Joseph Bonanno

Dramatic Irony- irony occurs in a fictional work when the audience / reader or a character knows something that another character does not. The pardoner’s prologue exemplifies dramatic irony within the Pardoner’s preaching regarding evil. ( Chaucer 18, 20, 21,) The pardoner addresses within his sermon the root of all evil is avarice, yet he willingly reveals to the reader his true intent within such declaration was a selfish greed.( Chaucer, 46) Due to his occupation, and previous assertions,…

Animal Farm by George Orwell, is a satirical novella analysing the Russian political climate of 1945. With England’s increasing contact with the Soviet Union, during the rise of Joseph Stalin and brewing of the Cold War, Orwell sought to vent his frustrations through his art. Orwell, being a prescient writer (Kennedy 2017), was able to contextualise the events of, and immortalise, the Russian Revolution, whilst alluding to the result of the Communist agenda that took power during his lifetime.…

In Maus I & II by Art Spiegelman and “Metamorphosis” by Kafka, a heavy (and sometimes overwhelming) theme is alienation and dehumanization. While both texts discuss different topics and scenarios, their pivotal theme is what ultimately tie the stories together. Both authors use very different strategies to showcase the alienation and dehumanization based upon their story’s genre. Maus I & II is a very real and intense comic that gives a snapshot of what it was like to be a Jew in World War II…

The novel Things Fall Apart, the author Chinua Achebe illustrates and portrays the idea of the Igbo society in Africa. The setting takes place in an African village of Umuofia, when the main protagonist, Okonkwo is the a well known Igbo man also a tragic hero. He wrestles Amalinze the Cat, and overall defeats him which leads him to be a successful man. He also is married to three wives which shows him that he is a great man in the village. However, he is also portrayed as a tragic hero, by…

Both the pigs in George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Vladimir Putin use fear and propaganda to stay in power. Animal Farm is an allegory meant to represent the events of the Russian Revolution in 1917. The book is about animals who overtake their farm to run it themselves. They eventually fall under the leadership of a pig named Napoleon who often deceives the animals in order to maintain power. The book highlights the ignorance of the animals who end up just as they were in the beginning of the…

Comparing Individuality and Conformity in Fahrenheit 451 Individuality is celebrated in modern day society, but during the Cold War, the world seemed as though there was little hope for self-expression to live another day. In the novel, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, there is a prominent theme of conformity found various times throughout the dystopian society. Conformity was a common theme in the real world during the Cold War, when this novel was written. In this society, books have all been…

There is usually a fine line between humor and seriousness in most literature that Joseph Heller breaks in his novel Catch-22. Heller blends together comedy with frightening truths and criticisms about the military during World War II. Although there are many elements that contribute to the overall quality of the satire, the characters are the main focus and represent different elements of the military process. In particular, the absurdly named Major Major Major Major, who will be referred to as…

The book “Animal Farm” by George Orwell revolves around the concept of socialism and communism. However, in this book, it takes form in something called Animalism, a code of conduct set in place by the animals in Manor Farm after driving off Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was the farm owner who was negligent of their needs. It is because of this that the animals rise up and revolutionize the place, claiming the farm as theirs and stating their independence. As you may have guessed by now, Animalism fails…

Sherlock Holmes is a detective hero of all times, a fictional character who is more famous than his creator Arthur Conan Doyle. The Scottish author Doyle wrote one of his well-known novel “The Sing of Four starring” the unique and detailed character Sherlock Holmes. Although Doyle has never been a colonist nor his character Holmes, the novel presents the idea of the British empire and its power along with the danger of colonized India and its people through Victorian perspective. I shall start…

example, in Animal Farm Napoleon seems the most like Joseph Stalin and Snowball from Animal Farm seems the most like Leon Trotsky. In Animal Farm Snowball was trusted by everyone after Old Major passed away, he took in account of everyone’s ideas and reasons behind those ideas, and was most like Old Major overall; just like Leon Trotsky in the Russian Revolution everyone trusted him after Emperor Nicholas II had been disowned by the country,…