One of the symbols that was evident in the passage from Johnny Got His Gun was lending of the father’s “only extravagance” possession – the valuable fishing rod. The rod symbolizes the passage of…
In the short story “The Boat” Alistair MacLeod writes a story that predominately deals with the power of the past over the present. She uses symbols such as the boat which eventually transforms into books. From the father’s strong perspective, the boat symbolizes the means of survival for his family and imprisonment whereas, from the father and daughters point of view the books, which replace the boat symbolizes liberation and escape from the traditions of fishing. The main symbol in “The Boat” is the boat itself. The family thought the boat as their means of survival and that without the boat they would not have a house at the harbor, nice food and clothes to wear. Meanwhile, in the fathers perspective the boat is an ever-lasting trap that without it is impossible to sustain life and with it life is an…
Imagery is used fairly often in The Boat with the intention of not only giving the reader a sense of space and time but also an insight to the character. The father is displeased with his lack of education and current lifestyle along the coast, “the sea was behind him and its immense blue flatness stretched out to touch the arching blueness of the sky. It seemed very far away from him or else…he seemed too big for it.” (263) The author in this scenario implies the essence of the problem in the story; the narrator’s father is never unified with the sea he labors in, never achieves the connectedness that goes with working so closely with nature. As well, due to his higher aspirations, the father is too inquisitive and thirsty for knowledge to remain in such a simple place.…
“The cabins there, paneled with exotic, were spacious, with built-in vanities, plush upholstered furniture, Persian rugs, bedside telephones…..” (pg. 301) All his descriptions of the boat and Joe’s feats on his journey, excite the reader as they plow through the book. On the other hand, the overall purpose is to get back to those American roots. To inform Americans about how much they’re able to…
The boat seems to be the center of the family, the symbol of the mother's traditions and the father's frustration, which is fishing. The boat has such importance for the mother that the first question she asks to her husband, when he returns every noon is, "Well, how did things go in the boat today?"(131). The characters in the story are nameless, but the boat has a name. It is Jenny Lynn the mother's maiden name. However, her actual name is not mentioned, which emphasizes that even if she lives following her traditions, "none of [her family…
Sadna pursed her lips. “Sometimes people have more will to live. Or you don’t hit them right and they don’t lose their blood fast enough. Sometimes they just don’t stop the way you want them to” (Page 174). My observations in this quote are you can’t just kill anyone; you have to kill them in their own certain way. You can’t just stop their life the way you want to and some people don’t lose their blood fast enough. My reactions in this quote are I was amazed and confused about how people died. I never knew that they have to die in their own way. My interpretation about the sentence “Or you don’t hit them right and they don’t lose their blood fast enough” is sometimes if you hit someone and you want them to die on that hit, it might not have ended up the way you wanted it to because there blood might not lose fast enough. Also, every person has a weak spot. If you might have possibly hit them in that spot, they might have not lost their blood that fast . I have 2 predictions in this quote. One of my predictions are it would be harder to kill anyone else because of their own blood and because of their own personality. I also predict that it would take hard speed, power, and strength to kill anyone else. My inner feeling about this quote is it would be intensely dangerous to risk your life trying to kill someone in their own way. I have one opinion about this quote. My opinion is you can’t always win in a fight even if you start first because according to the to the quote, it says “sometimes if you don’t hit them right they don’t lose their blood fast enough”. The opponent could have an advantage because if they don’t lose their blood fast enough, they could kill the other person in a matter of time. My question about this quote is what does it mean by “you can’t just kill anyone; you have to kill them in their own certain way”?…
“The Lost Salt Gift of Blood” and “The Boat” are both compelling stories that illustrate the dilemmas associated with familial obligations, living with choices, as well as the conflict between traditional values and a modern; however, overall “The Boat” presents them in a more honest and effective manner. “The Lost Salt Gift of Blood” focuses on a grown man who is returning to a small fishing village in which his son lives, as he attempts to come to terms with the way his life has turned out and the responsibilities he holds, whereas in “The Boat”, a grown man is reflecting upon his life where he grew up in a household with constant tension as to the way one should live their life…
The Vietnamese Boat people are refugees who have fled their country in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Refugees from Laos, Cambodia, and especially Vietnam are referred to as “boat people” because they fled their respective countries. Refugees from these countries were fleeing shortly after the Vietnam War had ended. The Vietnam War was a cold war which took place from November 1st, 1955 until April 30th, 1975. On April 30th, 1975 was the day that the fall of Saigon took place, essentially this means that communists took power of the government. The Communist government set up “re-education camps” for people who still believed in the old government, in these camps 165,000 people died, 1 to 2 million people was imprisoned for no apparent reason when the communist government took over, no formal charges or trials were given. Furthermore, at least 200,000 southern Vietnamese were executed, and tens of thousands of Vietnamese people committed suicide when the communist government took over. Essentially, these countries became so poor they were unable to feed themselves and this resulted in famine which led to many deaths in the 1980’s. With all these occurrences it ultimately led to the destruction of Vietnam and caused many people to become refugees “Boat People”.…
Writing has evolved immensely over time. With the development of new technologies and digital networked spaces, the aspects of writing have become more dynamic and complex. Writing in digitally networked environments opens up a range of new possibilities for an innovative form of writing and a new way of presenting narrative and storytelling. In addition, writing in these environments makes it possible for a greater audience and also gives readers a fresh way of experiencing narrative, providing them with the ability to understand the story in an interactive and complex way. In an online adaptation by Matt Huynh of the story ‘The Boat’ by Nam Le, we experience these modern possibilities of writing in a new ‘ecological’ way.…
In The Boat by Alistair Macleod the mother and father are presented as opposites. The mother is the character trying to keep the tradition alive, whereas the father is the character who is looking forward to the changes. The mother does not want any tourists in her town and does not want her family to go out and spend time with the people who do not come from the village. The father was encouraging the change to happen, and he was kind enough to take the tourists out for a ride on his boat.…
In the essay “American Dream Boat” by K.Oanh Ha, the author says that intercultural relationships are generally a good thing as long as the families of both partners compromise. Ha, was a Vietnamese girl who came to America with the “Boat People” when she was six years old. She then changed her name to Kristine and became Americanized. In college, she met a Caucasian American named Scott. They fell in love and got engaged. She decided to visit Vietnam to reconnect to her roots, but while she was there, her grandmother passed away. According to Vietnamese tradition, Ha couldn’t get married during the mourning period, which was three years. However, Ha and Scott’s family decided to compromise. Scott’s family brought traditional gifts in order to fulfill the traditions of a Vietnamese wedding ceremony while Ha’s family decided to let her get married without having to wait three years. I believe that intercultural relationships like Ha’s are generally a good thing as long as the families accept and respect each other’s culture and traditions.…
A long time ago, when I was twelve years old, I remember my grandfather coming by the house, and he had a boat with him. I was amazed, for me it was the coolest thing. I was eating my lunch when he came to the house. At first he didn’t say anything because he was trying to keep it a secret, I guess. After eating lunch, he told my parents, and I to come outside. There it was, a bright white boat that stood fifteen feet in length, and it looked like it needed a lot of work.…
A long long time ago, there was a lazy crocodile. Its tail was as short as a hotdog sausage. It only eats, drinks and sleeps all day long under the tree that near the water.…
The Voyage, by Katherine Mansfield is a short story set in the early 1900s, about a young girl called Fenella who is being taken from her home in Wellington to live with her Grandparents in Picton, after the death of her mother. She along with her grandmother travels across the Cook Strait on the Picton Boat to her new home. Mansfield uses the literary techniques of symbolism, setting and dialogue to convey the idea of the transition from childhood into adulthood.…
The short story Burying Your Life is written by Harkiran Dhindsa and published in 2010 on The Guardian website. Rahul is standing in his backyard trying to dig a grave. The soil is extremely hard so he struggles a lot with the hole. As he digs his wife Sarah walks back and forth from the house to the grave. They have agreed be nice to each other when Tom their son is around. Rahul try to make Sarah understand that it for the best that Tom stays with him at the house because of the incident with George their cat which has died. As Rahul continues to dig Sarah comes to the hole and try to explain that she haven’t been unfaithful and that it´s just a friend that she has been seeing. Rahul don’t believe her as she is trying to explain her innocence. When the grave is complete they all gather around it. As Rahul puts the box with the dead cat inside down into the pit Tom says goodbye and help covering the grave with soil. Rahul watches Sarah stroking Toms back and gets emotionally touched.…