ipl-logo

Water Imagery In Saul Bellow's Seize The Day

3951 Words16 Pages

This research paper on Saul Bellow’s novel Seize the Day is Qualitative research which is descriptive in its literary form. Its objectives is to throw light on the symbolic function of water imagery and how it serves different purposes at different points in the novel and dominates Wilhelm’s ‘pretender soul’ and real soul that entangled between the enormous life seems to offer and the unromantic reality of the world. The present research paper gives a psychoanalytical reading of the representation of the protagonist Tommy/Wilhelm Adler’s character.The other aspects discussed in this research are the link between water imagery and history. Saul Bellow is a Jewish American author and greatly influenced by Jewish philosophy and humanism. As an ‘imaginative historian’ he resists to …show more content…

The second chapter, entitled “Operational Definitions and Theoretical Framework” offers a short literature review with working definitions of the critical term used in the paper (e.g. masochism, Bildungsroman elements) and relevant short discussion of the theories the paper cashes in on ,namely post-modernism and Marxism. The third chapter titled “Water as Orgone energy” offers a critical reading of the novel concentrating on three major characters Tommy Wilhelm, Dr. Adler and Dr.Tamkin. The fourth chapter, “Water imagery as Reckoning, Reconciliation, and Redemption’’ assuming a Psychoanalytical perspective. The fourth chapter contends water imagery as drowning in materialism of American society. The fifth section, “Conclusion” summarizes the major argument of the paper that the water imagery echoes baptismal rituals rather drowning, it is triumph rather failure of Tommy Wilhelm. By “healing surrender of the armored self”, Tommy Wilhelm at last actually achieved seize the

Show More
Related
384 Words | 2 Pages

In the short story The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant, by W.D. Wetherell, dramatic irony and flashback are utilized to communicate that one should never change themselves for the sake of another. Set during a summer in New Hampshire, Wetherell’s work is from the perspective of a young boy who becomes infatuated with a girl by the name of Sheila Mant. As as result, the narrator sacrifices the opportunity of a lifetime on his fruitless endeavor to win the heart of the girl. To begin, an excellent example of the effect of the irony and flashback is present at the end of the story when the narrator reflects upon his decisions and says, “ There would be other Sheila Mants in my life, other fish, and though I came close once or twice, it was these

Read More
246 Words | 1 Pages

In the novel We Were The Mulvaneys the author Joyce Carol Oates gives the readers an insight of the thoughts of one of the characters, Judd Mulvaney. Judd, who a young boy around the age of eleven or twelve, is on his driveway by a brook and he’s looking down just watching the brook’s water flow by; spending his time thinking alone. Oates put a lot of symbolism of death with the thoughts Judd is having. It gives the reader a clear idea of what Judd is feeling about reality.

Read More
355 Words | 2 Pages

In the poem “Death Over Water” by Elizabeth Rhett Woods, juxtaposition between the beauty and grace of ice dancing and the savage fighting between two enemy birds is shown as an eagle is compared to “the male of a pair of ice dancers” (line 9), a gull to the female ice dancer and “a clamour of crows” (line 1) to the crowd watching them. The eagle is the dominant force in the fight that is in control of the movements of the birds maintaining “every advantage of size and speed” (line 17), comparable to the lead dancer of a pair. In ice dancing, the male is often guiding the female through the moves remaining “above and behind” (line 8) the female dancer at all times. The gull is at the mercy of “the enemy” (line 16) eagle and is forced to move

Read More
629 Words | 3 Pages

In the book, the language used could really strike the reader and truly show the misery they experienced. “The morning was cold and wet. They had not slept during the night, not even for a few moments, and all three of them were feeling the tension as they moved across the field toward the river.” ( O’Brien, p.105) The author uses imagery to show first hand what the soldiers encountered on that wet rainy day.

Read More
920 Words | 4 Pages

The imagery that Connell creates in The Most Dangerous Game captivates the audience into a tale that makes one’s heart stop even for a split second. The feelings of suspense are nearly tangible to the reader when the silence of the writing surrounds them. Additionally, the two contradicting moods are easily flowed through together and yet discreetly set apart due to Connell’s use of imagery in various scenes. Despite all the other literary devices used within The Most Dangerous Game, imagery has to be the element that really allows the emotions of the literary piece to connect to its

Read More
618 Words | 3 Pages

Many readers may interpret this piece as a coming of age story for the Narrator or for adolescents in general. However, the theme is actually human nature and the choice to succumb or stray away from it. Human nature in it of itself is the power to make

Read More
281 Words | 2 Pages

In “The Art of Drowning” by Billy Collins, he inquires the thought of life flashing before your eyes when you are reaching an imminent death. When the character leaps underneath the surface to his aqueous grave, a fast depiction of a long life is rotated through his mind. Mr. Collins explains how weird it is that time crushed into such a short film in the final seconds of life. Collins reverie of an ultimate instant when all corners of the existence resided come together for an impressive production, a sit down gathering where all moments are commended in great detail and discussion. Appalled by the moment, is as quick as the time it takes for the oxygen to exhaust in a moribund, drowning man.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

Kate Chopin created a very complex character named Edna Pontellier in her novel The Awakening. Mrs. Pontellier is peculiar because her thoughts are consistently drury and she is insatiable. Chopin uses many different strategies to develop Mrs. Pontellier’s character such as imagery but the most prominent strategy is symbolism. Symbols featured in the story include birds, two lovers, a widow, and water. Whenever water appears in a story or novel it can often represent baptism, rebirth, and/or death.

Read More
844 Words | 4 Pages

Truth and Bright water by Thomas King is a coming of age Novel. The setting of this story takes place among the Blackfoot indigenous people living in the United States/ Canadian border in two townS separated by the Shield river. Truth is located in Montana, United States and Bright water is found in an Ottawa Indian reserve. Symbolism is when certain images or objects are used to represent specific people or concepts. Symbolism can also be used to pass messages to the reader in a way that provokes their imagination and their thinking.

Read More
1205 Words | 5 Pages

In the short story, “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien, the author develops the idea that when an individual experiences a feeling of shame and humiliation, they often tend to neglect their desires and convictions to impress society. Tim, the narrator, starts off by describing his feeling of embarrassment, “I’ve had to live with it, feeling the shame”, before even elaborating on the cause of the feeling. Near the end of the story, he admits he does not run off and escape to Canada because it had nothing to do with his, “mortality...Embarrassment, that’s all it was”. The narrator experiences this feeling of intense shame and then he decides that he will be “a coward” and go to war. His personal desire is that he wishes to live a normal life and could never imagine himself charging at an enemy position nor ever taking aim at another human being.

Read More
2539 Words | 11 Pages

Water is seen a lot throughout the story of the Big Fish. Water, in the story, is a symbol that can represent purity. An example from the story, that shows the viewer the meaning of water, is when we first see Edward lying in his bed because William had come to bring Edward his extra protein. Edward asks for the water that was sitting right next to him. He says something to the effect of he needs it, water.

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

Using distinctively visual, sensory language and dramatic devices in texts allows the reader and audience to view as well as participate and relate to different emotions. In the fictional play “Shoe Horn Sonata” written by John Misto, 1995, Misto sets the scene by using dramatic devices to address the extremely confronting circumstances that the protagonists, Sheila and Bridie experience. Similarly, in the poem “Beach Burial” by Kenneth Slessor, 1944, Slessor too uses extremely strong visual language on the subject of war to overcome the gruesome realities of the subject matter. Misto’s play “Shoe Horn Sonata” shares the impacting journey two young women are forced to face, spending 1287 days in captivity in a Sumatran war camp, during world war two.

Read More
1247 Words | 5 Pages

It might surprise readers to know that, by the use of this lens, traces of these subjects can be found in almost any work despite the original nature and intent of the tale. A prime example demonstrating the power of the Marxist lens can be seen when the lens is applied to Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Story of an Hour”. This short conte depicts the brief sentiment of freedom felt by the fictitious character Mrs. Mallard as she learns that her husband has been killed in a railroad accident. However, her blissful reverie is put to death by death itself when her husband, alive and well, walks through the doors of their home to meet her. On the surface, this would appear to be a tale void of social, political, or economic association; how could such logical themes develop in such an emotional tale?

Read More
1786 Words | 8 Pages

Rita Felski’s view of tragedy being the failure “to master the self and the world” is at the heart of Nella Larsen’s Quicksand and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Both texts are concerned with the incapacity of defining and accepting one’s identity and the characters’ attempts to resolve this identity crisis by isolating themselves. This essay will argue that the fundamental cause for this tragedy is the lack of emotional connection from one’s family, which in turn prohibits one to sympathize with anyone, including oneself. In Quicksand, Helga Crane’s inability to become truly happy stems from her feelings of being an outsider.

Read More
940 Words | 4 Pages

In Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” demonstrates the personal growth of the dynamic protagonist Louise Mallard, after hearing news of her husband’s death. The third-person narrator telling the story uses deep insight into Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts and emotions as she sorts through her feelings after her sister informs her of her husband’s death. During a Character analysis of Louise Mallard, a reader will understand that the delicate Mrs. Mallard transforms her grief into excitement over her newly discovered freedom that leads to her death. As Mrs. Mallard sorts through her grief she realizes the importance of this freedom and the strength that she will be able to do it alone.

Read More

More about Water Imagery In Saul Bellow's Seize The Day

Related Topics

Open Document