It's like that. Hot and sharp and -- lovely" (p. 345) It is a moment that shows the close connection of the painful and the sublime for Elisa, a connection that she understands perhaps because the brutal and tender nature of gardening. The most profound contradiction in the story comes at the end, when we see her reaction to the stranger's callous treatment of her chrysanthemum shoots. Before she sees the chrysanthemums wilting on the side of the road, she is full of pride and awareness of her own strength as a woman, as a grower of things, and as a potential fixer of things. At the sight of the abandoned chrysanthemum shoots, however, that vision of herself crumbles. Her question to the husband about the violence of professional fighting...
Instead, she ends the story crying into her coat, "like an old woman" (p. 348).
Finally, redemption is possible and is achieved by some: when Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale all stand on the public scaffold, Dimmesdale falls fatally ill and Pearl kisses him, the spell of sinfulness is broken for them (Hawthorne 175), while Chillingworth "positively withered up, shrivelled away and almost vanished from mortal sight" because his plan to destroy Dimmesdale were simultaneously broken (Hawthorne 175). In sum, Puritan religious views are highly
As one writer says, not reading this novel "…deprives individuals and communities of the opportunity to respond to an ethical imperative insisting on virtuous treatment of our fellow human beings" (George, 83). This is a tremendous summation of fundamentally what Steinbeck is trying to achieve with a novel like of Mice and Men, and a notion which sums up most likely Steinbeck's strongest motivation for writing the novel. However, as one
Ed. Peter Lisca and Kevin Hearle. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. 604-615. Outline Thesis: The three critical appraisals this essay will examine shows a changing "magnification." Each of our three critics has the "Okies" under the microscopic; but they employ three different lenses to examine their subjects. As we move from Reed to Owens to Gladstein, the calibration of the microscope moves steadily away. The movement starts with a narrow aperture, and
In the end of the book Rosasharn agrees and goes to him. In the film version there is no flood, Rosasharn does not give birth, and the baby does not die. When Tom leaves at the end, his speech to Ma about fighting injustice seems almost victorious, as though Tom were a hero instead of a victim. After he leaves, Ma and Pa get in their old truck and head
Pearl, by John Steinbeck, has been noted as one of the most highly regarded novels in United States since World War II. Its appealing characters and obvious allegory have helped to make it a mainstay in American literature. A parable is a short work, usually fictitious, that illustrates a lesson, often on the subject of good and evil and the novel reads like a one; rich in religious overtones of
I. Introduction A. Elisa Allen is the protagonist of John Steinbeck’s short story “The Chrysanthemums.” Louise Mallard is the protagonist of Kate Chopin’s “The Story of An Hour.” B. Both Elisa and Louise are products of their social and historical contexts, particularly when it comes to gender norms. C. Elisa and Louise are passive protagonists, because patriarchy has stripped them of political agency. Thesis: By creating passive protagonists in their respective short stories, Steinbeck
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