...Compare and Contrast American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro focussing on the topic of the unreliable narrator The unreliable narrator is a technique used by authors where a scenario is created in which the reader cannot trust the narration of the book usually done in the first person. In American psycho, Ellis explores the sinister nature of Wall Street yuppie culture by examining the sanity of the narrating protagonist Patrick Bateman using the unreliable narrator. Ishiguro also uses this, exploring ideas of regret and also self-justification in the character of Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day. Unlike Ellis who examines Bateman during his early working years, in his mid-twenties and presenting a snapshot of his life, Ishiguro uses his take on the unreliable narrator to look at Stevens towards the end of his life using a series of flashbacks narrated unreliably, by Stevens. Both novels are comparable in the sense they examine the topic of failure using unreliable narrators that will do anything to escape the idea that they are failures. A popular debate regarding American Psycho is whether Patrick Bateman is a murderer or not, certainly Bateman describes in detail of murders he commits and why he commits them, however, certain factors bring Bateman’s reliability of narration into question. Bruno Zerweck argues that due to the lack of ‘detective framework’ and ‘unintentional self-incrimination’ the narration of the novel is...
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...English 1302-059 July 22, 2015 Narrator Analysis of “The Yellow Wallpaper” The short story, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, gives readers a first hand glimpse into the mind of a mentally disturbed woman fighting numerous and constant battles within herself and with others, one of them being post partum depression. The story is set in a historical period when it was typical for men to dominate over women. As illustrated in this story, the mentally disordered woman, possibly named Jane, is clearly at the mercy of her physician husband, John. He tells her what she can and cannot do, where she will sleep, and when she will take her medicine. Stetson consistently portrays the narrator as a progressively mentally disturbed woman that cannot seem to escape the thought that the wallpaper in her room takes on a life of its own while having some sort of power over her that she is not able to control. The unreliable narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper” piques unceasing curiosity while describing more and more detailed and subjective ways she is reaching total insanity; telling the story from a first person point of view makes this story much more captivating than if told in a third person limited type narrative. By the woman’s early admittance that she is suffering from a temporary nervous depression, she immediately establishes herself as an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is specifically defined as a narrator, whether in literature, film...
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...home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters are very poor – this is repeatedly emphasized – and yet the story suggests that their love for each other makes them very rich. It is that love, which motivates them to give up the only things of monetary (or personal) value they have to buy presents for each other. Perhaps their poverty...
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...Jake Hartling 12/6/15 D – Block “The Tell – Tale Heart” Response Poe builds suspense by using several “tools of tension:” repetition, unreliable narrator, and. Edgar Allen Poe starts by building tension though the use of repetition. Repetition is used to intensify the drama, heighten the conflict, and to make an overall better story. In this story, it is in the description of the heart getting louder that there is lots of repetition. Poe could have written once, the beating heart grew louder” and then he simply could have moved on, but that wouldn’t be very intense nor wouldn’t intensify the drama. Compare that to “It grew louder –louder-louder!... and now – again! – hark! louder! louder! louder! louder!” Saying it over and over like that makes the situation seem much more direr, anxious, and helps the reader feel the narrator’s distress. Repetition is a great way to intensify the conflict, make it more real to the reader, and to prioritize the storyline to reader. Poe also builds suspense by using an unreliable narrator. Poe’s use of the first person narrator helps build suspense. Poe uses first person point of view to his advantage in this story. Without the use of this point of view, “The Tell – Tale Heart” would not contain the flow and suspense it does. For example, right away our narrator addresses the reader,” True! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?" Here the reader is drawn right in to the story and...
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...It is not to be had for love or money It is common to say that money is not everything, but for the 10 year-old Lucy from Viv McDade’s short story “A Gift for My Mother” money causes her parents’ unhappiness, and they mean everything to her. Lucy lives in South Africa with her mom and dad who she really values. Lucy is constantly a witness to her parents’ financial discussions, which the short story underlines from the first page: “How much is there this week?” asked my mother, and she gave a little laugh. “As much as I’ve earned, that’s how much.” “What you’ve earned isn’t enough for us to live on.” (p. 1, ll. 31-34) They manage just to scratch a living, and it affects their marriage so they only dare to tiptoe around each other: “He took a deep breath...” and “My mother’s voice was tired and small when she answered him.” (p. 1, ll. 28-29) It seems as an old topic of discussion which has followed them for many years and slowly ruins their marriage. Lucy is just like other children: She wants the best for her parents, and she will do anything to make them happy. One day Lucy finds out that her mother turns happy when she receives a bunch of flowers, so Lucy conceives the idea of collecting some wild flowers so she can earn money to give to her mother. Lucy describes every flower she picks in details, and the wild flowers underlines her innocence and unspoiled mind. Lucy finds a wooden peach box where she puts tins of water and collects different kinds of daisies. Afterwards...
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...In chapter 6, the narrator, whom we don’t know the name of, shows up to a meeting with a swollen face and a black eye. Because of his appearance it’s his boss who’ll do the presentation. While he does that, the narrator tells us about fight club and its eight rules. The first and second rule is that you don’t talk about fight club. The following rules are that when someone says stop, or goes limp, the fight is over, two men per fight, one fight at a time and no shoes or shirts are allowed during fights. The fights go on as long as they have to, and if it’s your first night at fight club, you have to fight. Fight club used to be just Tyler and himself, pounding each other, but it grows and is now held every Saturday. The story takes place at an office at the narrator’s work. It’s not directly written that it takes place there, but the reader can assume so by the fact that the narrator and his boss are doing a presentation for their client Microsoft. The narrator describes the location of fight club as well, which is set in the basement of a bar, after the bar closes on Saturday night. The basement is portrayed as dark with a single lamp. The lamp is placed in the middle of the room where the fights take place. That contributes towards creating an atmosphere where it’s the fight that’s in focus. The narrator of the story is also the protagonist. He lives two lives, “Who I am in fight club is not someone my boss knows” ; one as a recall campaign coordinator...
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...all of his surroundings into something bad? The narrator gives us an introduction to his life and he expresses life’s negative aspects through this short story. The theme of the story could be “Every man for himself” or “Every man is his own fortune”. These themes are reflected in the text as the narrator says: “People are as mean one place as they are another and they’re always out to get you”. Subsection “People”. “This is My Living Room” is a short story and it’s written by Tom McAfee in 1966. The story takes place in Pine Springs, Minnesota, in a neighborhood characterized by hostility and unreliability. But it highlights as well a family where old traditions are a part of the everyday life. This is reflected in the text when the narrator expresses his opinion about women and their rights. “Women are easier to handle. About the worst they can do is talk and what does that matter”. Subsection “People”. The narrator introduces himself as a smart man and a man that doesn’t believe in anyone but himself. He’s a man in late forties and between the lines; we can perceive him as a male chauvinist. There are likewise examples which describe him as a racist. “Niggers are better than anybody because you can handle them. They don’t hardly ever give you any trouble.” Subsection “People” His two girls Ellen Jean and Martha Kay are sixteen and fourteen years old. They are both described as “sassy” and “born liars". And the narrator expresses, through the short story, the mistrust...
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...COMPARISON ESSAY CATCHER IN THE RYE & HIGH FIDLEITY By Monica Urbina “The Catcher in the Rye” and “High Fidelity” feature protagonists facing uncertainty. Both Holden’s and Rob’s story is told through their own distressed minds, which often misrepresents the experiences. Their insecure and ‘hot-headed’ personalities lead each character to produce an unreliable first person point of view. Holden and Rob outline their unreliability through their identity issues, their chosen isolation from others and their social interactions/perception of a situation. First of all, Holden and Rob both did not have a strong sense of who they are. They struggled with identity issues several times throughout each novel. Their switch in character often deceived the reader, making analysing the situations and characters more complex. In “The Catcher in the Rye”, Holden, in several cases, is on a search for his identity. He mimicked the personality of others, as well as acted out of character to impress those surrounding him. This was evident quite early in the novel when Holden was accompanied by an older woman on a train. When introducing himself, he says ““Rudolf Schmidt,” I told her. I didn’t feel like giving her my whole life history.” (Salinger pg. 54-55). His only justification for his identity change was that he “just felt like it”. Holden often ends his anecdotes with lines such as “I’m not kidding” or “I really do”. “I get bored sometimes when people tell me to act my age. Sometimes...
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...A friendly neighbour “A book may be compared to your neighbour: if it be good, it cannot last too long; if bad, you cannot get rid of it too early”. A neighbour war is a relatively common phenomenon nowadays. Even though everybody most likely has experienced a friendly fight between neighbours, it is seldom that it goes as far as it does in “A friendly neighbour” by Adam Johnson from the year of 2004. In this short story there is a first person narrator, which you can already tell by the very first word “I”. When a first person narrator is used, it makes it more easy to relate to the main character. In this particular story we quickly become convinced that what Roger is doing is completely okay, because we can read between the lines that Walker seems like a paedophile. Besides that, if we saw it from Walkers point of view, we would sympathize with him, but still think that his actions are wrong. The narrator in the story is unreliable, because he is a part of the story and we only see the story from his perspective. The story is written in past tense, but he tells the story as if the memories are still fresh, which you can conclude by seeing that he still remembers what he was thinking at the time. With that information you can also conclude that he took part in the story. The title is very ironic, as no one in the neighbourhood could really be described as ‘friendly’. They want what is best for themselves, and don’t think of other peoples needs. The story takes place...
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...life and continue living. This is a painful time Sometimes, the loss of beloved ones can be so heartbreaking that you might still see them in your daily life despite the fact that they are already dead. This could give you the comfort of them still being around, while you can still carry out conversations and feel like they are alive. The protagonist, Annie, experiences this supernatural situation in the short story “No Angel” written by Bernie McGill in 2011. The story is told in a first person narrative with a limited point of view, where the reader has full access to the protagonist’s thoughts, however because we are dealing with a first person narrator, we do not hear the story from a different perspective. Thus first person narrators can debatably be defined as unreliable. Another aspect of using a first person narrator is that the reader is able to identify oneself with the protagonist because the reader is basically inside her head. The loss of a family member is a devastating situation, which many can relate to. In this short the period of time does not pass in the traditional chronological order where event A is followed by event B. The story includes nothing but flashbacks. Instead of introducing the characters in the beginning the author has chosen to use in medias res which is an effect where the story begins in the middle of an important event. This method is often used in...
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...was very fun for Susan. The amount of stuff you could do on the pier pavilion was huge. She compared the pier pavilion as a human mind. Later on she also compares her own brain with a vast pavilion. Her father enjoys destinations. That is why they properly played the miniature golf because the miniature golf course had destinations, which for Susan’s point of view was important because the destination was a whishing well where they could make a whish. They whish something every time they play golf. The father always whish for John-Jin while Susan whish for other stuff like flamenco dancing lessons. This part shows that the Susan had a good childhood. Susan’s childhood and the whole short story are described with a first person narrator. The first narrator gives a good impression of how important the pier pavilion is. This is a good...
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...Narrator: Who tells the story? The story is told by our main character. He seems reliable, we’re in his mind and know what he’s thinking, hearing and feeling. He’s 11 years old and smokes, so he does though seem to be “on the wrong road”. Point of view: Is it a limited point of view? Yes, we only see the things our main character sees. In the final scene what do we get to know through the father’s voice? We get to know that the father hates his son, and that it’s not the first time he have beaten him. We found out that the main character also hates the dad, and when he grows older he wants to kill him. The dad then tells him he’s the son of satan. Time aspect: When does he tell the story? The story is wrote in past tense, some kind of flashback, where our main character is telling a story from when he was young. It’s told in first person narrator. How old was he when the events took place? He was eleven years old. How does the time gap affect our reading of the story? It gives a feel, that the story has been something worth remembering and passing on. Character: Examine the characters and how they are presented: Main character: He is the youngest of the group, age 11. He’s the leader, and also feels like he has to show the other boys that he’s a strong leader. Hass: Hass is a part of the group, and is a little more sensitive than the others, or so it seems. He doubts if what they’re doing is right at some time, but our main character gets him convinced...
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...written by Polly Clark in 2006 and the word reconciliation has a very central meaning for the main character. The main character and narrator, Laura seems to see the world a little bit different from other people. The narrator of the short story is a first-person narrator, and therefore she is, by definition, subjective. The story she tells us is seen from her point of view, and it is always a problem, if only one point of view is used on actions. Especially if the narrator has problems seeing the world as it really is. The narrator's mind seems to be quite untidy. At first, she forgets to bring proper shoes to work, and then she decides to explain it with mountaineering. That is probably one of the worst possible excuses for forgetting anything. This tells us, that the narrator's sense of occasion and sense of order is not the best. Furthermore, she tells us, that she has dry washed her hair, probably without success. That also does not witness about the greatest sense of order. Perhaps the narrator is looking for order. It could be, that she continuously searches amongst others for the one thing she cannot produce herself. It seems that the narrator is in a drastic psychological development. She is married, but yet she wants to be divorced, and when she goes home after work, it is without her husband. The relationship between the narrator and her husband was not always strained. They used to talk honestly about deep things to each other, but something happened. It seems...
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...The story The Journey to the brothers’ farm is a short story written by the British author Pippa Gough. The short story is from Once Upon a Time There Was a Traveller. The Journey to the brothers’ farm tells the story of a woman named Annelie Louw who runs Louw Stores on her own since her husband, Vernon Louw, died three years ago. Every Monday she drives to Tweekopfontein to stock up on good for the store from Van Riebeck Wholesalers. Her journey takes her past the turn-off to Veldplatt, the Krugers’ farm. During her car journey she gets flashbacks of her childhood, when she used to live at Bloumeer Farm, the farm closest to the Krugers’ Farm. On her way to the Tweekopfontein a figure grabs her attention. On the ground lays one of her good childhood friends, Thabo, injured. He tells her about the accident that took place last night at the Krugers’ Farm and drives off to the farm. She finds two of the Krugers’ brothers dead and the third, Hendriks, lying on a path. She pointes the gun at him and tell him about his brothers death and he kills himself. The main character in the short story is Annelie Louw. She is a woman in her late thirties perhaps. In the begging of the story she is a seven years old girl and in the present time it is 30 years later. She was married to man who died three years ago. She owns a store and is doing the job on her own. Throughout the story we learn to know her better. We learn about her past and her present. Her actions prove to the reader...
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...The new girl Summary The new girl is based on real story which is told by Marc Mitchell from the collection of biographical texts: True Tales of American life by Paul Auster from 2001. The story takes place in the neighborhood Prospect Street where a lot of white families live. The story is about an eight-year old boy. He and his friend Allison, who is ten, are riding their bikes on a warm summer day. He is not really sure if he actually likes her, but there is not anyone else he can play with. One day he sees a younger girl standing in the neighborhood across her bike, she is watching them playing with the bikes. The little black girl has recently moved in with her family, and Allisons mother has told Allison, that the new family was going to ruin their house. The boy in the story smiles at the girl and she smiles back. Allison tells the girl to get out of the neighborhood while the little girl says ‘hi’ to her. The boy looks at Allison and tries to imitate the older girl’s expression, but he does not look into the little girl’s eyes. The little girl wants to play with them, but Alison just spits after her. She says scornfully that she does not play with niggers. The younger girl walks hurt into the house and they can after a few minutes see a person from the inside looking out at them. The boy is expecting that the girl’s mother will appear from the house and demand them to make it up to her daughter. It never occurs. The boy does see the girl from time to time, and he...
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