...with their life. Happiness is in fact an illusion because everyone has felt some state of being happy, but whether that is for a few minutes or days, it doesn’t mean they have a true understanding of happiness. Although many people believe that having a nice car or being in a relationship can bring...
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...What does Fitzgerald suggest about truth and illusion in The Great Gatsby? Truth and illusion are two of the key themes explored in the novel The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Truth and illusion are explored with every character in the novel as we discover that no one is who they seem to be. There are multiple examples involving all characters in which their appearances are far different to how they are described. Jay Gatsby is one of the main characters that show he cannot see reality because his whole life is one big illusion. Another main character that portrays the theme of illusion is Daisy as we learn early in the novel that she creates an illusion to cover up who she really is. Nick is the only character that seems to be the only one who is really honest about who he is but he is only honest to the reader and not the characters. Perhaps his honesty is just an illusion about what he really is like. Jay Gatsby’s whole life is an illusion. Early in the novel we learn that Gatsby’s past was not the best and that he came from a poor background, which he tries to cover up. He gives this idea that he lives the perfect life with a huge house and always wears nice clothes and throws the biggest most amazing parties. The truth is that he does not really have any friends. This is evident when we learn that Nick discovers he was the only one who got an invitation to Gatsby’s party, this is also evident when we learn the rumours going around about Gatsby. The...
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...secluded man named Gatsby. Through the eyes of the narrator, Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald plunges into the struggles and adversity that plagues Gatsby. The central conflict of the story is Gatsby’s troublesome endeavor at attempting to rebuild a long-lost relationship with Daisy. Despite the seemingly shallow plot, Fitzgerald not only succeeds in creating a rich and elegant tale, but he also manages to make a commentary on the society that he was living in as well. It is the way in which Fitzgerald makes Gatsby idealize Daisy that gives the plot its insightful message, both in the story and in Fitzgerald’s society. He writes Gatsby to fall in love not with Daisy as a person, but Daisy as an illusion, an unattainable image that reflects another, much broader but similarly unreachable illusion: the American Dream. To understand how Gatsby’s obsession with Daisy’s image is a statement on the American Dream, it is necessary to first analyze and understand the nature of Gatsby’s relationship with Daisy. To correlate with the American Dream, Fitzgerald constructs Gatsby with his own dream: the pursuit of winning back Daisy. However, he purposely makes Gatsby intent not on Daisy herself, but what she represents. It is the wealth that Daisy has, the luxurious life that she lives, that has driven Gatsby for the past five years. In their early encounters, it is evident that it is Daisy’s lifestyle that he seeks when he is described first entering her home. “It amazed him – he had never...
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...insanity and switches his mind. These memories show us how things unfolded and how the golden times were. It might not have been a care welcoming time after all. Along with the memory, the play brings out the characters of the family and topics such as power and money, reality and illusion and the American dream. This easy will look at how different traits of the characters are and how each of them relates to the themes portrayed. In the beginning, the author brings out Willy Loman as a misguided and troubled man (DiYanni, 2004). At heart, he is a dreamer and a salesman. Willy worked hard all his life and should already have retired at to enjoy life with his family. He recently entered in a self-loss situation to the point of impairing his eyesight. He is clinging to his beliefs and ideals of having the American dream and he is still travelling as a salesman in a job that does not even pay enough. Willy is shown as being an unlucky man. Willy Loman’s character brings him as full of resentment and his actions assume a magnificent history than was the case. He sentimentalizes about his neighborhood as it was in the past. He also becomes nostalgic about working his former boss, Frank Wagner, who died because his former boss’s son, Howard is not treating him well. The author brings out Willy as a boisterous and strong man but has little vigor in his impression to back his vitality, which is...
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...and Burma. Bibi's sudden death, prior to the scheduled vacation, gives her "The Mind of Others", a Buddhist term meaning she can hear others true thoughts and feelings. This new ability allows the readers insight into the raw emotions of the twelve friends. As one gets acquainted with each character the very real truth of human emotion and basic need is exposed. To reflect upon the opening quote, it is within human nature to use illusion to survive. We see what we need to see in order to make it acceptable. The twelve tourists display this when visiting China's Stone Bell Temple. They are oblivious to the beauty, history and the dangerous laws protecting the sacred land. All they see is a playground in which they act accordingly. They want to enjoy themselves, live out their modern dreams of what they feel a vacation consists of, while at the same time trampling on the traditions and concerns of the inhabitants of the land. When told they had been cursed, it is humorous to them. It is in the refusal to believe in something unknown to them that bring them on a path of turmoil. As tradition dictates, it is in a persons best interest to please the Nats (destructive and mischievous spirits when displeased) when passing a shrine. The Americans desire to believe in only what they see fit, causes most of them to deny the Nats even the smallest token. This not only angers the Nats but also the natives. The tourists are unable to see past their materialism and ideals to adapt to their...
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...The artistic display at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery of Hanne Darboven titled, “Clockwise from right”, proves to bring light upon the thoughts of Friedrich Nietzshe. One of Nietzsche’s important topics includes the idea of a rational and intuitive man. This essay will explore the question of whether Nietzsche was right when he said that it is important to live an extra-moral life. In a society where there are many practical careers, such as accountants and scientists, it is difficult to reach back to the ancient Greek society to understand how the rational and the intuitive once blended together in a flourishing society. However, there could be a way in which the rational can become more intuitive. Nietzsche’s claim that the rational could make an attempt at becoming more intuitive in today’s society holds true. Hanne Darboven was a German artist who is primarily known for her systematic charts, sequences of numbers, and her long strands of looped forms that evoke handwriting. Before becoming an artist, Darboven first trained as a pianist, and in the 1960s she studied graphic design in Hamburg, Germany. In 1966, Darboven left Germany for New York, where she met and exhibited with several artists of the burgeoning Minimalist and Conceptual art...
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...the exploration of a pair of texts composed in different contexts one can observe the significance of the ability of texts with varied form and context to still present and reflect similar values. A Room of One’s Own (hereafter AROO), a polemic, by Virginia Woolf and the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (hereafter WAVW) by Edward Albee both address gender inequality and truth and illusion even though their contexts and form starkly contrast. An analysis of similar themes will provide a greater understanding of meanings and perceptions of the texts. AROO, written in the post-war period of the late 1920s, was composed in a time of great social change due to the destruction and turmoil of the War. Modernist writing highlights the absence of, and search for, meaning and features experiments with new forms. Loss and absence lie at the heart of Woolf’s art, resulting from the experience of loss as an adolescent – her half sister, father, brother and mother. Her refusal to give one single view of anything, offering instead multiple, often conflicting views which the reader has to balance and bring together is another modernist trait. In contrast, WAVW was written in a far more conservative context, and although Albee does challenge societal roles, he does it in a more blatant way. Written during a time of Cold War tension, where fear and instability was disguised beneath the facade of the Great American Dream, Albee is still able to paint a dystopian image of the stereotyped family...
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...The Glass Menagerie explores the unique and interesting issues through intriguing characters and events. These Texts are valued due to the quality of their construction and how efficiently the audience can relate to it. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams written in 1941 is a timeless and universal place that defers the boundaries of time and space to explore a range of interesting ideas. Through a range of interesting techniques, this semi-biographical explores themes of escape, abandonment and responsibility to the family through the memory of the narrator Tom Wingfield. Tom States ‘ The Play is a memory’. This is shown through the dim lighting and the settings of the scenes. We can see this by noting the lack of realism; it's overblown and there is too-perfect symbolism, as well as its frequent use of music. The narrator, Tom, is not the only character haunted by his memories. Amanda also lives in constant pursuit of her disappeared youth, and old records from her childhood are almost as important to Laura as her glass animals. For these characters, memory is a hindering force that stops them from finding happiness in the present or potential of the future. But it is also the driving force for Tom, who eventually uses the memory of his father to get away from the trap of his family, to create a life of his own. The plot of this play is based around abandonment, which we see each member of the Wingfield family has experienced abandonment. Mr. Wingfield abandoned...
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...Escaping your reality and living in a fantasy world will leave you blind to the things around you. The play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams creates a situation where A Streetcar Named Desire is driven by the fantasy of Blanche, Stanley, Stella and Mitch. In the play the characters hide from their reality by acting as if the events they went through didn’t happen or were not important. The idea of reality vs. illusion seems to bring on the idea that these characters want to escape their world or they want to act blind they don’t have to face reality. One of the main characters that brings the idea of reality vs. illusion and escapism is Blanche. Blanche came from a wealthy background and lived in city named Laurel. When Blanche’s husband died and her family members began to die, she spent her money on their funerals and she ended up losing her home. Blanche losing her home can be compared to a princess losing her castle and money but in this story she didn’t have a handsome prince rescue her. She gained a bad yet truthful reputation for sleeping around with different men. She wanted to escape this so she went to visit her sister Stella. When she came to Stella’s house she acted as if everything in Laurel didn’t actually happen. This is when her fantasy began, in Stella’s town she acted as an old-fashioned woman who was proper and modest, this was not true. Her past revealed that she is not what she claimed to be. While in Stella’s town Blanche met a man named Mitch...
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...Rhetorical Analysis of “On the Want of Money” by William Hazlitt Nineteenth-century author William Hazlitt argues in his essay “On the Want of Money” that money is not the root of all evil but an imperative aspect to a content life. To substantiate his beliefs, he uses prompt rhetorical devices and strenuous vocabulary to develop his ethical appeal in addition to a distinct structure to create the sense of a fast-paced situation which helps engage the reader and add a sense of legitimacy to the continuous examples in the essay. Hazlitt’s purpose is to convince readers money will not corrupt your soul, but bring leisure and happiness into your life. Hazlitt engages individuals who believe money is an amoral object by connecting readers to endless examples, questioning reader’s views, and by intertwining money and the real world. Hazlitt’s entire essay is brimming with rhetorical strategies.To present the paragraph he demonstrates the literary device anaphora. Hazlitt states that, “To be in want of it, is to pass through life with little credit or pleasure; it is to live out of the world,” (Hazlitt, 1-4). The use of this rhetorical strategy gives a sense of credibility to the author in a literary standpoint. Not only does Hazlitt’s swift use of strategies portray his intelligence, but also, his use of diction and advanced vocabulary. For...
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...American Dream has become a something that more than half the country believes to be impossible. The American Dream is little more than an illusion—hollow, distorted, and unattainable. Inequality growth in the U.S has caused key elements in the American Dream to become unaffordable to most of the population. To...
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...The scandal behind ENRON is a subject I had heard and read briefly about but never really knew all of the details. When I watched the film, Smartest Guy In The Room, I really got the opportunity to understand what caused the fall of ENRON and the negative impacts ENRON caused. The film begins by questioning the reasons for ENRON’s fall to bankruptcy in 24 days by addressing the characteristics of Pride, Greed , Arrogance, and Intolerance which were all strong characteristics of the corporate culture at ENRON. Ultimately, the executives and employees at ENRON were blinded by money which eventually sunk their own lifeboat. The movie is definitely a story about people rather than merely addressing ENRON from a financial perspective, and tells the story of the different people behind the rise and fall of ENRON. I was amazed that ENRON was the 7th largest corporation in America with over 70 billion dollars charting the future of energy and power. I also didn’t know all the political connections ENRON had invested with the Bush family and how they were the largest contributor to G.W.Bush’s First Presidential Campaign. This was definitely an alarming point to find out and learn just how politics and corporate America really are tied together. The film talks about Kenny Lay, the founder of ENRON, who grew up poor and wanted to make wealth for himself. Lay really wanted to liberate businessmen from regulation of government and deregulate energy markets. He had a strong desire for...
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...The greatest and also the worst To myself, “Death of a salesman” is a story mainly about hope and dream. The dream in the play is a personal dream, but it has a close relationship with American dream, because it is a part of American dream, it reflects American dream in some certain ways from an ordinary person—a salesman and his family. Hope is the most important factor in the dream through out the whole play. Hope, in most cases, is the greatest thing in the world which brings people happiness, courage and power. On the other, hope can sometimes be the worst thing which destroy a person’s life, just like our main character—Willy, in the play “Death of a salesman”. The temporary hope that Biff gives to Willy and also Willy puts all his expectations into—big business, successful businessman for Biff, these all finally destroy Willy’s life and make his whole life become a tragedy. The profession of the main character—Willy, a salesman is by no means a coincidence for Arthur Miller. Salesman is the most representative job for trading in hope, they always transfer hope from today to tomorrow, they struggle in a possibility, in that uncertain hope that tomorrow will be better, tomorrow I will sell more, then I can make a fortune, I can make a big deal. But there is always a gap between reality and dream. Actually in the play, Willy knows that he can never be a successful salesman, can never make a big deal, can never start a business at his age anymore, but he just refused to...
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...Human beings are tied to the things that keep them in an endless Karmic circle, and trapped in the web of life. People’s lives are filled with things that are illusions; things that separate them from understanding the Truth. These things are emotional, physical, or monetary wants; fears; work or personal expectations; etcetera. From a spiritual perspective, all these expectations and hopes will bring them unhappiness. Suffering is inevitable because one’s expectations and desires are inevitably endless and unquenchable. Once people gain what they wanted or desired, their wants and desires change or increase, and then they experience a sense of disappointment. For example, the more money people make, the more they want nicer things like cars, houses, and other possessions. The more expensive things that are owned, the more it costs to keep these things in decent condition; therefore, more money is needed to just maintain one’s lifestyle. This causes one to cycle from disappointment to disappointment, for one’s motivation is to satisfy the ego and “its three-fold desires of the body, mind and intellect” (Hindu gods PowerPoint,...
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...grew up in Melton Mowbray and began pavement art as a form of busking. Beever’s current lifestyle is using his commission payment to fund his travels around the world and showcase his art. He has worked in places such as Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Denmark, (etc.) BODY OF WORK Julian Beever is a commercial chalk artist that specialises in abstract techniques. His style of drawing is a form of illusion created with chalk, water and certain camera lenses to help make the illusion more prominent. Beever encourages interaction with his audience by asking them to help him draw or stand in the photo he takes of the art. INFLUENCES AND INTENTIONS The inspiration for Julian...
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