ipl-logo

Comparing Resignation And Roethke's Characters

1550 Words7 Pages

McClatchy, Salinger, and Roethke’s characters share another similarity that is prevalent in the writing: All three are not given or accept the help they need, and as a result, they give up because the pain increases to the point where giving up on their expectations is the only thing they feel they can do. In the poem “Resignation” when McClatchy writes, “none tries to keep company / Or change its fortune” (McClatchy 10-11), he is expressing that the trees are ignored and not assisted in any way. This negligence leads to the pain worsening, as McClatchy discusses this in the poem as well, saying, “To never having been loved as they wanted / Or deserved, to anyone’s sudden infatuation / Gouged into their sides, to all they are forced / To shelter …show more content…

By accepting that kids will grab for the gold ring, putting themselves in danger, he is accepting that growing up in necessary for everyone. A child cannot be “protected” from falling (growing up), as he thought he could prevent them from doing so by being the catcher in the rye. Thus, he is giving up his desire of staying young and accepting the reality that he must grow up by accepting the children will fall. Finally, in Theodore Roethke’s poem, “In a Dark Time”, the narrator, like Holden and the trees, is not given any assistance. For the entire poem, no person, other than the narrator himself, is acknowledged. Thus, because no help is significant enough to be mentioned, Roethke reveals that no one has offered the narrator any valuable help. Without anyone reaching out to him, his problems begin to build up inside of him, worsening them until once again, a fall from emotional and mental sanity is seen. When the narrator begins to talk about his inner turmoil in the second stanza, he says, “That place among the rocks--is it a cave, / Or a winding path?

Show More
Related
239 Words | 1 Pages

you don't care,.. you want to be left alone.” In this part of the passage the author is saying to his audience that they must use the youth to their advantage because there will come a time when they're not young anymore, He also goes on to say to the youth to “never be afraid” multiple times. This instills a sense of encouragement to the audience,

Read More
765 Words | 4 Pages

“We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts… For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for

Read More
513 Words | 3 Pages

This also reveals that he realizes how cruel he was to Doodle and Doodle and the narrator had to suffer the consequences. All in all, having a character like the narrator who is important to the story since he realizes what is right and what is

Read More
816 Words | 4 Pages

Parker introduces her poem by using imagery to announce the simple development in the setting. It begins by saying, “as the sun rose” (line 7) and continues until she writes, “We didn’t speak until the sun overcame” (line 10). It is an uncomplicated way to provide an additional thought of change. By mentioning the small difference in the setting, Parker wants the reader to understand the importance of the many different aspects, large and small, that are evolving.

Read More
126 Words | 1 Pages

The Catcher in the Rye, Jerome D. Salinger’s one and only full novel, was written in 1951. Since then, it has sold more than 65 million copies and translated into most of the world’s major languages. This book tells the story of Holden Caulfield, a 16 year old who can’t seem to be able to stay at one school and despises the “phoniness” of adult-life. One day, he must grow up, but Salinger is there to lead him throughout the book. Salinger uses symbolism to convey a maturation theme in his work.

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

To me Reverend Maclean’s final sermon in A River Runs Through It means that everyone will have someone the love go through something terrible, but we don 't know how to help. There are multiple ways that you can think about this. The issue at hand could be mental, physical, short-term, or long-term problem. Reverend Maclean 's sermon means that giving help can be very frustrating and at time hard to figure out. Mental help is the hardest to figure out.

Read More
935 Words | 4 Pages

The readers learn to value relationships, to not allow pride to become an evil necessity, and to appreciate the little things. These all combine to contribute to the overall theme. With the narrator’s brother, becoming weaker and weaker, day by day, it creates an uneasy feeling arising from the reader, about the results of Doodle, and if he will survive. The narrator reflects back on the memories, and the love he surely had for Doodle, “There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle” (597). This quote justifies the guilt the narrator had, in effect of not every fully acknowledging the passion and devotion he actually had towards Doodle.

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator is a representation of society. He is civilians that will not wait for the less fortunate or challenged individuals. He is people who do not want to deal with realities because they are inconvenient. He eventually realizes Doodle is not a hurdle in his life but his brother to be embrace. He puts effort into teaching Doodle to walk and swim, but even then he is cruel to his brother.

Read More
786 Words | 4 Pages

For the entire duration of the poem, the reader is able to infer how the complexity of the relationship changes and how the father feels about his son through the techniques and methods stated above. Within A Story, Lee uses point of view from both characters to convey the idea that the father’s relationship with his son is indeed, increasingly complex. The reader also learns from this point of view technique that the time of thought within the poem constantly changes. The boy’s young age is shown clearly in the beginning of the poem as: “His five-year-old son waits in his lap.”

Read More
1391 Words | 6 Pages

”Lead me away. I have been rash and foolish. I have killed my son and wife. I look for comfort; my comfort lies here dead. Whatever my hands have touched has come to nothing.

Read More
428 Words | 2 Pages

Depression is an active theme in J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye.” Holden does not properly treat his depression because he ignores help, abuses substances, and bottles up his emotions. Before reading “The Catcher in the Rye,” I believed that depression is completely not a choice, but after I realized that although it isn’t a choice, there are still ways of treating depression. Holden refuses to accept help from other people. As soon as I was inside, I couldn 't think of anybody to call up.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Oliver begins this stanza by writing “little by little…you left their voices behind”, showing the reader’s transformation from someone who relied on the voices of others to someone who now relies on themselves. In the later lines she writes, “there was a new voice, / which you slowly / recognized as your own”, showing that the reader finally discovered their own voice throughout their journey. With the reader finding their own voice, they can now rely on themselves and have no need for the voices and other impediments that appeared in the first two stanzas. The new voice “kept [the reader] company” during the journey, showing that their own voice will always be there to support them, making them more independent. The reader’s newly found voice also keeps them company as they continue “deeper and deeper / into the world”.

Read More
254 Words | 2 Pages

March 17, 1838 Dear Diary, Today while sitting in the crispy cold weather, with the clothes that now resembled rags, I sat pondering my life. My face now covered in the unpleasant texture of dirt and smut from the factory; now appeared to have become a part of m. My hands disarrayed and my cracked hands bandaged lay tight in my lap and now mirrored my life. I haven’t any parents to speak of so I found myself this alley where I write to you. Not far from work I await the loud bell to alarm me of my next shift down at the factory.

Read More
1034 Words | 5 Pages

As he, the Wanderer speaks kindly, he explains that “ A wise man must be patient not too hot of heart nor hasty of speech, not reluctant to fight nor too reckless, not too timid nor too glad, not too greedy, and never eager to commit until he can be sure. A man should hold back his boast until that time has come when he truly knows to direct his heart on the right path”. This quote reveals the acceptance aspect within the five stages of grief which he is experiencing throughout the poem. The Wanderer speaks of patience and how to be calm and in lack of better words, indifferent about quite a lot of things. This is a side of him which is more calm, understanding, and accepting.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

In this poem, we are taught to value everyone because we don’t know their stories and we don’t know what they have been through. An example of this is “He tried to kill himself in grade ten when a kid who could still go home to mom and dad had the audacity to tell him “get over it” as if depression is something that can be remedied by any of the contents found in a first aid

Read More

More about Comparing Resignation And Roethke's Characters

Related Topics

Open Document