The Journey Within

Alchemist, a story about Santiago, a young shepherd boy who longingly yearns to fill the missing void in his life as he sets out for his journeys. He is finding freedom in himself and discovering his “Personal Legend” through these facets of self-discovery and lessons of life learned upon his journey, Santiago is able to mature by virtue of coming of age journeys that change his perspectives on life as he is becoming an adult. In the Alchemist, Coelho explores the reader to the character of…

It is common for a journey to be represented in a story, but for what reason? What purpose does it serve? George Orwell uses the journey in his autobiographical short story, Shooting an Elephant to develop our awareness of life's struggles, through the inner conflict faced by Orwell. The book is set in the British colony of Burma, and it details Orwell's physical and mental journey of completing the aforementioned task of shooting an elephant. The story is written in first person, and is a…

cooking meth has put the family house up as bond for his release from a potential jail sentence. She seeks her father and no one in the Dolly tribe will tell her where he is. She takes her journey to the final limit and finds him dead. Ree Dolly, does not give it up to find her father and embarks on a journey through the meth-addled and dealing with poverty of the Missouri Ozarks. The film explores…

difficulties in life, we experience growth and change as people. In her sensational poem, “Crossing the Swamp,” Mary Oliver shows how growth and change are capable in the complicated, messy hardships we encounter. In her poem, the speaker’s experiences within the swamp is desperate yet grateful, revealing how growth and change are capable. Oliver transports the reader into the position of the speaker through the metaphor of a swamp and repetition, revealing how similar we must pull ourselves…

paths of enlightenment to follow. Hesse uses Siddhartha’s interactions with other characters and his internal thoughts to help develop the major theme that enlightenment is found from within. During Siddhartha’s quest for enlightenment, other characters help him realize what enlightenment actually means. On his journey, Siddhartha comes across…

incorporation of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth and Carl Jung’s Archetypes within Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things, and William Butler Yeats’ “The Second Coming” promotes the discussion of the frailty, strength, kindness, and cruelty of humanity and how literature portrays these ideas and themes. In literature, the protagonist often acts as the hero or heroine and embarks upon a journey in order to achieve their ultimate goal, the “Holy Grail,” which…

Heroic Characteristics in Candide and The Journey to the West What does it take to be considered a hero? In ancient literature one can become a hero in many different ways. The culture and era in which a literary work is created has a strong effect on the heroic figure. As literature evolved throughout time and cultures, a hero and villain could have similar actions but be portrayed completely different. A literary hero is defined as, “A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose,…

The Dark Realities of Humanity Journeys are taken every day, by every person on this planet. These journeys could be simple and physical, without much meaning and could include traveling to school or work every morning. They could be spiritual--in hopes of finding the meaning of one’s life. On the other hand, they could also be psychological--an exploration of the mysterious parts of humanity. In both “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Raven,” written by Edgar Allen Poe, the truth behind the…

talking about medicine in solely the physical sense of the word. Wagamese also brings the perspective of a journey into the title through the use of the verb “Walk”. After analysing the true meaning of the title, readers can begin to look at how the medicine is working to counteract the predominant poisons within the novel, alcohol and sorrow. Through the use of storytelling along the journey into the backcountry both Eldon, and his son, Frank, are given the opportunity to finally come to terms…

of a novel or poem. In Dante’s The Inferno, literary devices provide the reader with a clear explanation of the journey through hell in order to better comprehend eternal punishment. TS Dante uses imagery in order to give the reader a pictorial aid of the actions within hell. Ex1 Sound imagery in Canto 3 displays the Opportunists torment, allowing the reader to explore the sounds within hell. Elab The first souls Dante meets are those in the Vestibule of Hell. These souls are not in hell; they…