Mode of production

Sigmund Freud, a psychologist and sociologist in the 20th century, believed that self-description is rarely a true representation of one’s self because real motives are disguised by conscious thoughts preventing honesty (McLeod). People are inclined to present themselves as more interesting, and in turn believe others are naturally just as amusing. For example, someone in possession of silk from India sounds adventurous or exotic, but the reality could be that the silk from India was actually…

In the short story, It Would be Different If by Maggie Mitchell, the story takes place in Canada in the 80’s. The story is told in a first person narrative, but in an unreliable narration. “I’m trying to figure out what boat you are in,” (Mitchell, 169) as the narrator dwells on a past relationship, readers can get the sense of attachment and obsession for a man that is no longer hers. The main character Nikki, draws out an image of the fantasized life she is living, waiting on Jeff to be…

Odili’s imminent struggle within “A Man of the People,” written by Chinua Achebe, to narrate the various complexities of power and morality between the ruler and ruled can be seen throughout use presence of inaccurate, retrospective narrative; as well as irony, parody and allegories such as altruism versus self-interest as well as compliance versus coercion. The search for meaning in the New Nation, therefore, is perceived to be unfixed, and the definitions of morality and power are blurred by…

“The Sisters” and “Araby” strongly differentiate their narrators when it comes to the inner stream of consciousness and psyche. Joyce’s approach to giving color to the inner sides of his characters is remarkable, with the modernistic style embracing elements of older, more classical spots in his writings. When it comes to these two works in particular, the way the reader is absorbed by the world the author intended to create differs from one text to the other. The shallow psychoanalytical…

Setting plays an important role in novels. Setting can affect the way a character acts within a story. Settings can create different moods within a story which can also affect the way a character acts. Other characters within the story can affect the way another character talks and acts. “While I’m writing, I become that character, whether it is Jack in Behind Closed Doors,” says Paris in an interview. In Behind Closed Doors the main character, Jack, speaks, talks and acts different depending…

"Important themes are often expressed in key moments in texts." -Tal Adler The important theme of identity is expressed by the authors of my comparative texts through the use of their respective techniques with the effective use of key moments to heighten my awareness of its presence. During my comparative course, I have studied ‘The Spinning Heart’ by Donal Ryan (TSH), ‘A Doll’s House’, (ADH) a three-act play in prose by Henrik Ibsen, and ‘The King’s Speech’, (TKS) directed by Tom…

There are many things that Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King’s narrators have in common and many things that are different. There will be only one similarity and one difference between the narrators explained in this essay. The narrators of The Black Cat and The Man in the Black Suit have similar points of view, however Poe’s difference of reliability results in the audience questioning the story. The role of narrator is used in the same point of view, first person, in both The Black Cat and…

In the novel “Fahrenheit 451”, Montag is influenced by the characters. The characters of part 1 (Clarisse and undefined women) starts to change Montag. After he change in part 1, Montag is still influenced by the characters in part 2 and 3. Also Montag’s character change connects to the theme of humanity. The society of the novel impacts Montag gradually; he is dragged everywhere until he makes his own decision. In part 1 of the novel, characters including Clarisse and the women who…

Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion is a novel that seems to centralize the majority of its language on a single main character. Due to the fact that we are only able to see into the mind of the main character, Maria, it can be argued that this novel only essentially has one character with the rest are just simply filling space. This begs the question, would William Gass argue that Maria is simply a linguistic location in Didion's novel? After all, "a character for [Gass] is any linguistic…

Critical Lens Essay Harper Lee, in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird wrote, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” In other words, to fully understand someone’s point of view, you must put yourself into their situation. This statement holds true in most literary settings, as to make sense of a character’s actions and thought process; you must consider their situation and their past…