The presence of supernatural elements is a defining characteristic of Gothic literature, serving not only to create an atmosphere of fear and suspense but also to explore deeper themes of human psychology, morality, and the unknown. By integrating ghosts, curses, and other unearthly phenomena, Gothic novels delve into the complexities ...Read More
The presence of supernatural elements is a defining characteristic of Gothic literature, serving not only to create an atmosphere of fear and suspense but also to explore deeper themes of human psychology, morality, and the unknown. By integrating ghosts, curses, and other unearthly phenomena, Gothic novels delve into the complexities of the human mind, societal fears, and the thin line between reality and the supernatural.
Analyzing the role of supernatural elements in Gothic literature offers valuable insights into the historical and cultural contexts from which these works emerged. It allows for an exploration of how authors use the supernatural to challenge readers' perceptions and to comment on issues of their time. Furthermore, such an essay can illuminate the enduring appeal of the supernatural in storytelling and its impact on readers' engagement and imagination. Writing on this theme encourages critical thinking about the ways in which the supernatural influences narrative structure, character development, and themes, making it a rich topic for literary analysis.
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In the novel Ransom written by David Malouf and the film Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, both show worlds and people that are deeply divided. Both Invictus and Ransom explore how historical forces divide people into different, often conflicting groups - whether this be race,...
“Salvage the Bones” is a woman’s coming of age fiction novel that follows along with a poor African American family living in Bois Sauvage Mississippi in the year of 2005. Facing the tragedy of following twelve days leading upon the arrival of hurricane Katrina. Made-to-order...
In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses two themes: nature and civilization. She uses her text to describe the differences between nature and civilization and uses text to explain how civilization comes from nature. Nature and civilization are a huge part of everybody’s day to day lives....
The world is packed with evil people, but their driving force is often unclear. Usually people have an outside influence that drives them to perform these actions of uncontrolled harm. This is what happened in the short story, “The Black Cat”, as protagonist develops a...
The desire to make history to discover what remains undiscovered, or to know what remains unknown is a timeless human goal. Although many have failed to realize this dream, a very few have been wildly successful in its pursuit. The immortality afforded these...
Every year, incredible amounts of time and money are spent on court cases for sexual harassment and divorce. Perhaps a male supervisor made an unwanted advance on a female employee because he thought that her body language or clothing invited a sexual encounter. Or maybe...
John Fowles’ 1963 novel The Collector is a deeply disturbing, intensely psychological book based around the principles of beauty, power, control, and class. The story follows Fred Clegg through his capture and abuse of Miranda Grey, an attractive young art student from London. Fowles reveals...
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Demons” (Besy, in Russian, variously translated as “The Possessed” and “Devils”) is a fundamentally political and social novel. It draws directly on the true story of a murder committed in 1869 by Russian anarchist and nihilist Sergei Nechaev (Saunders 324). The peasant reforms...
Fundamental human similarities in motivation are at the core of the works of novelist Saul Bellow. Bellow was a Chicago born Jewish author, and as such his protagonists are often of a similar demographic, young Jewish men in Chicago. Despite Bellow’s uniformity of protagonists, his...
J.M. Coetzee’s 1986 novel Foe recounts the adventures and aspirations of Susan Barton, a fictional young woman who finds herself cast away on a most unusual island with the stolid Cruso and his tongueless slave Friday. The novel’s beginning takes place on the island, where...
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James Baldwin’s work is often defined by an intersection of nationality and sexuality. In Giovanni’s Room, the motif of culture and country of origin is prominent, but difficult to interpret. A particularly dense passage occurs part two of this story, on page 292 beginning with...
In Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, the cold and unforgiving world of New York’s high society never favors the perspective of the outsider, or the looker-on. But the author seems to award a great deal of credit to those characters who adapt to this...
Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s sensation novel Lady Audley’s Secret presents the astonishing and cynical notion that the “sort of surprise at the fictional company one is keeping, or at the view of the world… is central to a whole genre of fiction” (Introduction). In the story...
The Children of Men by PD James depicts the life of Theodore “Theo” Faron alongside his five acquaintances Julian, Miriam, Rolf, Gascoigne, and Luke as they embark on a harrowing mission to privately birth the child that will likely become the future of all mankind....
With the imminent threat of global war looming over Europe, fear and hostility came to cast a shadow over the continent. A war that would almost decimate a generation of young men, became the reality for writers, poets, scholars, and artists who left an impression...
The people in one’s life are often more important in shaping one’s future than the choices of that individual themselves. In Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, the protagonist, Toru Watanabe, encounters various women who influence him and alter his outlook on life as he progresses through...
Nella Larsen’s novella Passing tells a compelling story about two mixed-race women, Irene and Clare, from drastically different outcomes who shape contrasting perspectives on the notion of “passing” as one race over another, as Irene is content with being her black self while Clare grew...
Individuals who have experienced an unconventional or life-altering event will inevitably face the judgments of broader society, hence dictating whether such individuals feel a truly valid sense of belonging. This concept of the significance of exterior factors on one’s sense of belonging is portrayed through...
“On her long journey from Rome her mind had been given up to vagueness; she was unable to question the future. She performed this journey with sightless eyes and took little pleasure in the countries she traversed, decked out though they were in the richest...
A “coyote” is someone who profits from sneaking immigrants across the U.S.-Mexican border. It’s also an animal stereotyped as a scavenging coward. In The Tortilla Curtain, T.C. Boyle draws frequent parallels between coyotes prowling the edges of civilization and Mexicans scavenging food and work on...
Temptation lures people to succumb to suppressed human instincts, yet together with surveillance, the opposing forces create a precarious balance between resurgence and restraint. This conflict influences the characters in Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, which follows cipher D-503’s experience in the oppressed One State as he...
Introduction C.S. Lewis once stated, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become” (Brainyquote Com, 2017). Mariama Bâ’s...
In Ann Petry’s novel The Street, even the most simple, everyday objects take on fiendish personalities and shifting, threatening aspects. From the cruel wind in the story’s opening chapter to the hard, bitter street itself, glaring situational cruelty and injustice brings vivid color to the...
In the gothic novel Wieland [1], Charles Brockden Brown confronts the anxieties of the early United States Republic regarding the sense of the threat posed by “wandering anarchists, dangerous foreigners and murderous savages.” As a work of the transnational imaginary, Wieland centers on the impact...
The author communicates his view of democracy effectively throughout his text. He uses literature as a vehicle for political and social criticism. V for Vendetta tells of a future Britain under the heel of a dictatorship. In his graphic novel, the main character, V, destroys...
Sinclair had intended to expose the horrible conditions faced by immigrants as the tried to survive in Chicago’s Meat-Packing District in his 1904 novel, The Jungle. While he did an admirable job of showing the unfair labor, housing, and economic conditions in Packingtown he did...
“Petals of Blood ” is a novel of Kenyan literature that bears the hallmarks of Kenya and its people, the history of its long struggle and also its post-independence struggle that was harder and harder than it was before. Made-to-order essay as fast as you...
In the novel Salvage The Bones, the author, Jesmyn Ward is trying to convey that a strong family stays together through challenging moments and will always support each other. Made-to-order essay as fast as you need it Each essay is customized to cater to your...
Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2000 novel When We Were Orphans, the first-person narrator, Christopher Banks, having established himself in London as a prominent detective in the Holmesian mold who solves crimes no one else can, sets out in 1937 to recover his own past by solving the...
The novel opens with a fight happening amongst a boys from Devil’s Row and Rum Alley, two different parts of town. A young boy named Jimmie is in the center of the fight, and he is one if the main characters in the novel. While...
