In this article, Yesilbas, Trendacosta, and Newitz, list thirteen examples of Armageddon stories that teach lessons about the real world and its end. One example they examine is Logan’s Run. This book depicts survivors of war, overpopulation, and pollution living in a city sealed off from the forgotten world. However, life and death are controlled by a computer and when a person turns 30 they are disintegrated and reborn. If you choose not to die, you will be referred to as a “runner”, a criminal hunted down and murdered by the police.
The Devil In The White City had many plot lines that took place in Chicago around 1893 at the World's Fair. The first plot line focuses mainly on Daniel Burnham constructing the World's Fair with his partner John Root. It tells a story of struggle for the men, how they had such a hard time constructing the large Farris wheel, to having to open unfinished, then having trouble getting attendance up. Then the struggle is over for the two guys for a short amount of time. Not long after they gather up just enough money to pay off their debts, the Fair had to shut down, as the mayor of Chicago had been assassinated, honestly a more positive reputation for Chicago.
In both short stories, “The Devil and Tom Walker”by, Washington Irving and “The Minister’s Black Veil”by, Nathaniel Hawthorne religion is used to expose the hypocrisy of Tom Walker who pretends to be Christian and the Puritan townspeople who judge the minister for exposing his secret sin while sinning themselves. Tom Walker decides to make a deal with the devil for financial gain. Once Tom Walker reaches old age he realizes he is going to hell and tries to figure out a way to cheat the devil. He begins going to church obnoxiously praying and judging the churchgoers for how they choose to practice their The “quiet Christians” would be praying modestly to themselves while Tom would be obnoxiously praying trying to one-up them. Irving compares Tom’s newfound Christianity to his job as a loan shark.
Characterization Three charters in the book ‘’The Dark Is Rising ‘’by Susan Cooper that I have chosen to talk about are Will Stanton, Merriman Lyon, and The Walker. Will Stanton is Eleven years old and the seventh son of 9 siblings. He has a round face, blue-grey eyes, and brown hair. He is also very happy and positive. On his 11th birthday he finds out that he is not the son of Rodger and Marry Stanton, and he is the last of the Old Ones.
The John Wyndham’s novel The Chrysalids was published in 1955, just a decade after World War II and the first uses of nuclear weapons. John Wyndham used the future apocalyptic theme as a warning about the continuing development of nuclear weapons. The nuclear disaster that wiped out the "Old People" is a strict warning from the author to humanity regarding what can happen to us if we continue research into nuclear weaponry.
This paper will discuss Canto XXIV and XXV of Dante’s Inferno, where the poet presents a character named Vanni Fucci. Superficially, Vanni Fucci seems to be motivated by thievery. Deeper insight gained from close reading reveals, however, that Vanni Fucci has lost the good of the intellect in the following sense that he is a megalomaniac and believes that he is to be a ruler of Florence. This thesis will be demonstrated by means of principles of close reading, including details, misprision and under-specification. (TRANSISITION)
The Allegory of The Devil and Tom Walker In the story, “The Devil and Tom Walker”, the author, Washington Irving, uses symbolic devices, and farfetched stories in order to convey to the audience a hidden meaning. Irving claims the story was just a, “legend”, but from further examination in the text the audience can conclude that this story is an allegory. The main character, Tom Walker is portrayed as an epitome for greed, and is shown how this theme can corrupt someone's life. Throughout the story there are many symbolic clues Irving includes to hint to this story being an allegory.
The whole plot being that firemen create fires in the story yet in reality they get rid of them, that is very pessimistic. In the book firemen burn books and any houses with books in them to prevent anyone from broadening their horizons and going against the government. A similar thing happened in Nazi Germany which was an extremely negative time in history. Another example would be, in the beginning when Montag is talking to Clarisse and she asks "are you happy?
In the poems The Black Cat by Edgar Allen Poe, Prey by Richard Matheson, and The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving the theme of violence and grotesqueness is highly prevalent. Whether the violence is glossed over or painted in sensational and bloody detail , it is a hallmark of the gothic narrative, and serves many purposes many functional purposes beyond inspiring terror in the reader. All of the three authors selected have shown immense experience in adding the right amount of violence and goriness into their writings. In Prey Matheson represents violence by stating “Both legs were streaked with caking blood, some of the gashes still bleeding” (Matheson 6). In the same writing Matheson uses a representation of grotesqueness in saying
I have been tasked with writing an alternate ending to washington Irving's “the devil and tom walker”. Irving was a writer of folktales, this particular folktale takes place a few miles from boston massachusetts, it foretells of a man and a woman who try to make a deal with the devil. the woman fails and is never seen again but tom walker, the man, succeeded and became a very rich and prosperous man as a usurer or a money lender however as the years passed by, Tom grew older and while in dealings with a man he mistakenly yelled “devil take me” and in “The Devil and Tom Walker” the devil did indeed take him that very night. My alternative ending will begin on page 244, in the second column at “Tom lost his patience and his piety--”.
Gatlin Farrington 12/1 P.4 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is an excellent utopian/dystopian fictional story about a man who fights for the freedom to read. The government in this world has made almost every book (with a few exceptions) illegal. They have done this due to the contradictory ideas found in them. It was thought that all of the contradictions might confuse citizens on what is the truth and what isn’t.
Watchmen Who makes sure the poll workers counted correctly? Who makes sure the leader of the United States is not a puppet for a big organization running the country? Who…? Reading the Watchmen this idea was apparent throughout the novel, Characters like Rorschach and Nite Owl have to break the rules in order to preserve order. So my question or topic to discuss is if Watchmen occurred today what actions would ensue?
What would one expect to be the personality of man who was caught in a radioactive particle test, which transformed him into a god-like being. Dr. Manhattan is that man in the comic book “The Watchmen” by Alan Moore. A character analysis of Dr. Manhattan revels that he no longer feels human and has no connection to humanity. This can also be said for another superhero by the name of Captain Atom. Looking at these characters closely one could see that they share the same feelings of isolation and loneliness throughout their stories.
It is clear that John Wyndham wrote The Chrysalids as a warning for today’s society, based on the comparisons that are drawn between the society of Waknuk, the Old People, Sea land, and our current society. More specifically, the current technological advancements, the existence of fundamentalist groups, and the slowly changing concept of “freedom of speech”. The events of Tribulation serve as a warning to today’s society. Many current day countries have nuclear weaponry, chemical weaponry, bombs, and other massively destructive tools at their disposal. Comparably, the Old People had very advanced technology and the reader knows that a nuclear war has taken place based on the existence of such extreme mutations seen in both plants and people.
“Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.” - Rick Riordan, The Mark of Anthena. Watchmen is a graphic novel which does not have a clear protagonist or antagonist, since each one of this character has some sort of scar that tells a story about them. In every book, movie or novel, there is always a character that you are most attracted to or find a similitude within.
