Leo Kanner

Leo Tolstoy and James Joyce both use the aspect of light and darkness as symbols in their stories to represent the characters and their feelings. In The Death of Ivan and Ilyich, one of the symbols Tolstoy uses is the black sack. This sack was a long narrow sack that was never ending and the character in the story, Ivan, experiences going through this black sack twice. The first time he experiences going through this sack was right after he was given a medicine, opium. Ivan falls into the black…

When I first started the semester, the only real exposure I had to any of the arts was the music I listened to, two art museums and Bharatanatyam, a classical dance from India. Many events and readings later, I find myself with more insight in the arts. I have much more appreciation for all of the various arts, specifically ballet, opera, and the orchestra. Prior to this semester, I always held a biased disinterest in these types of performances due to the fact that I didn 't feel the need to…

Makai Knights, a loveable Alchemist, and the Slow-Cooking Presentation Notwithstanding, Garo is not a good description of the Makai Knights in general, these noble warriors serve deities who are neither lovable nor efficient. I appreciated the conflicting nature of these Knights: Sworn to never use their power against normal humans, these Knights oddly enough use the same power of the horrors in their armor that they fight against. Not to say Garo convolutes morality in this world, only which…

There are many competing notions regarding what it means to be human. As humans, we strive to get the most of this life, thus to live “the good life”. The question arises, what type of life brings us the greatest meaning? Many philosophers and thinkers have tried to answer this, and have composed strikingly different conceptions. Some of the most notable thinkers are Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Hobbes. Both try to provide the most accurate representation of the human being. Through…

He was afraid of that sack, yet wanted to fall through” (99). The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy, is the story of a man who cares for nothing but worldly achievements and self-seeking happiness. Completely engrossed in his career, Ivan gives no thought to his spiritual life, and, as a result, the idea of death never crosses his mind—until death knocks on his door. When death stares Ivan in the face and laughs at his helplessness , Ivan can do nothing but pity himself, seeing no escape from…

philosophical movement to modify the old traditional beliefs with modern society. Modern literary writers often represent the world as a fragmented and chaotic place that has lost the faith the previous generations once had. Two such modern authors are Leo Tolstoy who wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych and Joseph Conrad who wrote Heart of Darkness. It may seem that these two novels have a lot of differences, but they are more similar than some would think. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Heart of…

Zorz Sari’s novel Κόκκινη κλωστή δεμένη is once again an exception. As it was mentioned in the previous chapter, this largely autobiographical novel was published in 1974 three years after the publication of the also autobiographical novel Όταν ο Ήλιος…. In these novels Sari reflects on her personal experience from the period of the Occupation, while her trilogy on History is completed with the novel Οι νικητές (The winners) set in the period of the Dekemvriana and published in 1983. Most of…

Women have always struggled to break through an invisible glass ceiling that separates them from their goals. Women are kept from attaining higher positions in business, they are kept from studying math and science, and are deterred from playing certain sports. However, once upon a time women were kept from being themselves. Many women were discouraged from trying to learn at all, instead kept in the confines of the home. Virginia Woolf’s “What if Shakespeare Had Had a Sister?” brings to light…

Have you ever been in a toxic environment? I’m not talking about the nuclear toxic either, but rather the one where you’re forced to be around people that are no good for you. Tobias Wolff, author of This Boy’s Life, was stuck in one as a young boy. His mother was known to pick out bad boyfriends and settled with one named Dwight, who is probably the worst one mentioned. He seems to have a strange aura around him and it shows through the way he treats Tobias. There are many more people in this…

Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society. According to dictionary.com, nonviolent resistance is the “refusal to obey a law considered unjust” (dictionary.com). Throughout history, this type of resistance has been used in a positive manner to help maintain a free society. Ranging from walking for salt to taking bus seats, these protests resulted in positive changes for the many and proved to those still facing oppression that violence is never the answer. Mohandas Gandhi is…