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between shades of gray essay Sacrifice is the act of giving up something for another's benefit. Ruta Sepetys is the author of the novel, Between Shades of Gray, she creates historical fiction that contains many examples of sacrifice. This essay will focus on the various cases of sacrifice evident in each of the three sections of the novel entitled Thieves and Prostitutes, Maps and Snakes, and Ice and Ashes. The theme of sacrifice is apparent early in the novel. During the end of chapter seven,…

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and Thelma and Louise (1999) are both similar in that they are both strong feminist texts, addressing and discussing the issues of women’s rights in early and modern society. To represent this issue, as well as others within the text, both employ the use of characterisation, the development of the protagonists, and themes. Characters in the two texts play an important role in expressing the limited freedoms and rights of women and the societal conventions they are…

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…

"Excuse me, sir," said the police officer, "We found your son hundreds of miles away in London with your ex-wife and the homewrecker." Christopher, a 15-year-old boy in the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time written by Mark Haddon, runs away proceeding a string of life changing events such as the stabbing of an innocent pouch. By analyzing the conflict, symbols, motifs, theme, characters of the novel, and looking at the story through the psychoanalytical lens,…

In the book “The Work: My search for a life that matters" by Wes Moore, he interviews many people who have found a balance between doing something that matters to them and doing something to help others. One of these stories is about a woman by the name of Esther Benjamin. Esther was born in a small village of Sri Lanka in May 1969. Her dad was a Methodist minister and Old Testament theologian and her mother had a college education and was a very talented athlete. In an area of the world…

This excerpt from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar describes the main character’s feelings that madness separates her from the outside world. Referring to those feelings as the “bell jar,” Plath explores the themes of reality, sexuality, and femininity. Plath also creates a tone of hopelessness and gloom as the main character battles with suicidal depression. Esther Greenwood is full of academic promise and ambition. She should be thrilled with her progress towards her career, but she feels…

American author, Ralph Ellison, once wrote, “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” In The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, the main character Esther is left at loose ends when the novel ends as to whether or not she will be released from a mental institution. As the reader follows Esther’s descent and ascension from her mental illness, it is wholly unclear as to what will become of her at the end; however, it is heavily implied that Esther is released from the mental hospital because of the…

Historical fiction. A two letter word a genre that wasn’t my style. I decided to read Between Shades Of Gray written by Ruta Sepetys, because of all the miraculous books reviews I have read on good reads. At first, I was worried, I’m the type of girl that reads books that are meant to teach a lesson, books that will change my life, I thought to myself how will Between Shades Of Gray change me? I have never been more amiss about a genre in my life. Between Shades Of Gray ultimately made me into…

The Bell Jar is about a story of a young, brilliant and enormously talented woman and her struggles as she grows up in a foreign country, America. This short autobiographical novel details six months in the life of its protagonist, Esther Greenwood and the events of Sylvia Plath's twentieth year; about how she tried to die, and how they stuck her together with glue. In the narrative's opening chapter, Esther, an over-achieving college student, is spending an unhappy summer as a guest editor for…

A young woman searching for her very own identity in a society where basic values are less likely to be tampered with. In "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, she faces horrific mental, physical, and emotional breakdowns throughout her life to figure out her purpose. Esther Greenwood's dreams and aspirations are smothered by her demanding environment and impinging madness. Esther is probable to fall into a crisis or two and lose her courage to live life. In "The Bell Jar", Esther seeks out crisis…