Comparison of writers

Comparison of writers The author Arthur Miller as analyzed through the book â€Å"Death of a sales man† and the author Flannery O’Connor as analyzed through the book â€Å"A good man is hard to find† are both similar because the authors are inclined towards tragedy. In other words, their works both end disastrously.Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Comparison of writers specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the circumstances surrounding these downfalls are very complex and dependent on the dissimilar surroundings that the two writers were focusing on. In Death of salesman, the author talks about a delusional and self obsessed man. However, his tragedy was partly a direct result of his own inadequacies. Therefore, Miller breaks away from the traditional form of tragedy because the protagonists’ ruin was his own undoing. He was under the misconception that greatness could be achieved merely through oneâ €™s personality yet this was not so; such kind of thinking led to his self destruction. In this regard, the death of the protagonist also causes readers a sense of despair because the main character was not transformed prior to his death. All lessons are to be learnt by the audience only. On the other hand, author O’Connor focuses on growth or transformation in her main character (Votteler, 53). Initially, the grandmother is a selfish and overbearing individual who wants to bully the whole family into going for a vacation at her choice destination. Her selfish ways are also seen when she attempts to save her own life during the encounter with the Misfit. However, at the end of the story, grandmother is overcome by grace and soon realizes that she has been living a pretentious life. Therefore, although this play is still a tragedy in that the main character died, the author created a different twist to her character by illustrating that she has undergone a transformatio n and is now more charitable and graceful. O’Connor and Miller also resemble one another in their attempt to depict an everyday person. Readers can relate to both types of writings because the characters embody everyday Americans.Advertising Looking for term paper on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Miller and O’ Connor also want to bring back their characters to reality and if this eventually involves some form of violence or even their own demise, then the authors were willing to take it there. In Death of the salesman, Arthur Miller continually illustrates the importance of taking reality seriously through Willy. Willy asserted that in order to be successful, one should be well liked (Miller, 1949). However, when he soon finds out that this was not insync with reality then he immediately looses hope. Also his continual resistance to technology and the new developments in socie ty put him at odds with it. He believes that he has more worth if he were dead than if he were alive. Eventually, this despair causes his tragic end. O’Connor also stresses the importance of reality through the grandmother. This protagonist has been living under the illusion that she is the perfect Christian. She has her mind fixated on her own ways and does not really care about the perspective of the people around. Since grandmother’s head is so deeply separated from reality, the only aggressive way of bringing her back is through an act of violence. The violent acts of the ‘Misfit’ eventually caused the protagonist to look at herself and realize that she is indeed a mirror image of the hardcore criminal who has attacked them in their trip. Even the murderer remarks that grandmother was meant to be a good person the only thing she needed was to be shot everyday. In other words, O’Connor sacrifices the life of the main character in order to prov e a point on reality. To this author, violence was the only way that grandmother would ever look at herself for who she really is. Likewise, Miller saw that Willy’s end was the only way that readers could identify with the importance of reality (Sandage, 2005). These writers’ literary works may also be viewed as commentaries on society. Miller wanted to despise the individualistic nature of American culture, corporations and its people. Advertising We will write a custom term paper sample on Comparison of writers specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These entities have become carried away with image/perceptions rather than solid character. Many Americans can identify with the protagonist Willy because salesmanship has permeated all aspects of American’s lives. Everyone seems to be in a continual quest to be the best but this is never really possible for everyone. Nothing drives this point home like Willy’s s ituation. Similarly, O’Connor also gives a commentary about society. She wanted to illustrate that most people lack an understanding of true spirituality. They are obsessed with self preservation and may border on being deceitful and egotistical. The authors also had mostly unlikeable characters in their works. O’Connor chose Grandmother who was always quite petty and dominating for a reason. She wanted to illustrate that even the worst of us deserve a little grace. There were plenty of opportunities for the protagonist to mend her ways and become graceful but she chose not to take up those challenges because of her spiritual blindness. Many characters in this story also miss critical moments of truth because of this blindness, however, when they finally do, it is clear to realize that even the most unlikeable individuals still deserve grace. Similarly, Arthur Miller has used an unlikeable character to drive his main point across. Willy thinks that he and his sons are likely to succeed in the business world owing to their greatness. He thinks that likeability is all one needs to be successful. This grave misconception causes the audience to realize how pitiful Willy is. Furthermore, as the play continues, Willy’s mental state gets further and further away from the norm. He is always resisting change and often questions any new technological developments. Advertising Looking for term paper on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More These are all issues that make his character seriously flawed. However, in the midst of all this, the author is still able to make his main point which is that the frantic and often self obsessed American culture has its casualties and never really offers real solutions to problems. Comparison of O’Connor, Miller and Faulkner Faulkner is similar to O’Connor in terms of his description of the American South at that time. It may be true that the South may have changed from 1939 when Faulkner wrote â€Å"A barn is burning† and 1952 when O’Connor wrote â€Å"A good man is hard to find†, nonetheless; these authors were still writing about a region that was rarely the focal point of literary works. In fact, these writers sparked off a lot of controversy because of this. O’Connor’s protagonist comes from the South and she was representative of what actually goes on in most households there. Non southerners misunderstood the Grandmother and wrote her off as nothing more than an evil character. However, when a Southerner reads about her, one can easily relate to her because it is likely that the reader also has a relative who is just like Grandmother. In fact, this makes Southerners more sympathetic towards the protagonist in â€Å"A good man is hard to find† because they all realize that she means well (Oschshorn, 1990). Miller and Faulkner are also quite similar because they both utilize protagonists who are not sure about themselves. In Miller’s â€Å" Death of salesman†, Willy is a product of the harsh corporate system that used him down to the last drop then poured him out once he was of no use to them. His identity is therefore shattered because he can no longer be the salesman that he was so used to being. He is in dire need of curving out a new identity but his inability to do so has caused him his demise. The same thing goes on in William Faulkner’s Barn burning. Sarty is strugglin g with his identity as well. He does not know whether to take actions based on loyalty to his father or whether to focus on his own moral principles (Faulkner, 154). This individual is quite confused and even goes through an emotional rollercoaster. At the beginning, Sarty sticks to his family inclinations when he expresses solitude and support to his father. He stretches this loyalty when he becomes a partial accomplice to his dad’s ill actions by fetching the fuel to be used in lighting the fire. However, he eventually sheds off this identity of a good son by listening to his inner conscience. The story is therefore characterized by a continuous battle to find himself as a person. Faulkner also resembles O’Connor because protagonists in both narratives get to redeem themselves or to find themselves. Sarty avoids becoming a victim to his father’s manipulations, threats, paranoia and selfish thinking by running away from him. It is these inadequacies that bri ng Sarty and the family much discomfort; his father causes them to become poor plus they are always in a state of transit. Eventually, this protagonist sees his dad for who he really is and thus frees himself from such bondage. Similarly, Grandmother also goes through a similar experience by the end of the narrative. At first, she is driven by her own needs and thinks that she is the ideal Christian. Eventually, she redeems herself when she sees a reflection of herself in the hardcore criminal who had attacked her family (O’Connor, 1955). Generally, all three writers focused on tragedies but these were dependent on the ideals prevalent at the time of composition i.e. modernist and realist thoughts. Their portrayal of the tragedies was also dependent on their themes and the ends that the authors were trying to achieve at any one time. Sandage, S. (2005) Born losers: a history of failure in America. Cambridge: HUP Miller, A. (1949). Death of a salesman. NY: Viking press Oâ₠¬â„¢Connor, F. (1955). A good man is hard to find. NY: Harper Oschshorn, K. (1990). A cloak of grace: contradictions in a good man is hard to find. Studies in American fiction Faulkner, W. (1939). Burn Burning: selected short stories of William Faulkner. NY: Modern Library Votteler, T. (1969). O’Connor, Flannery on her own work. Gale research Inc, 21(5): 1-67

Discussing Emotions in Spanish

Discussing Emotions in Spanish Spanish has at least five common ways of referring to emotions or describing how someone feels or becomes emotionally. These include the use of estar and tener; reflexive verbs used for specific emotions; and two verbs that often mean to become, ponerse and volverse. Using Estar With Emotions For English speakers, the most straightforward way to talk about emotions in Spanish is to use estar, one of the verbs for to be, followed by an adjective of emotion. Mi pap est feliz de ver su paà ­s. (My father is happy to see his country.) Las autoridades estn preocupados por el incremento de casos de sobredosis. (The authorities are worried about the increase in overdose cases.) Al principio pensaba que estaban enfadados conmigo. (At first I thought they were angry with me.) Va a estar emocionada por conocerte. (She is going to be excited to meet you.) Using Tener With Emotions Although estar can be used with some emotions, Spanish speakers often prefer to use tener, the verb for to have in the sense of to possess, with some emotions. In effect, the idiom is that a person has a particular emotion rather than that the person is in a certain emotional state. For example, although you could say est asustada to say that a friend of yours is afraid, it would be more common to say, Tiene miedo, literally She has fear. Here some examples of this use of tener: Mi senador no tiene fe en la ciencia. (My senator distrusts science. Literally, my senator doesnt have faith in science.) Antonio le tenà ­a celos a Katarina cuando eran nià ±os. (Antonio was jealous of Katarina when they were children. Literally, Antonio had jealously toward Katarina when they were children.) Si las cosas son diferentes, tendrà © la ilusià ³n de regresar. (If things are different, I will be thrilled to come back. Literally, if things are different, I will have the thrill of coming back.) Reflexive Verbs for Specific Emotions Some reflexive verbs include in their acquiring of an emotion. Perhaps the most common such verb is enojarse, which typically means to become angry or to get angry: Jennifer se enojà ³ cuando la periodista la llamà ³ por telà ©fono. (Jennifer got angry when the newspaper reporter called her on the telephone.) Enfadarse is preferred over enojarse in some regions: Si pierden los llaves, me enfadarà ©. (If they lose the keys, Ill get angry.) Here are some of the reflexive verbs frequently used for other emotions: aburrirse (to get bored with, to get tired of): El abuelo de la actriz  se aburrià ³ de su libertina nieta y la desheredà ³. (The actress grandfather got tired of his wild granddaughter and disinherited her.) asustarse (to become frightened): Vi a la policà ­a y me asustà ©. (I saw the police and I got scared.) alegrarse (to become happy): Se alegrà ³ mucho de recibir la noticia. (She became very happy upon hearing the news.) enamorarse (to fall in love): (Te enamorars de los chicos salvadoreà ±os. You will fall in love with the Salvadoran children.) fastidiarse (to become annoyed): Mi decisià ³n se debià ³ sencillamente a que me fastidià © de depender de la nicotina. (My decision came about simply because I became annoyed at depending on nicotine.) irritarse (to become irritated):  ¿Se irrita usted con facilidad? (Do you get irritated easily?) calmarse (to become calm): Durante todo el trayecto estaba preocupado, pero me calmà ³ cuando estbamos aterrizando. (During th e whole flight I was worried, but I calmed down when we were landing.) entusiasmarse (to get excited): Cuando oyà ³ estas palabras, Paula se entusiasmà ³. (When she heard these words, Paula got excited.) exasperarse (to lose patience): (En ocasiones me exaspero. Sometimes I lose my patience.) preocuparse (to become worried): Nos preocupamos por el nivel acadà ©mico de los alumnos. (We got worried about the academic level of the students.) sorprenderse (to become surprised): Me sorprendà ­ cuando veà ­a que era tan joven. (I became surprised when I saw she was so young.) Using Ponerse and Volverse The reflexive verbs ponerse and volverse are frequently used to refer to changes in emotional state. Although the two can be interchangeable, the difference is that ponerse tends to be used for rapid changes in emotions while volverse tends to be used for more lasting changes. El jugador se puso triste por no ser titular. (The player got sad for not being the champion.) Mi problema es cuando mi amigo se pone indiferente conmigo. (My problem is when my friend becomes indifferent to me.) Los espaà ±oles se volvà ­an felices con la medalla de plata. (The Spanish became happy with the silver medal.) Se ha vuelto carià ±oso y responsable. (He has become caring and responsible.)