‘‘The Lifeguard’’ by Mary Morris is a short story that focusses on change over time. A lifeguard accustomed to be the lord of all he surveys and with a big self-esteem, has a rude awakening when he proves deficient in the first aid needed to save a toddler, Becky, on the beach. The author demonstrates that we realise what we have only when a shattering event occurs. Trough characterization, foreshadowing and symbolism, Morris infers that once we realise what we have, it’s too late.…
In this extract, McCarthy conveys the anticlimax of the protagonist and his son’s arrival at the “Cold. Desolate. Birdless.” environment of the beach. McCarthy juxtaposes the bleakness of the landscape with the boy’s optimism in order to highlight the boy’s inherent goodness.…
The pool by the river contributes to the author’s purpose by showing the audience the possibility of how life for George and Lennie could be if society’s norms didn’t affect them.…
In Orringer’s pivotal first publication “How to Breathe Underwater” she immerses each one of her characters in a swell of darkness and raw brutality of human sentiment, all while leading them to greater revelations about their personal identities. Orringer manages to seamlessly paint a portrait that encompasses the shadowy essence of the world her characters reside within: a world in which children are left to their own devices, then are quickly thrust into the cruel reality of life, and are ultimately left to defend themselves from others. This cruelness Orringer writes of is commonly depicted as a sociocultural construct, her stories pursue to cognize how the forces of society and culture have the ability to influence individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. In Orringer’s “Note to Sixth Grade Self” and “The Smoothest Way is Full of Stones” depicting the ways in which harsh sociocultural constructs define adolescent’s revelations about their greater identities within the world is a prominent theme.…
The title The Drowner explores the main concerns of the novel through the different representations of ‘drowning’. As a result the title itself is a complex structure of the novel. According to Robert Drewe ‘as an occupation, drowning was somewhere between a trade and an art’3. However drowning is more than just an occupation, it is to Will a way of life and tradition. However Will is not a drowner but an engineer, and here it becomes symbolic of Will’s life. Although through his rationality he left behind drowning, he speculates that engineering is “in its hydraulic potential maybe just an extension of drowning”4That is, although through Angelica he enters a new world and life, drowning is symbolic of his past and continues to influence his present. Here the past is presented as an inherent part of life and an aspect of human frailty in the way that we succumb to it.…
1. "When I recovered, Dad picked me up and heaved me back into the middle of the Hot Pot. 'Sink or swim!' he called out. For the second time, I sank. The water once more filled my nost and lungs. I kicked and flailed and thrashed my way to the surface, gasping for air, and reached out to Dad. But he pulled back, and I didn't feel his hands around me until I'd sunk one more time (Walls,6). Throughout the book, an irregular act of the author was clear mainly due to the harsh parenting style of the father. Although he wants to help her, he does not act with open arms. In other words, he is strict and harsh. For example, the passage states how the father would not help the daughter and forced her to learn how to swim on her own while making her face the situation of drowning. In addition, this passage was attention worthy since it was descriptive. The author clearly described specific details while drowning.…
In the autobiography, “The Color of Water”, by James McBride, the narrator endures different times of confusion and desolation in finding himself. The narrator is often confused due to his mother’s secretive and complicated past which involves a Jewish family he never knew about. The constant surprises and unexpected paths keep James on his toes. When he hears about the type of person his grandfather was he is forced to make a very serious decision; he can accept this past as his own or…
In the short story “The Swimmer”, John Cheever wrote the story as a metaphor for life. Cheever basically stating that your time here on earth is short; don’t waste your time. Neddy spends his time chasing a social life, alcohol, and a mistress. As Neddy takes his journey across the county why does it take so long for him to realize that his life isn’t what he thought it was? Did he waste his time while on his journey?…
In the essay "The Man in the Water" by Roger Rosenblatt, the Man in the Water did something heroic that most other people probably would not do. He and a great deal of other people were in a plane crash and landed in the Arctic Ocean. They were floating in the middle of freezing cold water with no one around to help. Soon enough, a helicopter rescue team came to save the group of people that had crashed by pulling them out of the water. Every time the rescue team lowered a lifeline or a flotation ring to the Man in the Water, he passed it on to another of the passengers that were with him on the plane. That selfless act was beyond doubt, heroic and admirable.…
The ocean acts as a symbol of a child’s best friend, encouraging the child to the fearless and chase adventure. However, the father views the ocean differently, as he sees the ocean being dangerous. As stated in the text “I have since become a salt-water man, but sometimes in summer there are days when the restlessness of the tides and the fearful cold of the sea water and the incessant wind which blows across the afternoon and into the evening make me wish for placidity of a lake in the woods” (pg 1). This quote shows that the father is fearful of the sea, and seeks the comfort of the lake because how the waves of the ocean represent no control. Summer symbolizes the father’s favorite time of the year, Summertime, oh summertime, pattern of the indelible, the fade proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweet fern and the juniper forever and ever, summer without end; this was the background, and the life along the shore was the design, the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design...”(pg3). This shows the father using imagery to describe his childhood trips to the lake to bond with his father period. The positive descriptions of beauty of their annual trips show s the happy memories he associates with the season. He becomes lost in these memoires and is convinced that times does not exist. “That the…
Throughout the novel, the author often signifies the importance of the sea. In the novel, the sea represents both freedom and escape. After Edna learns how to swim, she gets a sense of freedom. Edna longed to swim out far out, she wanted to swim where no one has swum before. "She turned her face seaward to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam she seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself." (Chopin) During that moment, the sea became her place where she could lose herself. Edna remembers the Kentucky fields of her past as the ocean in the novel that is how she connects the sea to herself. The sea was also the place where Robert taught her how to swim and in the end she…
American society during the decade of the 1950s served as somewhat of a “kickstarter” for how the U.S. as a nation became what it is today. This decade’s society is about the massive changes that were made to the country and how its citizens operated together. Major events took place in this society and changed things that can still be seen today, such as transportation, rights for all citizens, and the population expansion to even the outermost areas of the nation. Influential American figures that fueled these changes in 1950s society include Rosa Parks, who contributed to the growing presence of civil rights along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, whose efforts provided a prospering society…
Rose Mary is an aspiring artist with a teaching degree who doesn’t seem to have the slightest qualms about supporting her family. Her husband Rex Walls is an alcoholic that is unable to hold a job but in a more flattering light is seen as brilliant along with a charming and charismatic personality. “You can't cling to the side your whole life, that one lesson every parent needs to teach a child is "If you don't want to sink, you better figure out how to swim” Here Rex Wall’s is teaching Jeannette in his own style, the ways of the world. Rex is giving his daughter a lesson on swimming, but the bigger picture is that he’s throwing her out on her own in the water to figure out how to swim. He was teaching her that sometimes you are going to be thrown into situations you are unfamiliar with or cannot control and it is up to you weather or not prevail or not in life. This correlates to the overall theme of self-sufficiency. “Mom liked to encourage…
The poem is highly metaphorical and symbolic. The story, on the surface, really is about swimming in the ocean alone. However, as we readers examine further, it’s quite obvious that there are meanings behind this superficial image. As a matter of fact, the ocean is a metaphor of greatness and mystery. We can also perceive it to be a symbol of life as we all “swim” in this ocean and are truly uncertain about what will happen next. The image of seaweed shadows is apparent in the first stanza, and they can apparently be seen as obstacles that we encounter in the journeys of our lives. In the third paragraph, the poet addressed that in the end, it is only a “drifting body” or a “dolphin”. This seems paradoxical because drifting body is a symbol of death and mortality, whereas, in sharp contrast, dolphins are universally viewed as creatures that are nimble and lively. The use of two completely polar things implies the uncertainty of life and supports the idea that life is fundamentally fearsome.…
The water was dark explores the emotional pain between mother and daughter, the demanding demeanour of an alcoholic mother causes her daughter’s life to perish into the darkness of the water that went on forever. The regressive relationship causes a barrier in which her daughter perceives upon her mother. The mother’s aggressive attitude and putrid manner for nutritional health, relegates what her daughter’s inner feelings towards her meaning for swimming. Swimming could be that entrapment of…