He was so engrossed in his occupation that he was not aware of a lull" (111). After this incident, Henry throws himself down "like a man who had been thrashed" (111). Those around him saw him as "a war devil" (112).
Here we see how Henry has an animal instinct to fighting and it makes him look like a madman. Here we get an example of how we are aware of Henry's thoughts and feelings as well as what is going on around him. Crane also allows us to see the reactions of those around him to emphasize what it is that Henry is experiencing. By leaving the narrative to Henry's experiences alone, we are more apt to believe that it really happened to him.
In addition, when Henry does earn his "badge" it is not in the most noble of ways. However, Crane allows us to see how Henry has been changed by the overall event of the war -- not just by winning his badge. We read that Henry "felt a quiet manhood, non-assertive but of sturdy and strong blood... He had been in touch with the great death... He was a man" (154). In this passage, Crane is telling us how Henry has evolved. Witnessing war was one thing but surviving it was another. He smiles because he knows that the world is waiting for him now that the nightmare of war is over. We read that Henry can gaze into the future "with a lover's thirst to images of tranquil skies, fresh meadows, cool brooks -- an existence of soft and eternal peace" (155). An interesting aspect about this scene is that it can be interpreted with a certain amount of irony. Because of Crane's writing style, we are left to make this decision on our own.
In Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman, the Requiem offers us incredible ironies. Happy seems to be more like his father than Biff is. Biff comments how Willie had the "wrong dreams" (Miller 1113), signifying that Willie spent his entire life doing the wrong thing and trying to be something that he was not. We are told that Happy gets angry at this point and says that this was not true. In addition, Charley states:
For a salesman,...
"(Miller, 96) However, even if it can appear that Willy's death is a further failure and humiliation, Happy points out at his funeral that Loman had the braveness to pursue his dream to the end, despite the fact that he did not succeed: "I'm gonna show you and everybody else that Willy Loman did not die in vain. He had a good dream. it's the only dream you can have
Willy suffers from the consequences of the internal and external conflicts in his life. One of the antagonists in this story is the false promise of the American Dream, not another person per se. Willy is unable to become rich and show his family his own worth through material possessions, despite his hard work and perseverance, which is a conflict to him because he believed that would happen. He believes
The truth is simply too difficult to accept, so he turns a blind eye to it. For Willy, denial is easier than reinventing a new life. He believes that somehow, he will get an advance and "come home with a New York job" (Miller II.1070-1). He believes he can still get a promotion and never have to "get behind another wheel" (II.1071) again. These beliefs, while they are positive,
Arthur Miller / Lorraine Hansberry The idea of the "American Dream," of achieving material success through one's own efforts, is not merely a constant topic in American literature, it seems to be a fundamental archetype of American national mythology. The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and the popular stories of Horatio Alger in the 19th century established this motif as central to the American concept of manhood: we can see the precise
He was labeled for a belief that he did not openly admitted subsisting to; he was labeled based on the fact that he refused to testify against an ideology. It is not surprising, then, that the primary message of "The Crucible" resonated his thoughts and feelings about the McCarthy administration's containment policy against Communism. The arguments he presented in the play showed how Miller viewed the government's offensive action against
It is an act of sacrifice by which Willy creates the premises for Biff to potentially live the American Dream, unlike himself, who has not. The capacity to gives one's life for another man's dream is certainly grandiose, in a tragic manner, timeless and part of Willy's character. There are certainly other themes that make from Miller's play a timeless one. One of them is the theme of the American
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