The Grotesque

Power. Wealth. Fame. Dreams can provide the motivation to obtain all of these, while still leaving a person desperate to achieve the one unattainable something that will make their American Dream become reality. This is described in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which relays the turbulent lives of five young socialites over the space of one summer. Narrated by a young man named Nick Carraway, the plot focuses on Jay Gatsby, who is irrevocably in love with a married woman, Daisy…

are shared within all three of these pieces of literature. In these Edgar Allen Poe short stories, two recognizable themes and one analytical element are shown to be similar. In “Ligeia”, “Berenice”, and “The Black Cat”, a common theme is a mental grotesque, a common theme is transformations, and an analytical element…

Song of Roland is an exemplary citation of the content that would have been deemed worthy of a chanson de geste. This type of poetry is that of the French, where it was their goal to bolster their troops to defeat the pagans in the gruesome and grotesque Crusades. These poems were recited so courage and bravery could be glorified and encouraged so that the soldiers would have clear examples of what they should do for their country. In the Song of Roland, there is a plethora of benevolent,…

In a modern society where all forms of media are inundated by violence, one becomes relatively hardened to violence in mass media. However, “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy will still jolt the modern reader out of complacency. Written as a sort of anti-Western epic, “Blood Meridian” follows its protagonist, “the kid” as he drifts through the southwest in the 1800s. The kid eventually joins an outlaw band of Indian hunters who have a taste for blood and violence like no other. As the story…

Reading the first volume of Frankenstein, I felt sympathy towards Victor because of his many losses beginning with his mother, and then his brother. During the scenes regarding the death, created a sympathy for Victor because, the passing occurred before he was away in university. Thus, I felt sympathy because of his distance from his family, he cannot but help think about the loss. Therefore, I felt Victor’s creation of his monster, help him grieve from his mother’s loss, because he combines…

What is the plot of this story? Use your own words to summarize the plot in one thorough paragraph: The plot of the story is about a prince named Prince Prospero. Prince Prospero was a very rich man. There was a illness spreading rapidly throughout their town killing everyone. The illness was called the red death and was described as fatal and hideous. The Prince thought the only escape from the red death was to lock himself away in his castle with many of his friends. To pass time they drank…

Federal and state governments have experienced a significant discrepancy in the practice of criminality reprimand. The definition of “cruel and unusual punishments” has been subjectively determined, leaving the decision of what constitutes as cruel or unusual to each state in America. This debacle results in thirty-two states allowing the death penalty, while eighteen states believe the death penalty contradicts the civil rights and liberties of its citizens. The Eighth Amendment, which states,…

story “A Good Man is hard to Find” describes a grandmother stuck in the past. She believes the world is in ruins, wishing she could go back and relive in the time she that was to her satisfaction. Southern gothic literature often focuses on the grotesque aspects of society at the time. The grandmother criticizes the grandchildren’s rude behavior, the misfit’s gruesome acts and the fact that no one enjoys the same things she does. The point she is trying to make is that contemporary society is…

surrounded by a diverse group of odd yet endearing characters. Ignatius and the ensemble of eccentric characters portray the painful truths of everyday life, such as racial and class inequality, in the most hilarious way possible. Ignatius, the grotesque gluttonous genius, in his journey of absurd misadventures in turn points out how absurd society looks, looking up and wanting to move up. With the very notion of optimism nauseating him, calling it “perverse” and suggesting that we…

comparable tone and mood consistent with her usual writing style. Both of these stories fit in with the Southern Gothic genre which has a very unique feeling. This type of literature often utilizes supernatural elements and irregularity of the grotesque focusing on people from Southern United States and their innate Christianity. Southern Gothic writing holds a focus on eccentric characters as well as moody and unsettling events. “A Good Man is Hard to Find” has become one of the most famous…