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How Does Sheila Heti Present The Theme Of 'The Raspberry Bush'?

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In Sheila Heti’s short story “The Raspberry Bush” she presents the theme of the realization that Life is short, through the techniques of imagery, metaphorical parallels and character development. The imagery used to describe the Raspberry Bush represents the change between the young and elderly, and the physical life of the Raspberry Bush parallels metaphorically to human life and the passing of time. Both these techniques are used to develop Heti’s theme that life is short. The realization of this theme is seen through the protagonist’s reaction to the death of the Raspberry Bush and how it greatly affects her entire mental state. The use of each technique is carefully portrayed and helps to advance the reader’s understanding of Heti’s theme …show more content…

Heti describes the Bush as having “perky red raspberries” when it was alive, but when it was found dead, the raspberries were “black and brittle” (MLA format). The word perky is an applicable trait to human personality and emotion, and the color red has a tendency to be associated with love, passion and fire. This distinctive imagery of the raspberries alludes to the protagonist as once being a perky, passionate, fiery, loved and fruitful young girl. The word brittle is an applicable physical elderly human trait, referring to the fact that the human body becomes fragile with age, and the color black has a tendency to be associated with darkness and death. Again, this imagery of the raspberries points to the protagonist as now being old, brittle and near death. Heti describes the protagonist as “the little old woman” and the age of the protagonist’s sister being “eighty-eight” years of age, reinforces the reader’s knowledge that the protagonist is old and likely near the end of her days (MLA format). The importance of this imagery sets the stage for the core theme that Heti is displaying in this short story. What once was and what now is, is a key feature in the realization that life is

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