Symbolism In Sherman Alexie's Smoke Signals
John McPhee uses a variety of literary techniques in his novel to explain the magnitude of the situation at hand. In the novel Contr¬ol of Nature, specifically the chapter “Cooling the Lava,” Similes help to explain the volcanic eruptions and their aftermath in effective ways as most people are unfamiliar with what they are like. By using the device, it grabs the reader’s attention making them more likely to try and understand the situation. A volcanic eruption also deals with lots of technical and political jargon that can be uninteresting or difficult to understand, by using comparisons this language can be made more colloquial allowing readers with different types of background to comprehend and enjoy the novel. The literary device allows McPhee to provide a sense of clarity to a foreign situation.
A sense of change was present for both of the authors due to the fires. Attitudes and mindsets were not the same as they normally are. Logos and pathos was used in both “Brush Fire” and “The Santa Ana” because the authors did give a lot of information regarding the winds, but they also expressed their personal emotion towards it in their writing. The authors made it clear that the fires did in fact change people, no matter how the people were changed. They had some sort of differences to them during the
Holocaust claimed many lives while leaving others to past on their accounts of the horrifying experience. David Olere shared his story through, Destruction of the Jewish People, while Elie Wiesel with his book, Night. Although the two individuals use different methods, the two were similar by introducing the concentration camps, the fire, and the destruction of their god. The most atrocious events were in the concentration camps.
The novel The Lone Ranger and the Fistfight in Tonto and the film Smoke Signals are very similar in many aspects but have some key difference as well. The main differences occur in the situation where the characters had a choice. The first situation is where Victor and Thomas is the book decided to abruptly leave the Trailer in which they were staying while in the film Alexie chose to stay there. This lead to some character development where Alexie shared some of his stories such as the one about the basketball game. Another difference is throughout the film it is shown that Victor and Thomas have a more strained and aggressive relationship this can be seen in the scene when they're in the truck and Thomas yelled at Victor and showed aggression that wasn't seen in the novel; in the novel Thomas and Victor have a more respectful relationship with one another.
In “Forged by Fire” by Sharon M. Draper, Gerald, the main character in the story, grows into a brave man. In the beginning, Gerald starts a fire in his mom’s apartment. Gerald gets scared from the flames, sounds, and heat that he goes behind the couch to hide from the fire. After the fire, Gerald lives with his aunt. On Geralds’s 9th birthday, Gerald’s mom came to the house with a sister for Gerald, but he doesn’t want to see neither of the two.
Imagine being stranded on island with a bunch of strangers and no possessions. Having to leave your old life, family, and civilization all behind. Just imagine. Meanwhile, In William Golding’s novel, he uses symbolism to tell the allegory of a few boys whose flight crashed into a deserted island in which they were left to fend for themselves. In the novel Ralph and the fire both connect to the theme that Golding references as a good vs evil where evil ultimately overtakes humanity.
In Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, fire and water are used as a way to talk about slavery and Effia and Esi’s sides of the family tree. Fire and water talk about the curse of slavery and the role that it plays during this time period. The motifs of fire and water represent slavery and enable the author to track the lives of one family. Throughout the novel, fire is used as a metaphor for the legacy of slavery.
The boy takes care of him as they talk one last time. Most prominently, the symbol of “the fire” (McCarthy 278) and carrying it are used to display hope and virtue. The man often uses ‘carrying the fire’ as a way to
The son and father use their fires to heat their cold bodies, while the mother used her fire to kill her baby. Another example of destruction by fire are the spontaneous fires that occur through the land. The man witnessed a “forest fire was making its way… flaring and shimmering against the overcast like the northern lights” (pg 31). Forests, typically lush and ripe with life, were rendered dead by the quick spreading fire. The destruction that the spreading fires caused is seen all throughout the environment.
The story “Through the Tunnel” has different types of moods that set people’s mind differently. Impacts on the Characters , theme , and Symbolism are shown in the story . All of those elements make up the story “Through The Tunnel”. The topics mean different things to different people . The story is about a kid thats not obeying the parent just to fit in with other people .
Throughout the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the leader of the fight to keep and maintain the fire, but he is starting to give up hope and lets the fire die. Lastly, fire symbolizes hope during the end of the novel. Jack and most of the other boys have turned on Ralph and want to “hunt” him. They decided that the best way to get Ralph to come to them on the beach was to light the whole forest on fire so Ralph would be forced out to the beach. Ralph was trying to run out of the forest as “the roar of the forest rose to thunder and a tall bush directly in his path burst into a great fan-shaped fan.
‘Yes it is,’” (McCarthy 278). The boy sees the father as a visionary. An all-knowing person. When his father says the fire is real and the boy can reach it, the boy believes him and will now strive to achieve it for his father.
Naturally, fire is thought of in conjunction with destruction, but in a survival sense it signifies hope and warmth. Carrying the fire basically means that even though all the odds are against the father and son they are still pushing forward. It is something to live for when truly there isn’t. At the end of the story, when the father dies, the boy has to continue on the legacy without him. When he stumbles upon a man who asks if he wants to join their family the boy immediately asks if he’s carrying the fire.
The fire was also a symbol of civilization, that the boys would survive and get rescued. Fire is quite profound in what it reveals about humans. The fire was the object that the hunters didn’t have, it was desirable because it was limited. The fire brought out the innate greed that humans possess. The hunters weren’t content with asking for fire from Ralph, they were too prideful and savage to be civil in any manner, so they stole it.
Despite the negative stereotype of American Indians, the objections and disapproval of fellow Natives, and the criticism of others, Sherman Alexie went on to become a successful writer that has inspired many. Alexie overcame many obstacles that would have deterred him from his goal, but he was able to remain steadfast and continue on in his pursuit of writing. As a result, he has published many literary works that include several short stories, poems, and a variety of novels. He allows his culture to seep into his writing, and continues to inspire young American Indians who also desire the path of knowledge.
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