... the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to a young, arrogant, smug, self-congratulatory boy who was proclaimed to be a musical prodigy by his parents. At first, Paul looks down on herr Keller and his seemingly ridiculous ways. Paul had never encountered such an eccentric or bizarre piano teacher before, and immediately ridiculed his methods. He felt that he was too good to be taught by Herr Keller, when in fact it was because he felt belittled by him. This arrogance is shown when herr Keller finally lets him play the piano on their 8th lesson. "He fossicked among his own music for a few moments, finally emerging with a copy of "The Children's Bach". "I ...

... and as he sits huddled in a blanket, I see a shadow of the man I am now engaged to marry. A once strong, handsome, and athletic man, he now weighs close to 100 pounds, his appetite having fallen victim to rigorous treatments of chemotherapy. David speaks slowly, at times obviously in great pain, a side effect from drugs which are a last ditch effort toward a miracle. He composes himself and explains, “No one can ever truly know what the feeling of death is like until they actually feel it for themselves.” Generally, words such as afraid, daunting, confusion, hopelessness, and sorrow spring to mind. However, David elaborates, “the knowledge that one is in the pr ...

... to see who can actually ‘out-do’ the other in stalking, capturing and destroying the souls of others. Taking absolute pleasure in ripping any virtue from the hearts of their prey, Merteuil and Valmont wave their accomplishments in front of each other like spoils of war. The less the chance of surrender, the more relentless is the pursuit. The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the inn ...

... While Hannah may be looking for a new soul mate to fill the role of her husband, Sula is only looking for a quick fix. Every society has its own distinct values and certain ideals of how a person should behave, especially in public. There is no universal morality. What is viewed as normal and acceptable is legislated by a majority. Each system of rules and regulations that are established differs in each society. Those who follow the rules are rewarded with praise and approval; they become apart of the majority and, as a result, become part of the process of adding new rules and revising old ones. Those who don’t play by the rules, like Sula, are viewed as o ...

... He meets one influential man who guides him to the better fork in the road of life, encouraging Gatsby to make money by any means possible. Gatsby involves himself in unlawful activities, and prospers in turn. But debatably, his thirst for the Dream had not yet been quenched. He had money, he had power. He "was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves." He wanted happiness. His dream was that money and power could buy him happiness. Obviously, he didn't understand society, and that was his downfall. But he was a believer, and he kept to the idea that he could be happy now that he was "somebody." His true ha ...

... and leave the rebbe to his studies and prayers. When Bessie, the oldest, finds a potential husband, her father turns him out, saying, “Don’t forget, when she gets married, who’ll carry me the burden from this house?” (45). In Sara, her father finds his most persistent and unyielding opponent, and increasingly so as she gets older. She, the youngest, has breathed heavily of the New World’s aura, and eventually decides it’s more important than her father’s preaching. Sara has also inherited a large part of her father’s tenacity, and uses it in her own particular way to achieve her goals. This equality of willpower, this sameness of temperament between Sara ...

... way or another . Among those characters are Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl Prynne and Hester Prynne. These characters are truly affected by entrapment. From beginning to end, many factors contribute to making Mr. Dimmesdale feel trapped in one way or another. To start, he is trapped in silence and pain. His need to be silent and the pain that he feels because of it, is shown when he says to Hester Prynne, in front of the town, Hester Prynne, ... I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down ...

... as helpful. Do the characters’ illusions hurt them, or are they merely harmless aspects of their personalities? Tom, who is the main character and narrator, suffers from his illusions. Tom’s illusion helps him to escape from his own reality. He sees his job at the shoe warehouse as boring and insignificant. He would rather experience the endless possibilities that life holds. But Tom cannot escape his job, so he tries to escape by going to the movies and writing. When he goes to the movies, he expects to find adventure. Watching someone else’s adventures on the movie screen offers Tom a diversion from his boring existence. “Yes, movies! Look at them-All of those g ...

... removes Pluto's eye with a knife, he is remorseful, but his feeling of guilt quickly manifests itself as irritation (para. 9). The cat's fear of the man is a constant reminder of the horrible deed that he has performed, and he begins to project his hatred of self onto his disfigured cat. As his notions of remorse further deteriorate his unsound mind, he destroys the object and source of his offense. With guilt eating away at his conscious, the man's sanity falls further into degradation, and he unleashes his cruelty on an innocent victim. The narrator describes the force of destruction that drives him as "the spirit of Perverseness", and this impulse causes hi ...

... is just sitting there watching the clock and counting the minutes pass by. Although his state of mind may be idle, time does not stand still for him. As we read on, you learn that the first line is significant because it creates a bridge to the next line, “the brave day sunk in hideous night”(L2). Again, we need to place emphasis on Shakespeare's choice of wording. Shakespeare uses the word sunk in order to illustrate how the dark night engulfs the day. What Shakespeare is doing is using the words “hideous night” and “sunk” to form a catalogue of images pertaining to decay and passing time. The brave day sinks deeper an ...