worse that Harriet should be in love with Mr. Knightley than with Frank Churchill? Why was the evil so dreadfully increased by Harriets having some hope of return? It darted through her, with the speed of an arrow, that Mr. Knightley must marry no one but herself! (Austen, p. 407). It is the setting that finally brings Asher Lev to realize how his own actions appear to the rest of the world. It isnt until he finds himself isolated in Paris that he begins to recognize his mother in himself. He began to sense something of her years of anguish. Standing between two different ways of giving meaning to the world, and at the same time possessed by her own fears and memories, she had moved now toward me, now toward my father, keeping both worlds of meaning alive, nourishing with her tiny being, and despite her torments, both me and my father (Potok, o. 309).

The setting only helps the authors reveal the unique character traits that help the audience understand the characters growth. For instance, Huckleberry Finn is an uncivilized boy in every respect as his story opens. Although hes now living in the civilized home of a pair of elderly women after his father, the town drunk, is arrested charged with committing a violent crime, he constantly questions the rules they give him. After he has managed to survive on his own without any of the niceties of the civilized world, it is hard for him to accept without question rules such as using a fork or a knife when eating or whether it is right for one to own slaves. By the end of his story, Huck has rejected the contradictory rules of his society in order to live more in tune with his inner moral compass. Huck struggles to understand sophisticated, civilized rules; Emma is fully aware of what is socially correct but has little concept of the importance of moral or personal mediation. She has always been pampered and has had the rule of her fathers house without question for several years. She is sure she knows the best course of action for everyone around her. However, as she struggles to create the perfect world for her friends, Emma is forced to realize the true nature of her inner being. Like Emma, Asher Lev doesnt begin the process of self-examination until later in his life. He has also grown up in a sheltered environment and so is not forced to consider his inner state until he has to defend his Christian-themed art to his Jewish father. Although he has enough self-awareness to confront his parents about staying in New York when the rest of the family moves away, he doesnt understand the suffering hes caused until he travels himself. While Huck and Emma seem to come to a satisfactory conclusion, Asher Lev remains conflicted by the time his tale ends.

Careful use of language also helps the reader understand the progress being made in each characters journey toward self-awareness. Hucks maturity is revealed when he reassesses his previous thoughts regarding the sophisticated behavior of his friend Tom Sawyer. Here was a boy that was respectable and well brought up & and yet here he was, without any more pride, or rightness, or feeling, than to stoop to this business, and himself a shame and his family a shame, before everybody. I couldnt understand it, no way at all. It was outrageous. & (Twain, pp. 224-25). Although he recognizes that Tom has had all the benefits of proper society and upbringing, Huck also realizes that Tom is very immature because he refuses to put his talents to good use. This reveals Hucks growing sense of social responsibility. Emma makes a more open acknowledgment of her growth when she admits her errors in trying to manipulate her friends lives. She accepts that it was foolish, it was wrong, to take so active a part in bringing any two people together. It was adventuring too far, assuming too much, making light of what ought to be serious, a trick of what ought to be simple. She is quite concerned and ashamed, and resolved to do such things no more (137). When he finishes the painting of his crucified Jewish mother, Asher says, I had brought something incomplete into the world. Now I felt its incompleteness. Can you understand what it means for something to be incomplete? my mother had once asked me. I understood I understood. (Potok, p. 312). This final thought illustrates the degree to which Asher is still unresolved in his perceptions.

Through such revelations as they are made through setting, language, and the sociological traits of each character, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, and Chiam Potok reveal how their characters mature into themselves as a result. With the relative freedom of choice afforded to Huck in his early years, making solid decisions about the world around him was made a bit easier once he made the decision to escape the civilizing influence of the widows. Emma and Asher both had to struggle with their revelations by escaping the sheltered lives in which they had grown up, but that they were able to be demonstrated to the reader through the use of subtle yet distinct literary elements that provide clues to what the character is thinking, seeing or reacting to.

References

1. Austen, Jane. (1984). Emma. New York: Bantam Classics; Reissue edition.
2. Potok, Chiam. (1996). My Name is Asher Lev. New York: Bantam Classics; Reissue edition.
3. Twain, Mark. (2002). The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ed. G. Cardwell, J. Seelye. New York: Penguin Classics.

Introduction

The world of literature is very versatile in facts, characters, events, historical trends, settings, etc. Large deposits of literature heritage describe the wholeness of the literature world and a man, as a provider of creative thought in this art. In other words, people are apt to create something new in the sphere of art. Most of them are apt to intrinsically illustrate the social or societal problems which appeared to be paradoxes. The whole analysis of literature can be perceived in the multitude of genres, characters, and methods of representation. Its sources are very deep. In this respect, the works of three different authors are taken into account. Their thoughts are compared so that to show the similarities or differences in the themes and ideas being expressed in each of the works they wrote. These are Franz Kafka and his Metamorphosis, Cathy Song with the poem Lost Sister and Kate Chopin with a short story The Story of an Hour. These three authors are different in time prospects during which they lived. The ideas are also different somehow due to different problems which troubled them. All in all, all were highly devoted to the art of literature and writing style so that to make a reader closer to the reality of everyday life and people as well. A detailed analysis of three works will serve then as a background for further explanation of peoples characters and hopes in life along with their urge for a better environment.

Discussion

First of all, it is necessary to deepen into the plots of all discussed works. In each of them, there is a story of a man. At least in Kafkas novel and Chopins short story, the processing and outcomes of the stories are sad enough depicting the worries about peoples moral shift. Cathy Song depicts stories of many people leaving their hometowns for better destinies and those who consider staying in. A brief analysis of the conceptual characteristics proves an idea of the human factor, as the main drawback and obstacle for the demonstration of fairness and goodness in the world. Examples of different lives seem to be similar in terms of the reality of such features in the attitudinal framework within people.

Egoism and cruelty of people, notwithstanding their close relation, are depicted in Metamorphosis by Kafka. The model of the mystical metamorphosis of the protagonist symbolically demonstrates an outrageous, mercantile, and inhumane attitude of his family after he appeared to be an ugly bug. The story straightforwardly begins with this moment: One morning, as Gregor Samsa was walking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug (Di Yanni 611). Being a traveling salesman, he understood that with such appearance he could never be in an equal position with his relatives and people on the whole. His ugliness gave him a ground for doubts about further life and the positive reaction of people on him.

In Chopins short story the idea of peoples urge for infinity is described in a hypothetical walk of a woman who does not even notice that time for life was lost and at the moment her destiny is predetermined. The creative thought of the author is great in the description of the idea of living in a concise form with peculiarities of what is believed to be after death: She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long (Di Yanni 40). This story impresses with an idea of love and urges for living for the sake of love and devotion during the whole life. The author chose such from of description about main details due to making more emphasis on the idea of life short cycle. In fact, for many people with a flow of time and life while growing up and aging it seems to be just a splash of light. Thus, the author once more makes an attempt to work out a readers right thinking about values in life according to time which constantly moves forward.

Cathy Song in her poem describes the personal intentions about the social changes in China where people stay before the right decision whether to leave or to stay in the country. Here a national approach is felt in her lines when she begins the poem with words:

In China
even the peasants named
their first daughters Jade  (Di Yanni 1188).

The author is intended to admit and follow the way of changes notwithstanding the risk to lose everything. Cathy Song seeks for right decision in her poem when she provides alliteration could make men move mountains (Di Yanni 1188). The poem also maintains and illuminates some thoughts over the authors history of life and her move to the United States. Thereupon, the author stands for the rational approach toward the destination in life and initially right trends of social and economic development in the life of an individual. The song is likely praying to a reader in her hopes for sound-mindedness within Chinese women when rallying thoughts over the reason to leave the place of birth and escape to some other places forever. The whole shaping of the poem is presupposed with the mere desire of people hesitating in their minds to find a better place under the sun. This is emphasized in the fact that the poem is titled Lost Sister. Furthermore, the execution of the poem is written in free verse.

Comparison

The way of comparison of all three works falls into a diverse approach in making similarities or differences in them more obvious. The structure of the comparative analysis also undermines a point on differences in time limits. This means that every prospect about the standpoints in each work should be considered and implemented to the efficient discussion. Such approach will be helpful for making a picture of the literature and its correspondence to life and people more certain and concerned.

Hence, Metamorphosis and The Story of An Hour can be compared, first of all, in their similarities in making mystical or fantastical transformations in peoples lives applied to the social conditions. In this respect, the role of the main characters is estimated in making the assumption about hypothetical change or reality in the lives of protagonists. Kafka depicts it with a huge sense of far-sightedness because this author was a great inspector of peoples characters and their reaction with a negative coloring for most cases. This author also depicts the bureaucracy of society. Thus, Kafka unites these two features in one for further analysis and assertion about a diversity of paradoxes in which people exist. Kate Chopin demonstrates the reality of peoples characters by means of a humane approach and testimonial regarding to the peoples urge for something which goes beyond any understanding. In other words, the author is intended to demonstrate the hopes of the protagonist within a limited period of time, so that to make emphasis the more extended nature of people. Mrs. Mallard went through various endeavors of life has seen both good and evil. Gregor Samsa, on the other hand, was young and faced with an evil characteristic of life, when everything goes wrong at once.

In the case of Cathy Songs poem, the idea of immigration becomes a try-out. Steps of women without men in this life are really difficult because there is a danger of failure. By this, one should understand that the described idea in the poem contemplates that risk is high. Changes in living conditions and surroundings are usually presupposed with iron nerves and patience. If these constituents are taken into consideration and are implied as to the life credo, so a woman, particularly, can be convinced of the reliability of her constant attempts for improvements.

Thus, the main meaning or concept for all three works is, of course, the change. This evaluation is logical because the works provide different ideas in the body of each story, but all of them are united in the extent of change which appeared in a different way. In terms of Kafkas story Gregor Samsa when having confronted with spontaneous change tried to get accustomed to new parameters or standards of living. They seemed at one too difficult for him because poor Gregor had no idea of how to continue his life, and how to adopt his frame of new not preferable existence:

But as he finally raised his head outside the bed in the open air, he became anxious about moving forward any further in this manner, for if he allowed himself eventually to fall by this process, it would take a miracle to prevent his head from getting injured (Di Yanni 614).

The inability to change something back and restate the wholeness of things that Gregor observed previously influenced his idea of new changed in a particular way of life. This obstacle is accompanied by problems of new conditions and a new rather cruel attitude of society. In fact, such idea of turn-down under new circumstances and in a new environment which is rather different from that one got accustomed to previous is heard in Songs poem:

the stone that in the far fields
could moisten the dry season (1188)&

Kate Chopin describes an inability of an individual to live in one world when occasionally he/she faces another world, from which there is no way out. This is emphasized in the universal debate about life prospects and things that appear in the terminal state. Mrs. Mallard is seen in the center of mysterious conditions which she does not recognize whether they are real. Moreover, the protagonist in the story by Chopin, in spite of Kafkas main character and Songs whole idea, is described in a positive way. She sees everything as in a dream. Her change was estimated and concerned with everything good and delightful that she saw or desired in life. Death is the real and indivertible change. Mrs. Mallard does not realize it, but feels anxiety inside:

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air (Di Yanni 39).

Thus, Chopin depicts the spontaneous and unpredictable character of the change with which every human being is destined to face. Furthermore, it can be much easier to make a conclusion of the fast speed of life. Life and its temporal character are considered to be the second feature that correlated the ideas in the three works. Temporal features which occur usually in a mans life are concerned with flummery. In works under analysis, the result of the change pursues the fatal doom of the characters. Only in the case with Cathy Songs Lost Sister, the situation seems to be rather slight because it can be influenced in a positive direction. The rest two works are outlined with total destruction of life. Both cases contemplate the idea that life is temporal, and when it comes to an end or into a new coloring, so then fatality emerges. Moreover, Kafka demonstrates in his character a desire to get accustomed to new realities of life in order to highlight a great wish to live and provide living in terms of new standards. Here new demands arise before Gregor Samsa. New demands are looked at in the poem by Song. Definitely, new demands were provided for Mrs. Mallard.

Society is cruel on many points, and this assertion deserves better observation. This third parameter of the analysis just outlines the reason for the emergence of the above-mentioned features of the discussion. In fact, an individual perceives life in accordance with the social background of the society in which one is placed at the time. Peculiarities of the society and its historical background explain the differences in mentalities within nations. On the other hand, the devotion to mankind at once makes people bear in mind an idea of the good and evil attitudes of men presented in society on the whole. In other words, it does not matter whether one belongs to a developed or poor country; society provides rules and principles which have both positive and negative sides. Thus, Kafka illustrates the society and its representatives as those wanting only material amenities from their relatives. Samsa, being a traveling salesman, was a hope for his family, because he supported them. Their mercenary ideals and pretenses to Gregor were outlined solely with selfishness. Songs poem also describes or even makes a hint on the not ideal society with its natural drawbacks and contradictions related, for example, to racial discrimination, especially on the example of the USA, the second home of the author. In Chopins case, this idea is not underlined.

Conclusion

To sum up, it is apparent that the world of literature has its similarities and differences even if definite works relate to various epochs. The thing is that in all times a mans character and, especially, presupposed drawbacks of it which can provide a paradox, were at the core of discussion within writers. This idea was highly outlined in terms of the current conditions in society. All in all works by Franz Kafka, Cathy Song and Kate Chopin create a background for more reasoning about life and people.

Works cited

Di Yanni, Robert. Literature: Reading, Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Ed. 5. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.