Newest Literature Essays

Within the relationship between Jean and Berenger in Rhinoceros, Berenger’s passivity and Jean’s narcissism become apparent. It is clear from the play that Jean is abusive and Berenger is submissive to him, making their friendship toxic. The...

A number of texts that define themselves within the post- modern category have attempted to capture the essence of Jean Baudrillard’s concepts of simulacrum and hyper- reality. Simulacrum can be described as ‘something having merely the form or...

"Misery won’t touch you gentle. It always leaves its thumbprint on you; sometimes it leaves them for others to see, sometimes for nobody but you to know of ”(Edwidge Danticat).

These disheartening yet wise words from Edwidge Danticat articulate...

Each year, residents of forgotten neighborhoods pay the price of being alive. In “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin uses references to human vulnerability to express the impact of home environment on outlook and life experience. Through the actions of...

In his novella ‘Minority Report’, author Phillip Dick outlines the ambitious nature of human beings and through the representation of characterization and the setting which reflects upon the pessimistic ideas which Dick possesses about human...

Flower arranging, a lost razor, bestiality–all topics which are discussed in Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Sylvia. Despite its seeming inconsequentiality, the discussion of flower arranging in Act I when paired with the destruction of items in...

Under the hostility of the Jim Crow Laws and the ever-present threat of lynching in Post-Reconstruction America, the circumstances seemed dire for African-Americans who dreamed of a brighter future. Yet there were still a few whose names found...

The distinction between truth and falsehood is at face value a simple one, but in actuality what is ‘true’ extends beyond the face of the world and permeates all aspects of life. Social systems are built upon the importance of truth, and our...

Bong Joon-Ho’s most recent venture, Parasite(or Gisaengchung), rose to widespread critical acclaim following its premier at the Cannes Film Festival, where it also won the coveted Palm d’Or. There have been countless films and works of literature...

Truth is something that can never be thoroughly understood or known at all, thought Dickinson. She used poetry as a way to look for it, only to have more questions pop up every time she thought she had found it. That is the thing with truth, she...

“All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities.” (Burke 402).

Here, revered statesman Edmund Burke was trying to say that a person’s character is destroyed because of their inclination to behave in a certain way....

American author Cormac McCarthy is well-known for unflinchingly examining the moral state of humanity within his writing. His works seldom offer any justification or redemption, leaving readers to equally ponder the sense and senselessness, the...

When the ‘Great Cornhill Fire’ of 1748 swept through the Cornhill district in the centre of London, it obliterated nearly two blocks of the city, destroying more than one hundred homes, causing multiple deaths, and triggering widespread looting in...

Settler common sense, a term popularized by Mark Rifkin, refers to legal and political structures established during times of colonization which are designed to allow “non-native access to indigenous territories” (Settler Common Sense xvi), and...

When most people think of heroes, they often associate them with having a happy ending. For example, fairy tales always end with their heroes living happily ever after, but that is not always the case. Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero is...

Tar Baby, written by Toni Morrison, tells the story of two people from two very different worlds and their journey to find love in a world filled with societal norms, discriminations, and strong ties to the past. The lives of Son and Jadine...

Top Girls, an all-female play written by Caryl Churchill in the early 1980s, focuses almost exclusively on the new struggles women faced in trying to become integrated into and obtain success in the workplace. This struggle is emphasized most...

The goals and struggles associated with the feminist movement have undoubtedly changed over time, transforming as increasing freedom and equality shed light on the more complex issues which surround integrating women wholly into society. Machinal,...

Marsha Norman’s ‘Night Mother is rife with haunting images and conversations, but no item specified in the play is more revealing than the gun which Jessie chooses to use to end her life. Jessie’s careful decision to use her father’s gun gives...

In Patrick Pearse’s search for recruits to the Volunteer Army, a year before the Easter Rising of 1916, he stated, “Whatever soul-searchings there may be among Irish political parties now or hereafter, we go on in the calm certitude of having done...

As part of human nature, the desire to want more has lead many to a path of self-destruction. By way of illustration, the main character in “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather, Paul, has an obsession with a more luxurious lifestyle fueling his negative...

A key tenet of existentialism is that as humans, we are all surrounded by absurdity. The very world we live in is absurd, and our actions are the only thing that we have complete control over. In Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov...

The social contract is the view that a person's morals or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form a society in which they live. The best three known philosophers of social contract theory: Thomas Hobbes,...

Sounds and noises play an important role in any book. All kinds of noises and sounds used by the author are significant in adding “flavor” to the story. Without such noises, readers would perceive the book as “flat” and it may become hard to...