Literary Analysis Short Story

Literary analysis

Many literary author use different character to represent the way people in a given period acted or behaved towards each other. An author such as Flannery O'Connor has used various characters in her short stories for various reasons. However, one factor evident in the texts is that she has portrayed them in the most negative way. Therefore, this paper is an analysis of how O'Connor stories A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Good Country People, and Everything That Rises Must Converge portray the downfall of major characters in them.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find

In the book, a good man is hard to find, O'Connor has shown the downfalls of her major characters. Firstly, Flannery uses the grandmother who the reader comes across as an...show more content...

Jun Star is the young girl who is also Bailey's daughter. She has the unusual character old being obnoxious who loudly speaks her mind and make cruel observation about those living with her. Unlike the normal appeal of little girls being sweet, honest and adorable, June Star is he exact opposite of this. For example, she does not like Bobby Lee, one of the escaped criminal and she even retorts that Lee looks like a pig. The little girl also has a terrorising character and ends up in many troubles with the family hence appearing as a mean and disrespectful little girl to the readers.

Red Sammy Butts and his wife are other characters that the author has portrayed poorly. Sammy Butts is the owner of the red tower restaurant. One of their man issue is that he n his wife are more concerned with material life and are constantly thinking about several ways of how to make more money. Since they are already rich, one would expect them to live a free and settled life. However, it is clear that they are constantly worried. For example, Sammy regrets having allowed two fellers o charge gas. At the same time, his wife worry that Misfit will attack their restaurant if he hears that there is money there. He same materialistic mind is also evident with the grandmother and his grandson.

Good Country People

Good county people are a novel that follows the steps that O'Connor has used in her other stories. She aims to show the downfall

Get more content

How have the authors, Hunter and Dahl, created a sinister tone in their short stories you have studied?

Tone is of great significance to the storyline as it portrays the reader's attitude while expressing the genre. Tony Hunter's 'Listen to the End' and Roald Dahl's 'The Landlady' both guide the audience through their violent and mysterious stories that begin with a powerless main character on a dark, shivering evening. However, through varying and distinctive techniques, the two short stories differ notably in terms of setting, characterisation, and point of view, which ultimately convey the menacing tone.

Both Hunter and Dahl use point of view and setting to form the sinister tone in their baleful narratives. Written in third...show more content... Although he is naГЇve and is entirely oblivious to the Landlady's evil. He soon queries his surroundings by memory of strange events, "There is nothing more tantalizing than thing like this that lingers just outside the borders of one's memory". Here, Dahl is motivating the readers to question the Landlady. 'Listen to the End', Hunter did not name his main character and left the girl's life unidentified. Whereas Dahl has named his character "Billy Weaver" and mentions more detail of his background and life story, which has the reader more empathy for the character.

Through various techniques featured in the texts 'Listen to the End' and 'The Landlady', Hunter and Dahl, have created two texts with similar themes, but with varying execution of techniques. 'The Landlady' begins inconspicuously, with a young travelling man searching for a hotel. Like a true ominous tale, it builds the tension slowly, through means of foreshadowing and symbolism. Through the usage of sentences from the Landlady, such as, "I knew you would", Dahl enlightens the reader with the general sense of consciousness to danger. The technique of unusual illustrations engages the active reader. Comparably, Hunter has built tension, starting early in the story with strong figurative language of gloom and misfortune. This technique brings great imagery, which allowed the reader to picture easily, and feel close to the story. For example, "The

Get more content

Literary Analysis of Two Texts

Renita Redding

Instructor: Irene Robles–Huerta

ENG 125

March 21, 2015

The short story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been", by Joyce Oates, (1966), and the poem, "What it's Like to Be a Black Girl", by Patricia Smith, (1991), are both about the coming of age of young girls and the conflicts that they encounter. The two pieces explore issues that most young girls have with their bodies and others during their puberty years. The literary elements that will be compared in this essay is imagery and symbolism. The main conflict in both pieces that will be explored is individual versus self. These literary elements and conflict will help us to explore the issues that these two individual young girls...show more content...

"First of all, it's being 9 years old and feeling like you're not finished". It's as though, the changes that are to come are going to be better than what's already been. The main change she hopes is that she will be considered beautiful because unlike Connie in the first story this 9 year old girl don't believe she's pretty at all. So she's hoping that, what's to come? Is better than what's been?

Although there are many different literary techniques used in these two pieces imagery is an element that is depicted in the both of them. Imagery is a literary technique that appeals to the senses of its readers. It gives the reader a visual of what the writer is feeling about what he or she is writing. In the poem, "What it's Like to Be a Black Girl", by Smith, (1991), imagery is used to display the writers feelings of being black and not necessary proud of being black, "it's dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence". The writer could be using the word blue as a way to depict the wanting to have beautiful blue eyes like many White women as opposed to the dark brown or black eyes that she probably possessed. Imagery is also seen in the way how the writer explains her encounter with the opposite sex. "It's finally having a man reach out for you then caving in around his fingers". It is having a man finally paying attention to you but not knowing that he only wants to control your body.

Literary Analysis Of A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Johnathan Ramirez

Dr. Klein

English 1302

15 October 2017

Literary Analysis Essay

"A Good Man is Hard to Find" tells a twisted story of a typical family going about a road trip embedded with ethical pit stops along the way. The story revolves around a cynical grandmother and how her unconventional attitude and habits set the stage for an interesting turn of events. Through manipulative antics, a prejudice character and an ironic story line, author Flannery O'Conner creates a captivating tale that shines a lights on readers' own moral codes. The author does this by making an example of a woman completely unaware of her own immoral acts.

Manipulation is a major theme in the story "A Good Man is Hard to Find". In the story, the grandmother...show more content... The second theme exhibited by the grandmother is her class and racial prejudice, as most characters in southern gothic stories do. The grandmother exudes a sense of self–righteousness that she explains is imbedded in her because she came from a good family. Throughout "A Good Man is Hard to Find" descriptions of the south come up often. Most of the images are portrayed when the grandmother is reminiscing about "In my time" and on the "plantation" (114). Her insistent attitude and obsession about visiting the plantation shows the grandmother truly enjoyed that time period and implies she had no problem with the racial segregation in that era. She remembers back to when she was a young girl and Mr. Edgar Atkins Teagarden would bring her watermelon. "but she never got the watermelon", " because a nigger boy ate it when he saw the initials E.A.T.!" (115). It is clear the grandmother feels it is appropriate to use the N word when referring to African Americans, even years after slavery era. As the grandmother glamorizes Negroes and life on the plantation, it is clear she admired the ways of the Old South, a true characteristics of Southern Gothic writing. Her stereotypical character projects a prejudice that leaves the audience uncomfortable throughout the story.

Flannery O' Connor's skillfully webs subtle ironic instances throughout the story that, later, helps readers see the bigger picture. After much debate about not traveling to

''A very short story'' by Ernest Hemingway.

Title: ''A very short story''

Author: Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961).

Source: CAPPELEN DAMM AS, Oslo 2008 – ''Access to English literature, VG3''. Anthony, Burgess, Mikkelsen & SГёrhus. Chapter 1, page 23–24.

Setting.

A lot of geographic places are mentioned in the short story, as the characters move around, however the most important part of the story is set to Padua, in northern Italy. The story is about an Italian woman, Luz, and an American soldier, so the action takes place during a war, my guess is World War one, because of the word ''armistice'' that is a word used considering WWI. More precisely, around 1918–1919 (the armistice of WWI was in 1918 and the last part of the story...show more content...

The solider doesn't get any of these letters until the armistice. When he returns, they agree he should go home to America and get a job so that they might might be married. They also agree Luz is to come over as soon as he gets a job and is able to come meet her in New York. They quarrel about Luz not being willing to come with him at once, and they have to say good–bye before having come to an proper agreement. The solider is upset about leaving like that, but he doesn't have a choice. He takes the boat back to the states, while Luz goes to Pordenone to open a new hospital. In this town, there is a batalion of arditi, and shortly after, the major makes love to Luz. She then writes to the American solider and tells him their love had only been a biy and girls affair. She tells him she still loves him, but that she has realized this love was only a boy and girl love. She also tells him she expects to get married in the spring, she believes this is for the best. The major never married her, she never got an answer to the letter she sent the solider. The story ends with the following sentence: ''A short time after he contracted gonorrhea from a salesgirl in a loop department store while riding in a taxicab through Lincoln Park'' Point of view.

The point of view is ''third–person–objective''. This means the narrator doesn't have any insight of the characters thoughts and feelings. The story is being

Literary Analysis Collection 1

Short stories have many different literary elements and, you can compare all of them. All stories have something in common and something different about them, that make them unique. The short stories, Contents of a Deadman's Pocket, The Leap, and The Trip all have elements of literature in them. The elements that are the most important are theme, characters, setting and conflict. One of the similarities between The Leap and The Tripis theme. Both stories have a theme of, sometimes taking risks can lead to a much better life. In The Leap Anna marries a new man after her first husband died in a tragic accident, which is a big risk. In the story, the narrator describes her mother's ex–husband dying as "When her hands did not meet her husbands, my mother tore her blindfold away." Anna ends up getting a daughter that she loves very much and realizes the risk of marrying someone new was a great thing, and it paid off. In The Trip, Murad takes a dangerous boat from Morocco to Spain to find a new job illegally. On page forty–nine Murad describes the experience as "The six–meter Zodiac inflatable is meant to accommodate eight people, thirty huddle in it now, men, women and children all with the anxious look..." Murad does not make it but, when he tries again he is determined to make his life right for his family, because he know it will change his family's life forever. Murad knows that this big risk he is taking will eventually be the best decision he

Get more content

Psychoanalysis In order to understand the true meaning of some stories we must understand the what psychoanalysis is. Psychoanalysis was thought up by a man know as Sigmund Freud also know as the Founding Father of Psychoanalysis. Being a major cocaine addict, his theories were often ridiculed and were thought to be perceived as hallucinations as a result of the cocaine use. Freud's theories however sparked an all new era of Psychology. Although Freud's theories seemed very radical, when put into life situations they actually make perfect sense. Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism refers to literary criticism or literary theory which, in method, concept, or form, is influenced by the tradition of psychoanalysis begun by Sigmund Freud....show more content...

Using the staff to show this works symbolically, but it does not address the sexual aspect of Freud's theory. Young Goodman Brown uses the staff as a phallic symbol to symbolize the sexual urges Brown experiences in his fight to remain faithful. In his defeat, the staff exposes the conflict underneath of good and evil as another fight altogether. This battle actually compliments the struggle between God and Satan. It is the fight of purity and holiness of the spirit in conflict against the lustful wants and corruptive thoughts of the mind and body. In Freudian terms, it is the struggle for supremacy between the id and superego. Ultimately, Goodman Brown allows his id to dominate the ego, which also allows the forces of evil to win. Young Goodman Brown uses the text to expose human corruptibility and moral impurity. Without these faults, however, there could be no humanity, and without the guiding light of God, humanity would have nothing for which to hope and pray. The Red Death, a disease that has plagued the country where the The Masque of The Red Death takes place. It causes its victims to die quickly and gruesomely. Although the disease is running rampant throughout the land, Prince Prospero feels happy and hopeful. He decides to lock him and his friends in the castle to ward off the disease, ignoring the rest of the population. After several months have passed,

Get more content

The short story and Essay writing

Short stories are mainly written to grab the reader's attention and thus make them reflect and become drawn into the story even more. So why is a short story important? They are important and effective due to the fact that any reader can relate to the story or a particular character as they can be universal. In this TMA I will be tracing the elements of conflicts within the three short stories. These conflicts will consist of man vs man, man vs society and man vs nature. Furthermore, I will talk about the internal and external conflicts in the stories in the following paragraphs.

There are many different types of conflicts within the short stories such as the man vs man in...show more content...

It coincidentally happens to be that Jimmy was working as a police patrol in that area where they planned on meeting. After meeting a man at the appointed place, Jimmy realises that it is in fact his friend Bob. However, he does not reveal himself to him as he learns that his' friend' is a wanted thief in Chicago, this can be supported by the image of Bob as he is said to be dressed well and wearing 'large diamonds' on his scarf. Jimmy leaves bob and sends another police officer in normal clothing pretending to be his friend, he knows as a police officer he is supposed to arrest him but he just couldn't do that to his long lost friend hence why he sends another man. Although, Bob senses that the sent man does not look like Jimmy, he continuous in engaging in the conversation with him. Theshort story unfolds with Bob being arrested by the man and at the same time being handed over a note. It states in the note that Bob in fact did meet his friend (Jimmy) the police officer, that met up with him and he goes on by explaining that he recognised Bob's face to be a wanted man from Chicago. Nevertheless, he could not bear to arrest his friend and that's why he sent another man to do it for

Get more content