Joseph Conrad took command of a steamship in the Belgian Congo in 1890 and from hs experiences came the outline for Heart of Darkness. This work provides a bridge between Victorian values and ideals of Modernism. The novel relies on traditional ideas of heroism, which are under constant attack in ...

Lord of the Flies is a fictional novel about a group of boys stranded on a tropical island in the Pacific. The story is set during World War II. The 'fall' in Lord of the Flies can be predicted by analyzing the symbolic meanings in the story. The symbolic meanings of the island help pred...

Whether a reader connects to the symbolism of Heart Of Darkness or is merely reading it for fun, one cannot go away from this story without a lingering feeling of uneasiness. Joseph Conrad writes what seems to be a simple story about a man in search of an ivory hunter; one must look deeper into the ...

This novel, Lord of the Flies, was written by William Golding. The novel is filled with many symbols, which support the theme to the novel. Throughout this novel you will see Golding use Objects, Characters and settings as symbols. The novel starts with a tropical island, which a group of English...

Arthur Miller\'s \"A View from the Bridge\" is a modern tragedy set in 1950\'s Brooklyn, NY, about a man\'s obsession with his niece, and what that obsession ultimately brings about. Eddie Carbone, the protagonist of the play also happens to be the antagonist, because he ultimately is fighting agai...

Symbolism is a colossal part of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The symbols are often hard to distinguish. A lot of times you can tell what'll happen next by the symbols alone. The some of the time when the characters are in fast talking conversations behind them or in the background are somethin...

This artwork by Elwyn Lynn effectively represents the Biblical event of "Peter's Denial" in an evocative and relevant way to the modern world, through his piece "Betrayal". The biblical event this piece of artwork conveys the betrayal of Peter as he denies his knowledge of J...

Herman Hesse's novel Demian tells of a young boynamed Emil Sinclair and his childhood growing upduring pre-World War I. Emil struggles to findhis new self-knowledge in the immoral world andis caught between good and evil, which isrepresented as the light and dark realms. Hesseuses much symbolic dict...

All good authors use a variety of writing techniques to create unique and imaginative stories. Most often when an author takes a particular perspective it allows the reader a certain amount of insight. Another useful technique is flashbacks, which allow the reader to become more aware of the story l...

1984 vs. Animal Farm 1984, by George Orwell, is a very powerful drama which involves man and totalitarian society. It is a story of a lonely rebel whose only valuable is his mind and who later conspires with another in an attempt to separate from their increasingly dominant hate-infested s...

Strangers on a Train Motifs Alfred Hitchcock's, Strangers on a Train reinforces the duality of human nature and effectively transforms a highly improbable situation into a series of logical events, which lead to murder. Hitchcock has constructed most of the events in this particular movie ...

By interpreting Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray on the allegorical rather than the literal level, the portrait never physically changes, but rather it simply represents the progressive degeneration of Dorian's soul. Wilde creates several references and uses many symbols, so that ...

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is a suspenseful novel about a 16 year old boy, Holden Caulfield, and his life changing experiences. The author uses humor and symbolism to make his points and defuse the pain Holden is going through in his struggle. As he wanders through the city the meaning...

The Facade of TattoosIn "Parker's Back" by Flannery O'Connor, the tattoos O.E. Parker receives are crucial to the reader's understanding of him. Furthermore, O'Connor suggests them as major symbols throughout Parker's life. Parker, the main character in this story, goes through the actions of life...

Heart Of DarknessA much revered and criticized book is Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It deals with many issues, the two most forthright being the themes of Racism, and the difference between light versus dark. Through two contrary sources, and insights on various cases of symbolism, the book ...

A Critical Analysis of the Opening Pages of Chaper Nine from "The Go-Between" by LP Hartley The beginning passages of chapter nine are illustrative of the plot intensifying and depict a heightened relationship between Leo and Ted Burgess. They are symbolically indicative of &quo...

Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding is an allegorical novel dealing with a group of young boys stranded on a deserted island, who gradually adapt to their isolated society. As time passes, the society crumbles. Whatever order, organization, and moral integrity were established during the b...

Light and Dark in Conrad's Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer Joseph Conrad uses the words light and dark to show many different points throughout the novel Heart of Darkness and the novella The Secret Sharer. He uses the words in showing the differences in good and evil. He also ...

The Inferno The Inferno, written by Dante, is a poem that deals with the afterlife. It deals with the ideas that actions and practices taken up in this life will determine the punishment or salvation attained in the next. In the poem, Dante describes circles of hell of which these levels ar...

Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck is an intriguing and realistic tale about the lives of two men, George and Lenny, who travel together. Through their journey they experience many obstacles while trying to achieve their dream. Unfortunately they are not able to do so due to unexpected circum...

Dante's use of allegory in the Inferno greatly varies from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in purpose, symbolism, characters and mentors, and in attitude toward the world. An analysis of each of these elements in both allegories will provide an interesting comparison. Dante uses allegory to relate th...

The Old Testament is about preparing for the coming of Jesus. There are many things that happened before Jesus was actually born, such as Passover. In addition, many people had the duties of spreading the word of Yahweh and Jesus. There are many "types of Christ," or people who fulfilled t...

Throughout the book \"The Catcher in the Rye,\" author J.D. Salinger uses many symbols to explain what Holden Caulfield is feeling. Three symbols that Salinger uses represent anti-change and things staying the same. The Museum of Natural History is an example of things staying the same. The carousel...

1 First published in 1949, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, considered as a masterpiece of political satire, is a very compelling novel. The main protagonist, Winston Smith, experiences a number of bizarre and self-fulfilling event...

Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1953) and Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001) are films where there is a paranoiac hero or heroine in a nightmare landscape. The elements of film noir combined with this paranoiac hero/heroine create, these two films, into masterpieces. Hitchcock's Str...