ipl-logo

Symbolism In The Day Of The Scorpion

1389 Words6 Pages

Abstract:
In The Day of the Scorpion, Ronald Merrick sees opportunity in World War II to put the case behind him and try to reinvent him by joining the army. Despite of setbacks, his Merrick’s ruthless ambition to rise above humble origins has not eased. He still sees in colonial India the opportunity for someone like himself to enjoy certain superiority and the potential to rise even further in social rank. Merrick takes the opportunity meeting Teddie, and through him the Layton family. The members of the Raj’s like Sarah, Susan, Mohammed Ali Kasim, Captain Teddie, Colonel Layton, Ronald Merrick and Sarah Layton are all caught up in their circles of fire. As a symbol of creation (i.e. love) as well as of destruction (i.e. death) the archetypal image of fire is used by the author. The title of the novel comes from a memory from the sister’s childhood, being shown a scorpion placed within a ring of fire. The scorpion appeared to sting itself to death. They saw this event differently; perhaps its fate was something else. As the scorpion encircled by a ring of fire stings itself to death, so does the British raj hasten its own destruction when threatened by …show more content…

In The Day of the Scorpion, to put the case behind him Merrick sees an opportunity in the Second World War. To enjoy a certain superiority and potential to rise even further in social rank Merrick seeks an opportunity through Teddie meeting Layton family. Scott takes the title The Day of the Scorpion from the haunting childhood memory of Sarah Layton, the novel’s main character. Sarah recalls the day a scorpion surrounded with a circle of fire. While the Layton sisters watched the scorpion arched its back and appeared to sting itself with its deadly tail before the flames could spread. The image of the scorpion’s suicide becomes a metaphor for the English within India’s circle of

Show More
Related

Symbols In The Masque Of The Red Death

683 Words | 3 Pages

Edger Allen Poe is an incredible author of horror. His story, The Masque of the Red Death, was an amazing chiller about a party that was ended by a disease. Throughout the kingdom a disease is spreading from citizen to citizen, killing each one who possesses it so the king invites those closes to him to a party where no one can leave and will be safe from the disease but yet in hindsight they were locking themselves in with the disease. Throughout the course of this hair-raising story, several symbols are represented to array Poe’s theme of death. Symbols such as the seven colored rooms, the clock, and lastly the Red Death are all symbols that are displayed to help get Poe’s notion across.

Read More

The House Of The Scorpion Character Analysis

1051 Words | 5 Pages

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer Fascinating and insightful, Nancy Farmer’s book The House of the Scorpion holds the power to captivate any audience with the tale of a young boy named Matteo Alacran. Being a clone, Matteo, called Matt, faces many perilous and persistent challenges that force him to change the way he thinks and acts. Affected immensely by the other characters in the story, Matt learns that not everyone gets what they deserve.

Read More

Symbolism In The Devil's Arithmetic

1096 Words | 5 Pages

Many times people take things for granted. For example, we think since food is always provided to us we shouldn’t be thankful for it, or for pure drinking water or even for our freedom. Most of society receive this benefits, and we assume everybody gets them too, unfortunately that is not the case. Not all people can afford these privileges. We may not perceive them as that on the contrary, we think of them as needs, and fortunately for us we can afford to enjoy them.

Read More

The Symbolism In The Masque Of The Red Death

57 Words | 1 Pages

The Masque of the Red Death has a lot of symbolism that has to do with the circle of life- such as the different colors of the seven rooms each meaning one stage of life. The stages of life obviously have relations to death, possibly even being centered around it. The thought is just so artistically

Read More

The Crossing Cormac Mccarthy Analysis

504 Words | 3 Pages

The passage begins by alerting the reader of the she-wolf’s death, witnessed by a man referred to by “he”. In the second paragraph of the passage, the man makes a fire, which is supposed to get him through the night. Contrary to the darkness, the light of

Read More

Symbolism In The Princess Bride

605 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout The Princess Bride, the author included a significant amount of symbolism. The six fingered sword is a great example of symbolism in the text. It's rather odd that a sword of this design belonged to a five fingered man. Inigo's father, Domingo Montoya, was a master craftsman who was commissioned by a powerful noble to create the best sword in all the land. He spent a great deal of time on this sword and expected a reward of equal value.

Read More

Jaws Theme Song

696 Words | 3 Pages

To human beings songs and music in general play a huge part in our lives. In many situations people turn to music. For example when someone is down or upset they might play an upbeat song to try and help their mood. Another example is when someone might be stressed or just unstrung; they turn to music or a certain song to help calm themselves.

Read More

Essay On Cormac Mccarthy The Road Fire

541 Words | 3 Pages

As the boy and the man journey down the road they come across the remnants of fire’s wrath. They live “through the drifting ash” (pg 191), the remains of what once was scattered across the world. The boy and man travel through the remnants of life that was burnt by fires. Fire has been utilized as a weapon by other survivors as well, charring and cooking their victims. The woman who cooked her newborn baby over a fire killed a new life.

Read More

Symbolism In A Thousand Splendid Suns

1539 Words | 7 Pages

Hakim Laila’s feminist identity was influenced by her father, Hakim. Hakim is mostly referred to as Babi in the novel. Babi was a high school teacher, in other word, an intellectual. Intelligence is devalued by the majority in their society, therefore being a teacher makes Babi an extraordinary person in the novel. Since Fariba, Laila’s mother, was distanced from her, Laila had a special bond with her father.

Read More

Foreshadowing In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible

485 Words | 2 Pages

Most notably, the “glide of snake belly” is an allusion to a notorious green mamba biting and killing Ruth May (5). Her death provides Orleanna with the strength to leave the Congo and is of enough importance to be addressed in the first paragraph. Orleanna then references the destruction of Kilanga in Judges by a “single-file army of ants” (5). This was the climax of the novel and a major turning point for most characters.

Read More

Imperialism In The Movie Gandhi

1304 Words | 6 Pages

This could be seen on how the British were exploiting the Indian’s resources and through cheap labor. The film reflects the labor of Indian immigrants in the scene where they were protesting by refusing to go back and work in the mines and were charged at by the British on horseback. This act of violent of the British in terms of unjust labor can also be identify in the French Africa “natives” who were legally obligated for statute labor, a practice that lasted though 1946. It involves the harsh condition of labor in the colonial life where British officials would make the native villagers work a lot and mistreated them in the process similar to how the Indians immigrants were being treated (Pg. 894). Along with this, we could see how Gandhi had dealt with the economic regulation by his protest of the British mercantile system.

Read More

Symbolism In The Epic Of Gilgamesh

1100 Words | 5 Pages

Symbolism in general is the building blocks to all sources of literature and can shape a piece of writing in many ways. Symbols in general can portray what something or someone represents, giving a deeper and metaphorical meaning to a symbol. Symbolism is often used within poetry, literature, music, or even art. This is how an author conveys a different meaning to the audience. For example artists may use the color “red” not only because of the color theory, but to convey love, passion, and maybe even health.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Sign Of Four And The Beach Of Falesa

1096 Words | 5 Pages

Although Doyle's The Sign of Four admires the peculiar aspects of Indian cultures, it upholds England's authority without questioning its legitimacy as reflected in Small's description of the Mutiny which unjustifiably associates India with barbarism. Stevenson's The Beach of Falesa, on the other hand, adamantly emphasizes the moral depravity of the white perpetrators. Both of these tales have undoubtedly broadened the imaginative horizons of British readers and their analyses have broadened mine so I am extremely thankful for the knowledge I acquired through this

Read More

Symbolism In The Book Night

993 Words | 4 Pages

34) “The student of Talmud had been consumed by the flames.” Fire is used as a symbol of death in the book “”Night”. The fire symbolizes death in the book “Night”, because it has burned the bodies of lot of Jews. In the first quote Ms Schacheter’s warns the Jew in the train, when they are burned at that moment. The night has become the nigh when the Jews burned bodies made the fire symbol of death in the book “Night”.

Read More

Analysis Of Rudyard Kipling's 'The Mark Of The Beast'

1349 Words | 6 Pages

They believed they were superior to the people of India, therefore it did not matter what the people of India believed or how British actions made them feel. In “The Mark of the Beast”, Rudyard Kipling uses symbolism to portray ignorance and arrogance in India brought on during its colonization by Britain. The character of Fleete exemplifies that ignorance and insensitivity, and he ultimately pays a grave price. Rudyard Kipling was able to experience both India and Britain growing up. Kipling was born in Bombay, India and was later taken to Britain to be educated (“Rudyard Kipling - Biographical” nobelprize.org).

Read More

More about Symbolism In The Day Of The Scorpion

Related Topics

Open Document