The Way of a Pilgrim

many. Seemingly a part of human nature since the beginning of civilization, the root of these insecurities comes from the loneliness experienced both in the mind and the soul. In Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, solitude can be looked at in many ways, however the probable madness which ensues remains an immutable constant throughout the novel. At one point in the story, Conrad bluntly addresses the inevitability of human desolation, writing “We live, as we dream– alone…” (30). Here, Conrad…

motifs expressed within this poster describe why Billy Pilgrim feels the need to fabricate an artificial reality of which he uses to escape his true sorrow filled life. Starting off with the main focal point, the viewer will see an image of a scraggly soldier. This soldier is supposed to represent the main character in the…

William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation recount the founding of two unique settlements. John Smith was an influential member of the Jamestown settlement. Further north, William Bradford assisted in founding the Plymouth settlement along with the Pilgrims. While these are not the only authors of earlier American travel narratives, certainly their books contribute an essential part to the study of this genre. A travel narrative contains certain elements that differentiate them from other works.…

holy palmers too? Juliet: Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in pray’r. Romeo: O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do, They pray—grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. Juliet: Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake. Romeo: Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg’d. Kissing her. Romeo went up to Juliet and touched her hand and used a religious metaphor that Juliet is a saint and Romeo is a pilgrim who wants to get rid of his…

writers create great stories. In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer writes about the different classes of pilgrims. He has a narrator, Harry Bailey, who speaks highly of the knight but does not care about the Summoner. Bailey tells all the pilgrims that each will have the opportunity to tell a story of which they desire and whoever has the best story will get a dinner paid by the pilgrims. Throughout the stories, women are described as men’s pleasure. Chaucer uses characterization and…

The "Wife of Bath's Tale" was written long ago in the 1380's. One of Geoffrey Chaucer's most famous works was The Canterbury Tales, which was a collection of stories told by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. The pilgrims were to tell two stories, on the way there and on the way back. A free feast was to go to the pilgrim with the best story. One of the most interesting stories was the "Wife of Bath's Tale." In Chaucer's short tale, it features fairies, magic, king and queens. One…

Beginning in the late 15th and 16th centuries, slave trade became quite popular in the slaves’ home country of Africa, where they were strictly imprisoned and horribly mistreated, as represented by the 18th century writings of Mungo Park and Olauda Equiano. Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer who voyaged to Africa’s interior. During his visit, Park witnessed the African slave trade in action. His accounts led him to produce Travels to the Interior Districts of Africa. In his writings Park…

Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut presents the protagonist Billy Pilgrim in a series of time shifts that range from him being a small youth to an old man. As a result of these frequent shifts in space and time one may be inclined to think that Vonnegut doesn’t permit readers to get a full grasp of who Billy Pilgrim is and what exactly is going on. While the plot deviates from the conventional linear structure it does not hinder our understanding of who Billy Pilgrim is but rather gives more…

female” (Thickstun 439-40). Within the framing device of the dream-vision, which presents the dream as a text to be interpreted, both parts describe that journey literally: each pilgrim leaves the City of Destruction and proceeds on foot toward the Celestial City, but while Christiana also enters at the wicket gate, following the way that Christian travelled before her, her experience of the journey differs radically from his. Christian fled the City of Destruction suddenly and alone; Christiana…

about the Knight. Each character had a little something about them that was different from the others, but a lot of them shared one of the same seven deadly sins and their status in society. In The Prologue, Chaucer talks about each pilgrim that will be on their way to Canterbury, a total of twenty nine characters are mentioned.…