Study Like a Boss
The title is derived from Bradbury’s opinion that book paper catches fire and burns at temperature of Fahrenheit 451. Depending on paper type the temperature of burning can vary from 440 to 740 ºF. Fahrenheit 451 was written and published in 1953. It took nine days for Bradbury to finish the first draft called The … Read more
Bradbury’s prose is overflowing with symbols and Fahrenheit 415 is not an exception. Fire – a destructive force at the beginning, a tool of reinforcement and punishment, accompanied by night, black uniforms of firemen and smell of kerosene. At the end of the novel Bradbury gives another interpretation of fire, as a source of warmth, comfort … Read more
“Surely you remember the boy in your own school class who was exceptionally ‘bright,’ did most of the reciting and answering while the others sat like so many leaden idols, hating him. And wasn’t it this bright boy you selected for beatings and tortures after hours? Of course it was. We must all be alike. … Read more
The main theme of Fahrenheit 451 is censorship and the declining level of mass culture against the background of increasing government control over citizens. The novel was published in 1953, with its nuclear hysteria, Cold War, book burning by Nazis and Stalin’s “Great Purge” that horrified Bradbury. For him love for books means intellectualism and … Read more
Guy Montag Guy Montag is a protagonist, a loyal citizen who doubts the way of his life and ends up as a criminal and exile. He is thirty years old, a fireman in third generation and perfectly fit for his job, actually enjoying it for ten years – it’s somehow balances his unhappy marriage with … Read more
Fahrenheit 451 can be boiled down to a story of a man in course of soul searching, but, as it usually happens with Ray Bradbury’s works, the reader is completely immersed into his fictitious world outlined with creepy detalization. The timeline is XXIV century, and life in this period is fast and depreciated. In Part … Read more
Important Themes The Destruction of Identity Under Slavery The novel is largely about the horrors of slavery. But the erosion of the self emerges as a central theme. Even after characters escape slavery, they are haunted by the effects of the violence and dehumanizing brutality. Paul D loses his ability to have any real feelings for … Read more
The Sea is an embodiment of Nature. Santiago and other fishermen see themselves as a part of it and respect this source of nourishment and potential menace, for the sea is the force beyond anyone’s control. Marlin is the symbol of victory and reward in many senses. The parallel to Herman Melvil’s “Moby Dick” is … Read more
He was asleep in a short time and he dreamed of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great brown mountains. He lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard … Read more
The Old Man and the Sea is a multi-level text, where themes are naturally emerging from each other. The simplest example are relations between Santiago and Manolin that can be considered as tutoring, support, encouragement and so on. More interesting is the theme of Santiago’s attitude to the sea. He refers to it as “la … Read more
Santiago Santiago, whose name is mentioned only several times, is an old skillful fisherman who had seen much better days. It is not his fault that he is now alone and seemingly had lost his luck. He stubbornly tries to catch a big fish that he would be able to sell, so tunas and dolphins … Read more
The Old Man and the Sea starts with a description of an old man, Santiago, a fisher who spent eighty-four days without any fare. Local fishermen had already defined him as “salao”, a pathetic loser. Of course, it is offensive for Santiago who spent all his life at the sea and travelled a lot while being … Read more
Summary The book begins as Alice is sitting with her pet kitten, Kitty, who is playing with a ball of string. Alice tells Kitty a story about “Looking-Glass House,” a magical world on the other side of the mirror where everything is backwards. Suddenly, Alice finds herself on the mantel piece. She walks through the … Read more
Summary It’s been ten years since the fall of Troy, and Odysseus the Greek hero has yet to return to his kingdom in Ithaca. An anxious crowd of suitors have swarmed his palace and destroyed his land, they attempt to court his wife, Penelope, who remains loyal to her absent husband. The son of Odysseus, … Read more
Summary The story begins as Alice is sitting by a river bank on a summer day. As she is reading she sees over her sister’s shoulder, a White Rabbit in a waistcoat running by. The White Rabbit pulls a watch out of his pocket and says that he is late. With that, he jumps into … Read more
Characters and Analysis Eliezer Eliezer is the narrator of Night and is, in essence, a pseudo-persona of the book’s author, Elie Wiesel. Night follows Eliezer’s psychosomatic and troubling journey, as the Holocaust steals his humanity, robbing him of his faith in God and takes him deep into the pits of despair. Despite many experiences that would cause even the … Read more
Characters and Analysis Odysseus The hero of the Odyssey. Odysseus fought alongside the other Greek kings at Troy and now struggles to escape his imprisonment and return to his family in Ithaca. King Odysseus is married to Queen Penelope, the two have a son named Prince Telemachus. Despite being strong and brave, he is most … Read more
Themes Patriarchy The republic of Gilead is a patriarchal regime and upon its rise to power, women are its first victims. The laws implemented by Gilead start by firing all women from their jobs, then transferring their funds to the male of the family, then depriving them from education. Even the Aunts who are the … Read more
Themes and Symbols Physical and Emotional Burdens: The ‘things’ in The Things They Carried are both figurative and literal. While every character carries a heavy physical load, they also all carry tremendous emotional baggage; grief, love, terror, longing, etc. The physical burden carried by each man underscores the emotional burden. For example, Henry Dobbins carries around a pair … Read more
Characters and Analysis Ponyboy Curtis Ponyboy is the fourteen year old narrator of the Outsiders. He is the story’s main protagonist, and the youngest member of the greasers. His keen interest in literature and strong academic prowess set him apart from the rest of his friends. Since the death of his parents, Ponyboy has lived … Read more
Characters and Analysis Hamlet The protagonist and the Prince of Denmark. Hamlet is the son of King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude. He is also the nephew of the new king, Claudius. Though charged by the ghost of his dead father to avenge his murder, Hamlet is caught up in his own intellectualizing and self-doubt to act … Read more
Themes The Sacrificial Role of Women A Doll’s House draws a drab portrayal of the role in life of women from all walks of life. The female characters in the play demonstrate Nora’s assertion that ‘even though men refuse to sacrifice their integrity, hundreds of thousands of women have.’ Kristine also indicated that she had sacrificed her own … Read more
Themes Greed Greed is the main evil force that the parable is meant to warn against. The doctor is greedy and only treats Coyotito after hearing of Kino’s pearl. The pearl dealers are greedy and want to trick Kino into selling his pearl for less than it’s worth. The town’s people are Kino’s neighbors in … Read more
Nora: Nora is the main character of the play, she is married to Torvald Helmer. At first, Nora is depicted as being playful, almost childlike, and lacking of the ways of the world outside of her sitting room window. She does possess some experience, however, evident in her small acts of rebellion that are used to … Read more
Prince Hamlet has been summoned home to Denmark to attend his father’s funeral. He is in a state of mourning and despair over the death of his father. He is further disturbed that his mother, Queen Gertrude, has married his uncle, Claudius, who is also the brother of the late king. Hamlet sees this as … Read more
The shortest of Dickens’ novels, Hard Times, was also, until quite recently, the least regarded of them. The comedy is savagely and scornfully sardonic, to the virtual exclusion of the humour – that delighted apprehension of and rejoicing in idiosyncrasy and absurdity for their own sakes, which often cuts right across moral considerations and which … Read more
Dante crafted his Commedia in such a manner as to encompass as many opposing yet intertwining disciplines as possible, thus allowing a variety of readers emotions to be aroused, while still pulling through his own beliefs shaped by his political experiences and belief in Christianity. Using his own established literary style, Dante explores the disciplines … Read more
Hamlet one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, where the young prince of Denmark must uncover the truth about his fathers death. Hamlet a play that tells the story of a young prince who’s father recently died. Hamlets uncle Claudius marries his mother the queen and takes the throne. As the play is told Hamlet finds out … Read more
History can be found through stories, books, poems and other literary works. Examples of the lifestyles, society, aesthetics, philosophical values, politics and economics can be found and are shown in all works and writings. Authors of all times reveal the attitudes around them every time they write. The Anglo-Saxon period dates back to 449 to … Read more
The Mill on the Floss is a book written by George Eliot, whose real name is Mary Anne (later Marian) Evans. There is a great deal of autobiography in this book. The facts of Mary Anne’s life do not match Maggie Tulliver, but there is an obvious reflection of her own life. Book One: Chapter1-13 … Read more
The speaker in Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken gives the reader insight into human nature with each line of poetry. While, Frost had not originally intended for this to be an inspirational poem, line by line, the speaker is encouraging each reader to seek out his or her own personal path in the journey … Read more
In the play, Death of a Salesman , Arthur Miller depicts a typical dysfunctional family. This is Arthur Miller’s best-known and most important problem play. It is a symbolic and in part expressionistic, and it challenges the American values concerning success. Willy Loman is a salesman who after thirty-four years of being on the road, … Read more
In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, the first person narration is critical in helping the reader to know and understand the main character, Holden Caulfield. Holden, in his narration, relates a flashback of a significant period of his life, three days and nights on his own in New York City. Through his … Read more
The first sentence of the novel, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin, foreshadows the end of the book. She writes, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a good wife”. At first, readers would understand this in one way. However, in … Read more
The three witches in the tragedy Macbeth are introduced right at the beginning of the play. They recount to Macbeth three prophesies. That Macbeth will be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis and King. These prophesies introduce Macbeth to ideas of greatness. Macbeth will eventually follow through on killing king Duncan, a destruction of the … Read more
In the novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, the author uses many minor characters. Although labelled “minor”, these characters contribute fully, and are essential to the depth and excitement of the novel. Three such characters are: Miss Pross, Gaspard, and Jerry Cruncher. These three characters take on a couple different roles, depending … Read more
In mythology there are numerous epic hero’s including Perseus, Odysseus, and Theseus. Some of the qualities of epic hero’s are: values honor and glory, usually has a guide, sometimes makes rash decisions and takes unnecessary risks and more. Odysseus has all these Epic hero qualities. In the Myth the Odyssey, Odysseus is the epic hero … Read more
This novel takes place at a farm, which its name is Manor Farm, whos owned by Mr. Jones. He a drunk that never really took care of his animals. There was a Boar that lived on the farm his name was Old Major. He is twelve years old, had lately grown rather stout, majestic- looking … Read more
The art of deception many times changes the current conditions or plays a significant role in the end result of literary works. In Othello and The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus shows how deception changes the identity of individuals and the outcome of certain events. There is a juxtaposition between the characters of Iago and … Read more
It is commonly said that if you play too close with the fire, you are going to get burned. This generally means that if you live a dangerous lifestyle, then you will eventually falter and suffer the consequences. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there are many cases where characters are killed because they lived a murderous lifestyle. … Read more
Othello, takes place in Venice during an attack of the island of Cyprus . The protagonist is Othello and The antagonist of the story is Iago, who wants Othello to give him the rank of head luitenant but the position was given to Cassio. Desdemona is Othello’s wife who is having an affair with Cassio. … Read more
After his mothers funeral, Ethan did not want to be left alone on the farm, so he asked Zeena to stay with him. At first, Ethan enjoys her company. However, Zeena soon becomes a nuisance to Ethan, and prevents him from becoming an engineer in a large city. After being married a year, Zeena becomes … Read more
In the introductory sketch to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel the “The Scarlet Letter”, the reader is informed that one of the author’s ancestors persecuted the Quakers harshly. The latter’s son was a high judge in the Salem witch trials, put into literary form in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” (Judge Hathorne appears there). We learn that Hawthorne … Read more
Oedipus the King and the Irony of Sight Throughout the play, Oedipus the King, Sophocles refers to site and blindness to relate attitudes and knowledge of the past. The irony of sight in this play can be marked by Oedipus inability to realize that which is evident to the reader. His extreme pride is his … Read more
Toni Morisson’s novel The Bluest Eye is about the life of the Breedlove family who resides in Lorain, Ohio, in the late 1930s. This family consists of the mother Pauline, the father Cholly, the son Sammy, and the daughter Pecola. The novel’s focal point is the daughter, an eleven-year-old Black girl who is trying to … Read more
America has been labeled “The land of opportunity,” a place where it is possible to accomplish anything and everything. This state of mind is known as “The American Dream. ” The American Dream provides a sense of hope and faith that looks forward to the fulfillment of human wishes and desires. This dream, however, originates … Read more
Nick Carraway has a special place in The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He is not just one character among several; it is through his eyes and ears that the story takes place. In this novel, Nick goes to some length to establish his credibility, indeed his moral integrity, in telling this story about … Read more
The mythological critic easily evaluates the written version of Oedipus the King, finding the prevalent mythological or archetypal characteristics in the text as well as common hero characteristics in Oedipus. The myth begins with a journey as Oedipus arrives in Thebes from his home in Corinth as the son of King Plybus. The ideas of … Read more
There are many different types of people in this world. Apart from physical features, it is the characteristics of a person that makes him/her original. Nick Carraway the narrator of The Great Gatsby, has qualities which are the complete opposite of those of Tom Buchanan, his cousin-in-law. In the novel, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, … Read more
A puppet master is in complete control over his puppet. But only after years of studying and observation does this special interaction of complete control occur. The master soon speaks for the puppet, acts for the puppet, and feels for the puppet. A similar manipulative situation arises between Iago and Othello in Shakespeare’s Othello. Iago’s … Read more