Nathaniel Branden

Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites sees Agnes Magnúsdóttir condemned by her community for murder. As an educated, but socially lower-caste woman, Agnes is unable to escape her fate once the community view her as undeniably guilty. This inability to escape her fate, leads readers such as myself to consider the extent of which the stereotyping associated with gender is influential in determining one’s fate. However, it appears there is also the possibility of the individual changing their fate through…

Loss of innocence can be a result from conflict and is something that everyone experiences. The following writers give an example of how it can change us forever. Blackberry Picking shows Seamus Heaney looking back on a childhood pastime of picking blackberries where eventually he feels guilty over the unnecessary amount he gathers. Similarly, Death of a Naturalist also written by Heaney is about the narrator stealing frog spawn. The idea of war is hinted at and the effects of the loss of…

risk? The two books The Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, are both set during Puritan time establishments. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Arthur Miller do a remarkable job of illustrating what the typical Puritan society is like. In the two pieces, risk is a common theme in order to illustrate how Puritan society dealt with matters in contradiction to the religion. In the Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne very early in the novel as “. . . perfect elegance on a large scale,”(51)…

Desiree and Kezia, a different age, a different time , a different nationality, but yet two very similar stories. Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby and The Doll’s House to Katherine Mansfield both present a cruel and merciless world which people cannot be treated equally and fairly. Both injurers and victims are suffering from discrimination and everyone has the duty to stop and prevent the discrimination. Both Katherine Mansfield and Kate Chopin use the literary device which is irony to express…

In this novel Steinbeck strongly emphasizes on character analysis and symbolism. Throughout the entire book, he uses symbolism to express the characters as well as give the readers a better idea of the setting. Symbolism can be used for various topics in this book. Steinbeck also uses symbolism to describe the time period this novel takes place. This gives more depth to the characters and events taking place in the novel. This book takes place during the great depression therefore a lot of the…

Both Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible contain crucial themes that build the backbone of their plots. “A single lie destroys a whole reputation of integrity” was once said by Baltasar Gracián, a Spanish writer, and could be applied to each book, as they show the importance, value, and power of a name or reputation. Although the main themes of reputation ring throughout the book, the motifs play just as critical of a role. For example, revenge and the…

How does Hawthorne use Dimmesdale's character to help emphasize the hypocrisy of the puritan society? Puritan society of the 1800s saw the world in black and white, good or bad, right or wrong. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Dimmesdale’s character, who is a minister in a puritan society, to highlight how this simplistic view of the world is full of hypocrisy. In a society that does not see people for the multiple dimensions they have, individuals are easily painted in…

Both of these poems cover the theme of a hierarchy. However, they cover it in different ways. In his poem, Owen takes a more analogical approach, drawing parallels between the biblical story of Abram and Isaac and the governmental faculty of the first world war. However, throughout the poem, he makes several deviations from said story, rather than fire and wood, he uses using “fire and iron”, which were the materials used to make guns. Sitwell chooses to display it in a more realistic fashion,…

Overcoming Sin and Shame Nathaniel Hawthorne conveys the theme of overcoming sin and shame by benevolent actions and deeds in The Scarlet Letter through the use of different symbols like the scarlet letter, Pearl, and the forest. Hester’s scarlet letter “A” starts off with being a symbol of sin, shame, and wrong doing but, by the end of the novel turned into a symbol of her identity that people came to respect. Pearl is like a living symbol of Hester’s scarlet letter where at first was the…

Point of View in “To Build a Fire” and “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” In “To Build a Fire” by Jack London and “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” by Toni Cade Bambara, the authors explore the idea of human flaws through their storytelling. In each story, the author conveys the flaws of various characters and how they affect themselves and others. Although the narrators in “To Build a Fire” and “Blues Ain’t No Mockin Bird” are portrayed very differently, both stories achieve their objectives by allowing…