Essays on Fiction

In his works “Tonio Krager,” “Death in Venice,” and “Tristan,” Thomas Mann discusses the artist’s struggle in terms of who he is, who he should be, and who he will be. In the three works, the artistic protagonists struggle with either a metaphorical or physical...

The mind tends to remain at a stasis, neither consumed by pure ecstasy nor ridden with fearful anxiety. However, there may come a point in time when thoughts fluctuate between the two extremes until we are jolted back to reality’s state of neutrality, perhaps this...

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is, on its surface, about a woman who suffers postpartum depression, which is the ultimate factor leading to her insanity; however, a closer examination of the protagonist’s portrayal and description reveals that the story is primarily about her...

Nathan Englander’s “Free Fruit for Young Widows” is strong story full of morality. In the center of the story is Professor Tendler, who escaped from the concentration camp during the Holocaust to get back to his family home. He finds his babysitter with her family...

The story Betrayal of Faith by Mark M. Bello is the stunning tale of lawyer Zachary Blake and his plummet from grace. Once a prominent partner in a law firm in the heart of Detroit, Zack’s impending alcoholism forces his business partners in the law...

Throughout Monkey Beach, author Eden Robinson effectively alternates passages transitioning between the present and flashbacks of Lisamarie’s life. It is through these flashbacks that Robinson is able to offer the reader a deep insight into Lisamarie’s childhood and upbringing. By placing these flashbacks in between...

“A modest proposal” by Jonathan Swift is an ironical piece of writing as it seems to me, because of the discussion of the “modest” way of dealing with poverty and unemployment problem in Dublin, Ireland. The satirical way of representing ideas by Swift is appreciable...

Throughout Naguib Mahfouz’s 1947 masterpiece Midaq Alley, the alley’s microcosmic nature turns its powerfully crafted characters into living renditions of sin. More specifically, Mahfouz creates characters to represent the Christian church’s Seven Deadly Sins, with almost each and every character fitting perfectly into a respective...

Novelist Ray Bradbury once said, “I used to take my short stories to girls’ homes and read them to them. Can you imagine the reaction reading a short story to a girl instead of pawing her?” (“Ray Bradbury Quotes”). While speaking from a comical perspective,...

So, what would you do if you, while visiting the home of your boyfriend’s family, saw a glimpse of something that made you think that the boyfriend’s father is up to something shady, illegal, and possibly dangerous? Would you tell your boyfriend your concerns, or...

Peter Abrahams’ Mine Boy illustrates in beautiful and haunting prose the oppression black citizens of South Africa faced in the years preceding apartheid. The country’s white minority imposed its power over black South Africans in several ways, the most significant of which are succinctly listed...

I loved the premise of Hello My Love by Evy Journey before I started reading it. True friendship turns into true love. Initially, Greg (our hero) only wanted to add another conquest to his list. He sees Elise (our heroine) on television defending the rights...

The book, Dear Canada: Not a Nickel to Spare: The Great Depression Diary of Sally Cohen, written by Perry Nodelman in 2007, is a historical fiction book which means that where the book was set in is a real historical place or timeline, but the...

In John Stuart Mill’s essay “On Liberty”, he explores the question of whether society has a right to suppress an individual’s expression and opinions. Mill’s states, “if all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one...

Edith Wharton, the first woman to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, was an extremely vocal and critical figure of her time. She was born in 1862 and made it her life’s mission to bring the place of women at home and the workplace and the...

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris is a collection of autobiographical essays that describes the difficulties that occur within American families as a young man recounts his childhood and youth as he becomes apart of the LGBTQ community and struggles to...

In the story “Gryphon,” Charles Baxter fabricates a character that is not as perfect as we think she will be. Miss Ferenczi is a substitute teacher who came to Five Oaks Community to take over one of the teachers who has become ill until he...

The story “Diary of a Madman” written by Lu Xun is a story about a Madman who writes in a journal over a period of time; explaining the people in his town and how obscured they were. When you start to dive into the story...

The Devil Take Tomorrow by Gretchen Jeannette is a historical fiction set in the American Revolutionary War era. Anyone interested in history, espionage, and romance would enjoy this fast-paced novel. I for one love it when a book delivers on an action-packed storyline and is...