Literary+Device+3

The symbol of fire in //Night// shows the inhumanity humans show to one another. Fire is a reoccurring theme throughout the book that consistently stands for death and certain danger. At the beginning of Elie Wiesel’s experience in his first concentration camp, Elie and others are being forced to walk down a path that leads to an uncertain location. On the way, Elie sees a pit of flames and in it were babies. From the starts, fire represents death. As they move closer, Elie can tell that there is fire in the building that they are headed toward, and smoke is coming out from the building. Elie begins to realize that they are walking toward flames. He thinks that it will be a matter of moments before he will be dead. Elie knows that in the building he is walking toward, people are burned. Elie ends up no being killed then and there, but he knows that whenever fire is near, so is his end. When on a train being taken to another concentration camp, a women claims to see fire outside of the windows multiple times. Nobody else sees this, and people begin to think that the women is crazy. The women has been so scared by the symbol of fire that she hallucinates seeing it. The inhumanity that the Nazis have toward others is so large, and the fire is one way that their inhumanity is constantly present throughout the book.

The final literary device used by Ray Bradbury is the characterization of Mildred. Mildres is Montag’s wife and the two live together, carrying on “normal” lives according to the society they live in. The characterization of Mildred describes society in that she is uneducated and spends all of her time consumed by “the parlor”. The parlor is the propaganda machine used to keep people away from books. Mildred finds the parlor her only comfort and is very, very uncomfortable when Montag takes her away from it and asks her to help him read and understand the books he has swiped from past fire calls. Later in the story, apparently worried for her and Montag’s well being and wanting to end his supposed insanity, Mildred is the one to call the fire station and report Montag’s hidden books in their house. Mildred serves as the example of a person living under a government controlled, propagandized society, living and breathing everything she s told to with no thoughts of her own. In this way, Mildred is used by the author to show how a person and society without books acts.

The last literary device used to show the ominous side of humans is the characterization of Gene. Gene is introduced to the story as a young, gifted student at Devon High School. Some symptoms of jealousy show up, however, and stain the nice boy image of his. He begins to feel envious toward his friend Finny and it goes so far that Gene jounces a tree branch and Finny fractures his leg. Gene, depressed and guilty, tries to mitigate himself and soon enough he is not affected by seeing his poor friend on crutches. Even though one time Finny caught Gene when Gene was about to fall off of the tree, virtually saving his life, Gene doesn’t return the favor but instead springs on the tree branch, trying to show off his athletic skills but ultimately sends his friend to his death. Gene carefully conceals the truth, not wanting his friend Finny to really understand the accident was his fault. Brinker, Gene and Finny’s friend, hosts a meeting late at night to discover whose fault it was the Finny’s tragedy, for he has an innuendo that it could be Finny. Whenever Gene is asked for information, Gene, anxiously and nervously answers quickly, hiding the truth. Gene also shows the different, menacing trait when he receives the news that Finny is dead. Gene does not cry, break down, or feel sorrow for Finny, but instead keeps a rigid face, and moves on with his life not mentioning Finny ever again. It is appalling to see Gene not feel sadness for a death that was categorically his fault, and it truly brings out his real personality.

Finally, E.M. Forster uses the setting of Italy to explain how happiness is found only by being true to yourself. When Lucy goes to Italy, her life changes forever. She is granted a new freedom withouth the bindings of her family and enjoys the reality aroudn her. One night, she even is allowed to go out alone and experience Italy herself. So amny things chance upon her. She finds a lovely little shop where she buys paintings and even witnesses a murder! Lucy, fainting at such a spectacle, is saved valiantly by George Emerson who embraces her for the first time. One night in a place where people roam and act freely, gives Lucy a sense of who she really is. Being by herself helps her find herself so that she can be that much closer to following her true nature. Though, Lucy is suppressed by the stuffy guests staying with her, save for the Emersons. Going out into Italy frees her. When Lucy returns home, she often complains about home and dreams of Italy. Little does she know, she is only dreaming of finding herself and acting in it. Lucy also seems to catch that leaving her home to go to places like Italy, help her be herself. At the conclusion of the novel, when Lucy is married to George, they are back in Italy. Italy was the place they started to change an dbe free in their emotion so that they could reveal their true selves. So Italy muct be where they end up so that they may continue to live a passioonate life that is centered around self-determination.

In the play //A Midsummer Night’s Dream//, Shakespeare uses the irony in his story to show that love’s course runs intricately and is never smooth. One way he does this is how when Oberon tells Robin Goodfellow to put the love potion on Demetrius’ eyes so that he would fall in love with Helena, Robin mistakes Lysander for Demetrius and puts the love potion on his eyes and he falls in love with Helena. Then Oberon discovers the mistake and has Robin put the love potion on Demetrius’ eyes. Then both Lysander and Demetrius are in love with Helena. Helena is then convinced that Lysander and Demetrius are making fun of her because they were both in love with Hermia. This use of dramatic irony shows love’s complication because it first shows that outside forces can change who a person loves, which is shown by the love potion. Shakespeare also uses the irony to show confusion and misunderstanding between lovers, shown by the fact that Lysander and Demetrius both are truly in love with Helena, but she believes that they are playing a cruel practical joke on her. This is how William Shakespeare use irony to show that love’s road never runs smoothly.

Through characterization in Jane Austen’s //Pride and Prejudice//, Elizabeth shows how first impressions are often wrong. In the beginning of the story, the Bennett sisters are all going to a party. Elizabeth’s eldest sister, Jane, was the topic of conversation the entire night. Jane’s beauty, grace, and composure caught the attention of everyone, in including Mr. Bingley. Throughout this first scene, Elizabeth is naught but a supporting character. She seems just a little too opinionated and not as beautiful or graceful as Jane. When Mr. Darcy first meets her, he refuses to dance with her because of her looks and opinions. However, soon after, he notices her fantastic eyes. Darcy talks much of her exquisite eyes and begins to enjoy being around Elizabeth. Darcy falls in love with her and eventually proposes to her. When she denies him, he states it is simply because she is being polite and he will continue to pursue her. She then explains exactly why she has absolutely no desire to marry him. His first impression was completely wrong. He did not care that she was exactly like her sister, he lover her. Once Darcy realizes he misjudges the looks and temperament of Elizabeth, they get married. Even though Darcy had no attraction to Elizabeth when he first met her, he soon realized how much of a caring, independent, loving person she really is.

Finally, Thomas Hardy uses the coffin as a symbol of what is to come in Tess’ life. The night Tess confides in Angel Clare her biggest secret of being seduced and having a child, he turns his back on her. However, while he is sleeping, he sleep walks to Tess’ room and carries her outside and through a stream but the final destination is not what she might have expected. Clare lays her in a coffin and this seems to symbolize his thoughts of their life together and her innocence. The Tess he thought he knew is now dead to him so he lays her in a coffin. Another symbol of the coffin is when Tess is inside of the church of her family, the D’Urbervilles, and Alec is there. All around her are coffins and at the end of the book, when she stabs Alec, his bed is his own coffin. The red blood on the white sheets symbolizes this. The final symbol of the coffin is the last part of the book where Tess is lying in Stonehenge awaiting her fate. She is lying on an alter that was used in old times for sacrifices. When she is captured and executed it is said that he Gods finally made justice in the world. Coffins have a deceitful appearance because they are attributed with death, which is usually a peaceful thing but here the coffins symbolize Tess’ fate.

The last trait of Paul's that show people are changed by war is his hygienic change. Before enlisting in the war, Paul had grown used to sleeping on clean sheets, eating of clean plates, wearing clean clothes. But once he joined the army, this would be flipped upside-down. He never saw clean sheets on the front. He would sleep in muddy, rat-infested trenches of the Germans. If he ate one day, it would not be off of clean plates. He and his army friends had their mess tins, with no guarantee of being cleaned. Lastly, his clothes were never clean. Because Paul was constantly in the mud-ridden trenches, there is no way he could have a clean uniform. In fact, all of his friends were like this, constantly covered in mud and filth. This change in hygienic habits is most clearly seen when Paul is wounded. He is taken onto a train in which the army nurses take care of the wounded men. The nurses hand the men clean white sheets, and Paul looks at the nurses like they are crazy. He was convinced that white sheets were not good for him. Plus, he was afraid that he would make them too dirty for use by humans again. Then nurse calmly responds to this by saying they can just be washed again. There is no worry about sleeping on clean sheets. So Paul somewhat reluctantly accepts the cleanliness, even though he has grown so used to being dirty.

Finally, the literary device, imagery, shows the flaws of conformity. One example is the uniforms of the aids in the asylum. These aids are African-American men who wear perfect white uniforms. These “black boys” show the friendly, humane outer appearance of society (i.e. the white uniforms), but inside they are cruel and destructive (symbolized by their dark black skin). Similarly, society and conformity may seem appealing, but in reality, it destroys individuality and freedom. Kesey also uses the image of McMurphy’s boxer shorts to express this theme. McMurphy wears provocative boxers covered with a picture of the infamous “white whale”. These unique shorts set him aside from the other inmates, who wear bland, standard-issue green uniforms. McMurphy does wear these green uniforms, but also keeps his white-whale shorts on underneath. Similarly, we must conform, some degree to society, but we need to retain some degree of individuality, just as McMurphy retains his boxer shorts. Through the images of the black boys’ uniforms and McMurphy’s white-whale boxer shorts, Kesey proves that conformity and society have flaws.

Finally, ﻿Lousia May Alcott uses the character Amy to show that independence is never truly attainable. In __Little Women__, Amy is the youngest child in the March family. Therefore, as the young child, Amy is dependent on her sisters for entertainment and is dependent on her parents for comfort and guidance. She is also dependent on her friend Sallie Moffat for both entertainment and a look into the wealthy world. Amy is also dependent on her sisters for defense, like when Meg and Beth protect her from Jo's verbal abuse after Amy burns her books. Out of all of her siblings, Amy is most dependent on Meg, because they both share the wish to be wealthy. Together, these two form a bond and share an alliance. Amy is also dependent on Laurie, in both her young and adult lives. As children, Laurie helps Amy with her artwork and is a brotherly figure to her, just as he is with her three sisters. As she grows older, Amy is also dependent on the wealthy society, using Sallie's parties to become happy and feel appreciated. Another instance of this is when she travels to Europe with her Aunt March and Aunt Florence. Europe creates for her a majestic place, not at all like home, and while she is there, she meets Laurie, whom she falls in love with. Throughout her journies in the book, Amy is never alone, making independence unachievable.

Oscar Wilde uses the character Basil to show how change is necessary in life. Basil is an artist and has been for his whole life. He paints beautiful portraits of beautiful people every day. Basil recognizes how ridiculous it would be to paint the same person every day- he and the subject would both become extremely bored. Basil paints Dorian Gray, a young, beautiful boy whose youth is quickly fleeting. Basil paints Dorian every week until Dorian soon meets a young, charming woman named Sibyl. Everything in Basil's life has been complete up until now; he captures Dorian's youth, marveling upon Dorian's innocence and beauty. When Dorian meets Sibyl and becomes engaged to marry her, Basil becomes bitter. He is so fascinated by Dorian that he is unable to ever imagine Dorian leaving and becoming a married man. Basil and Dorian argue frequently about Sibyl, and soon drift apart, their friendship fading into nothing. Basil is left uninspired and lonely; Dorian, sad and hurt, because neither of them could accept change.

Finally, Albee uses the setting of the living room in //Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf// to show the struggle between American democracy and communism. During the Cold War, Berlin was a city that demonstrated the struggle between democracy and communism. West Germany was for democracy, while East Germany was communist, being strong allies with the Soviet Union. Berlin, technically part of East Germany, was also split up into four sectors, the Eastern most being controlled by the Soviet Union, while the western sections were controlled by France, Britain, and the United States, all pro-democracy countries. George, when explaining that history will eventually turn into science, says, “There will be order and constancy…and I am unalterably opposed to it. I will not give up Berlin!” Since George represents democracy and Nick represents communism, the place where they both gather, the living room, is similar to Berlin. Democracy seems t be fading as George notices that history, his forte, begins to fade away while science, Nick’s field, is becoming the answer to everything. In the end of the book, George’s life falls apart when he “kills” his “son”, while Nick is still standing strong. Albee’s fears of a communist world come true when Nick defeats George in the living room of George’s home. George, representing American democracy, and Nick, representing Communism, both unite in the setting of the living room to show the struggle between American democracy and communism.

Thomas Beckett finally uses plot to show the absurdity of life. In his play, only two real events happen throughout: the meetings of Pozzo and Lucky. The rest of the play is spent passing time. So it is assumed this is how the two main characters, Estragon and Vladimir, spend their entire lives. All they do is kill time. This shows that Beckett thought life was useless. All we ever do is kill time, and what we do, ends up pointless. We learn that because Estragon soon forgets about the meeting. This plot has no resolved conflict, showing that Beckett believed our lives didn’t need to be resolved. This story is more lifelike than the traditional story, where everything seems to work out in the end; this story is life. Life doesn’t always work out perfectly in the end. In this book, life doesn’t work out well for the main two characters because Godot never comes. The plot ends just as it started; the unhappy pair waiting for Godot to visit them. Beckett uses plot to show the pointlessness of life.

Jane Austen also uses Coronel Brandon to show how marriage determines your fate. He is in his early thirties and he is a bachelor. He is interested in Marianne who is at least half his age. She does not think of him or his feelings. She is in love with her beau Willoughby and breaks Brandon’s heart. To her he seems boring, and old to be frank-easily forgettable. Elinor who is more reasonable and mature sees this lonely man in another light. She argues for his sake, to Marianne and Willoughby who are speaking and laughing about him. Elinor defends him that she makes an effort to speak to him whenever they are together and that it is harsh to judge a good, smart man as they are doing. Brandon is often talked about as an old spinster and has nothing and no one to live for. It seems he has not had much luck in love and therefore is looked down upon by others. We even learn near the middle that he (gasp) has a daughter! Not very much is known about her, but that she is very much like her father, and that he would do absolutely anything for her. He does not often speak of her and no one really knows much about the mysterious “Miss Williams”. Because he is single, many difficulties have fallen upon his head. It is as though he has no love, no life for that matter and seems as though he is an old man the way they think of him.

The final literary devise that shows that adaptation is necessary for survival is symbolism. When Buck is first taken from the Judge, he is shipped on a series of trains and trucks to a man with a red sweater. By this time, Buck he is furious due to being kidnapped and mistreated along the way. He is ready to take out his anger on the first person to unlock his cage. This first man is a man in a red sweater, wielding a club. Buck charges this man, but is repeatedly knocked back by the club. He eventually realizes that he can not overcome this challenge by confronting it head on the way he has been. The club represents a challenge that man must take a new approach to to overcome. Like Buck, man must learn to respect the club, or his superior, but not be owned by it. The other use of symbolism is the dog fight circle of huskies. When Buck first arrives in the arctic, he sees a dog fight happen. From this he learned that the dog who falls first dies. He then made a personal vow to never fall in a fight. This circle of dogs represents man's fears. Man must be wary of his fears but like Buck, he too must eventually overcome them. Buck over comes his fear when he fights and beats his rival Dave. Buck is encircled and held his promise to never fall down when encircled.

The characters in the story //One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich// demonstrates how the work camps dehumanize the prisoners. These captives are held in the work camp to do the work that needs to be done for the country. This isn’t similar to jail, work camps are much worse; it is jail plus the contant working. The prisoners wake up to work and go to sleep when they finish working. The guards help the work camps dehumanize the prisoners. The guards make the lives of the prisoners as horrible as they possibly can. The workers try to bring spare pieces of wood back to their bunk to heat the place up. The guards knowingly force them to drop the wood before they reenter the camp after their days work. The prisoners are destroyed by this cold, and the guards only help them diminish into worn down fragile old men by the age of 30. When people in the camp receive packages from family and friends outside of the camp, trying to make their loved one’s life a little more bearable, the guards just take whats in it and destroy it. If the person received food, they taste it and throw the rest away. If it is drinks the guard drink it, if it is clothing the guards confiscate it, because prisoners are not allowed to wear extra layers.

The last literary device is setting, used by Thomas Hardy in Jude the Obscure. Jude Fawley began his life in Marygreen, a small rural town with no education. While growing up, Jude was very moved by the scene of the great educational city if Christminster, which was when he decided to devote himself to learning. When he was in Marygreen, he was always learning. He was never studying in the city of Alfredston, where he worked. Finally when Jude arrived at Christminster, he used every waking second learning the rich culture of the medieval city, one of the highest and lowest points in his life. After being rejected from schooling, Jude kept reading but not as much till he left Christminster to study abroad. Jude traveled from city to city learning more and more but nothing compared to when he was at Christminster, his favorite place. Jude lived his entire life thinking of Christminster and the walls of the colleges he would never be in, until he was very old and sick. Jude wanted to spend his last moments in Christminster and die a happy man. Jude's education, far greater than a college one, was learned through hard work on his own but Jude would never be considered an erudite because he was from Marygreen, with no upper class blood.

Dr.Seward becomes a stronger, wiser man due to the actions of Dracula. While John Seward may not have had blood taken form him by the Count like Lucy and Mina, his personality changed throughout the novel. At the beginning, he was very intelligent but did not come off as being very brave or daring, but as John goes through different challenges, he becomes stronger. First, he fights for the life of the woman he loves, even though he knows she is in love with another man. He gives his blood and spends hours by her side, trying to cure her of the strange "disease" which she possesses. Dr.Seward embarks on journies and undergoes trying tasks with Doctor Van Helsing. He helps Van Helsing kill Lucy once she has become a vampire, which takes a great deal of strength on Dr.Seward's part, considering he was her friend and cared for her deeply.