How Successfully Have Writers Been Able to Portray the Characters (focusing on Male ones)? Refer in Detail to Any Two or Three Works of Literature That You Have Studied.
Essay by Maxi • September 5, 2011 • Essay • 574 Words (3 Pages) • 2,845 Views
Essay Preview: How Successfully Have Writers Been Able to Portray the Characters (focusing on Male ones)? Refer in Detail to Any Two or Three Works of Literature That You Have Studied.
In both One Day and 1984, the respective writers manage to characterize the protagonists of the novels, both portrayed as unwitting men that become heroes, in the readers' eyes, particularly well through the utilisation of setting, describing in detail the characters' responses to their arduous ordeals. Both novels feature dreary and seemingly hopeless settings, but also characters that show off their spirit and humanity, prevailing somewhat despite the odds. Consequently, the male heroes are characterized, leading to the readers' commitment to them. By utilising cutting diction, striking imagery, and the setting, Orwell and Solzhenitsyn characterize Winston and Ivan, while reinforcing the theme at the same time.
Cutting Diction
1. Ivan's understated diction in reaction to his many predicaments characterizes him as a calm, stable character that the readers can really rally behind.
a. Contrast to Fetyukov and his snivelling nature
2. Winston's demeanour in the dystopian society of 1984 also characterizes him as an intellectual who wishes to see a movement for the freedom of future generations.
a. Contrast to Julia's 'live in the moment' attitude of a true dissenter
3. Ivan is also established as a character of integrity and conscience in a place where both are sorely lacking.
a. "Next, he removed his cap from his shaven head--however cold it was, he wouldn't let himself eat with his cap on--and stirred up his skilly, quickly checking what had found its way into his bowl."
4. Winston is also characterized as a person who cares about more than just himself and the present, gently rebuking Julia's understandably selfish attitude about their relationship.
a. "I don't care about the future."
Striking Imagery
1. Ivan utilises striking imagery to demonstrate not only the conditions of the camp that they are in, but to also outline the ordeals that the prisoners, who are sometimes stationed in Gulags for decades, go through.
a. "Writing letters now was like throwing stones into a bottomless pool. They sank without a trace. No point in telling the family which gang you worked in and what your foreman, Andrei Prokofyevich Tyurin, was like. Nowadays you had more to say to Kildigs, the Latvian, than to the folks at home."
2. By admitting to the hopelessness of the situation, referring to a mathematical imagery, Winston creates an atmosphere of hopelessness in the novel, contributing to the theme of the dangers of dystopia.
a. "In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic
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