Essay on The Contrast Between Life And Death Is A Very...

A candle in a dark room, the red coat in that black and white film, the energy, the emotion and the symbolism of these scenes can make apparent to any reader the abyss that there seems to be between the beginning and the end. But what happens when these contrasts between life and death are blurred? When two seemingly unarguable ideas contradict each other? The School, by Donald Barthleme and The Road out of Eden, by Randall Grace are examples of such conundrums. The texts use contrasting structure-styles, irony and differing thematic ideas to explore how various aspects of death impact individuals. The simplistic style in â€Å"The Road out of Eden† is used to emphasise the childish aspect of the narrator as he tells his story. His use of†¦show more content†¦His narrating style is disorganised, repetitive, out of order, thematically disorderly, making awkward sense and a little drawn out with its observations. Sentences stop unconcluded at times. The use of ellipses ads points of uncomfortable pause like with â€Å"and the salamander . . . well, now they know not to carry them around in plastic bags.† The text is in short awkward, unfocused. It reflects the mind of someone in shock and incapable of dealing with death. The style presents an idea of how people cope with death and embeds in the very structure of the idea that those who have been subject to loss â€Å"require an assertion of value†. It’s an interesting subject present throughout â€Å"The School† it is however also present in â€Å"The Road out of Eden† where after the murder of Joe Ron the narrator begins to expressing doubt as in his use of uncertainty in â€Å"we weren’t best friends after that, I guess.† This mirrors the use of uncertainty in â€Å"The school† but also points out very big difference between the two texts. While confusion and hence death is present from the beginning of â€Å"the school† this co nfusion only come in â€Å"the road out of eden† in the very last paragraph. This can be understood when looking at the basis of the arguments of death in both texts. In both texts the authors use age to explore uncommon aspects of death. In â€Å"The Road out of Eden† the age of the main characters is usedShow MoreRelatedThe Forest Of Gombe By Jane Goodall1165 Words   |  5 Pagesmysterious phenomenon. However, as science becomes advanced, people gradually lost in the relationship between it and religious beliefs. In the essay â€Å"In the Forest of Gombe†, Jane Goodall spends long time with chimpanzees in the forests to recover from her husband’s death. During this period, she learns new ideas from the chimps and finds herself back, and understands the complicated relationship between scientific ideas and religious beliefs. Thus, to uncover peace, people have to understand themselvesRead MoreEssay on Natural Symbolism in Blood-Burning Moon1289 Words   |  6 Pagesits only Natural. There are two real conflicts in Jean Toomers Blood-Burning Moon. The first is racial, which can be referenced in the very first sentence, and the second is a gender conflict, that subtly unfolds with the main characters development. In this essay, I will show how Toomer uses vivid descriptions and comparisons of nature to establish these conflicts, and also to offer an explanation of their origin. He writes to argue that these roles, like the earth, are natural and thereforeRead MoreAnalysis Of David Foster Wallace s Speech1194 Words   |  5 Pageshappiness. Wallace contends that the natural way in which people think, the â€Å"default-setting,† is easy and unconscious yet detrimental. An alternative way of thinking, a â€Å"well-adjusted† approach that Wallace advocates, is hard work and takes practice yet is much more constructive. Throughout the speech, Wallace juxtaposes these two ways of thinking by associating the default-setting with the idea of death, while th e â€Å"well-adjusted† approach is associated with life. This highlights the monumental importanceRead MoreThe Old Nurse s Story1329 Words   |  6 PagesWhen it comes to Elizabeth Gaskell and her stories, the story titled, â€Å"The Old Nurse s Story†, serves as the perfect example of the Gothic elements that were very popular in many authors stories and poems during this period of time. During this time of British literature, Romanticism and Gothic elements were the two main strategic ways of writing and how the audience read and perceived the stories being told. The Gothic element of writing consisted of dark, gloomy and ghostly literature that broughtRead MoreDeath of a Naturalist: a Study of Seamus Heaneys First Book of Poems.1503 Words   |  7 PagesDeath of a Naturalist: A study of Seamus Heaneys first book of poems. Seamus Heaney, the famed Irish poet, was the product of two completely different social and psychological orders. Living on a small farm of some fifty acres in County Derry in Northern Ireland (Nobel eMuseum), Seamus Heaneys childhood was spent primarily in the company of nature and the local wildlife. His father, a man by the name of Patrick Heaney, had a penchant for farming and working the land. Seamus mother MargaretRead More Presentation of In Flanders Fields – script Essay1373 Words   |  6 PagesAlmost all lines are 8 syllables long The rhythm sounds like that of a nursery rhyme – there is an iambic pentameter with a very regular line length and rhyme scheme. This is in great contrast to the actual words all about death and war. * Line 1 – ‘In Flanders Fields the poppies blow’ presents a nice natural image of poppies swaying in the breeze. * Line 2 – ‘Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ ‘row on row’ signifies the enormous number of graves, as it is not a definiteRead MoreTheme Of Love In Wuthering Heights922 Words   |  4 Pagesforms. Sonnet 18, undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s most famous works and believed to be one of the most famous love poems of all time, illustrates the timelessness and true beauty of love in a natural, pure way. In contrast, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights takes a far darker, more intense yet somewhat sinister twist when exploring the themes of love, passion and cruelty. One of the greatest love stories in English literature, the love-hate passionate relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff ignitesRead MoreThe Ethos Of Art Nouveau Across The Arts And Architecture1656 Words   |  7 PagesThe Ethos of Art Nouveau across the Arts and Architecture. Art Nouveau – ‘A style of art and architecture of the 1890s, characterised by the swelling sinuous outlines and stylized natural forms, such as flowers and leaves.’ (The definition of art nouveau) The name derives from ‘Maison de ‘Art Nouveau’, an interior design gallery in Paris in 1896 however the movement had multiple names throughout Europe, such as ‘Jgendstil’ in Germany; in Italy Stile Liberty or Floreale ; in Spain ModernistaRead MoreEssay on Comparing The Soldier and Dulce et Decorum Est644 Words   |  3 PagesComparing The Soldier and Dulce et Decorum Est The Soldier by Rupert Brooke and Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen were both written during world war one. War and death are the themes of both poems but they are written from different perspectives. Brooke seems to base his poem on myth because overall he says that it is good to die for your country while fighting at war is terrible and that it is every soldier for himself and not for your country. There are manyRead MoreHeathcliff and Edgar Linton783 Words   |  4 Pages‘moonbeam’ compared to ‘lightning’ or as different as ‘frost’ is to ‘fire’, Heathcliff and Edgar Linton signify the stark contrast between nature and civilisation. When Catherine Earnshaw says to Nelly ‘Heathcliff is more myself than I am’ she is referring to their natures, the natural inclination that they both have. It is this similarity, this natural identity that represents Heathcliff one side of a polarity that opposes nature to civilisation, inhuman to social and the energetic to placid. Edgar Linton