Essays on Books

Free essays on books are academic papers that analyze various aspects of literature such as the plot, characters, themes, motifs, symbols, and literary devices used by authors to convey their messages. These essays can be found online and cover a wide range of literary genres including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, and biographies. They offer insights into the literary techniques employed by authors, the cultural and historical contexts that inform their work, and the relevance of these texts to contemporary audiences. Students, researchers, and avid readers can use these essays as study materials, examples for their own writing, or sources of inspiration for their literary analysis.
The Character of Boy Staunton in Fifth Business, a Novel by Robertson Davies
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He was killed by the usual cabal: by himself, first of all; by the woman he knew, by the woman he did not know; by the man who granted his inmost wish; and by the inevitable fifth, who was keeper of his conscience and keeper of the stone" (Davies 252). Boy Staunton is dead, found in his car with a rock in his mouth in Toronto Harbor. Boy may be the villain in the story of the Dempsters, but is…...
Fifth Business
A Literary Analysis of the Diana Marfleet in the Novel Fifth Business
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In the novel Fifth Business, the theme of rebirth is apparent. Diana Martieet, a volunteer nurse, is responsible for tending to the injured. One of the injured she aids is Dunstable Ramsay, the narrator of the novel. Dunstables involvements in World War l, causes him severe physical damage. Diana plays an integral part in the rebirth of Dunstable, by taking the role of a friend, mother and lover in his life. A person with whom one enjoys mutual affection and…...
Fifth Business
A Literary Analysis and a Comparison of Swamp Angel and the Fifth Business
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In the novel Swamp Angel the main character, Maggie, asserts that "swimming is like living, it IS done alone. This Is, In tact, a very telling statement with respect to the lite of both Maggie and the life of Dunstan, the main character in the novel The Fifth Business. Maggie's comparison of life to swimming raises interesting points about the way in which each of the two characters proceed along the road of life. Maggie's statement is actually a simile…...
Fifth Business
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The Use of Cinderella Archetypes in Falling Leaves, a Book by Adeline Yen Mah
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Though many fairy tales have been created throughout history, Cinderella is saved in our subconscious by stimulating the sympathy felt over her unjust abuse as well as the theme of the down-and-out girl rising up to become prosperous appeals to the hope found in all situations. The word "cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes were unrecognized, or who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect (Zipes 444). Adeline Yen Mah's use…...
Cinderella
Jimmy Braddock’s Life in Cinderella Man
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Living during the Great Depression was a difficult thing for most Americans to do. In the movie, Cinderella Man, the main character Jimmy Braddock suffers a great deal due to the depression. This movie greatly exemplifies the struggles Americans had to face during the depression. In this film, the Depression era was accurately portrayed. Many people had lost their jobs, and hunting for new work was a difficult task. Jimmy Braddock had lost his career in boxing, and because of…...
Cinderella
A Personal Review of the Ahmanson Theatre Version of Cinderella
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We all know the background story of the Disney classic Cinderella, but not how many different versions and twists of the story there are. The story of Cinderella can be related to many situations for many people whenever they feel less or unimportant. I saw a version of the classic at the Ahmanson Theatre that I hadn't really considered but I really liked. This Cinderella was more than just a prety face with the right shoe size, she was what…...
Cinderella
A Brief Explanation of the Movie Cinderella
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For this assignment I chose to watch Cinderella. This movie seems to give a subtle but fairly clear message that is it conveying to its younger viewers. The movie shows women to be maids, mothers, and objects of the prince's affection, and nothing more. While men in the film are shown to be kings, princes, people who make all the decisions for the greater good of everyone who follows or looks up to them in a respectful and honoring way.…...
Cinderella
Poe’s Raven & Usher: A Comparison
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Edgar Allan Poe has three theories by which he composes his works, According to his essay “The Philosophy of Composition," a work should be short in length, developed with techniques to achieve a desired result, and the successful conveyance of an impression or effect is essential. In his poem “The Raven" and the short story “The Fall of the House of Usher," these methods are used successfully.  In “The Raven,” reason has no place the narrator is a man already…...
Edgar Allan PoeLiteraturePsychologyThe Raven
Uni Student’s Christmas Carol Adaptation
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For the extra credit report, I went to the performance on Thursday, November 29, 2018. It was held at the Grand Theatre at Salt Lake Community showcasing the Lyric Opera Ensemble. In this performance, the ensemble performed Amahl and The Night Visitors and A Christmas Carol. Both operas were very interesting to watch as I had never been to an opera before, I really enjoyed seeing the stories unfold in both. Also, I was surprised to find out that the…...
A Christmas CarolEntertainmentMusicOpera
Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, a Novel by Charles Dickens
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During the 19th century, in London, England, Ebenezer Scrooge is a wealthy man who does not spend his days wholesomely. He is quite miserly, preferring to keep his possessions all to himself. He is unsympathetic towards the troubles of his fellow man. Still, he clearly displays how unhappy he is with his own lot in life, despite how well he has done as a businessman. In the novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge is tremendously miserly, unsympathetic,…...
A Christmas CarolChristmasFictionLiterature
Reckless Tom and Daisy in Gatsby
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Throughout history, the wealthy have always been able to escape their unlawful actions while the less fortunate have had to face the consequence, we see that exactly in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. While many believe that no one can escape their wrongful actions, F. Scott Fitzgerald and “ Luxury Shopping, from the Other Side of the Register” by Carmen Maria Machado, demonstrates how the fortunate are careless people who are able to escape their unlawful actions with…...
MoneyPoliticsThe Great GatsbyWealth
Linen Forms in Great Gatsby
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Whiteness is defined as the property or quality of being white in color. However, since the beginning of civilization, whiteness has held a certain power and weight. Whether in correlation to race, class, or even the ideas of purity and innocence, there is a sense of power and privilege in the color white. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is regarded as a hallmark of American literature. Fitzgerald is famous for his descriptive writing style, use of imagery,…...
ChildCultureRealityThe Great Gatsby
An Important Concept in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Novel the Great Gatsby
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In one’s life, there are many pathways and changes that can occur; only one thing for certain-- death. As quotidian as birth, the death of one physical soma is inevitable, and though morbid and woeful, it is used as an important concept in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby. In the work of fiction, Fitzgerald uses death throughout the text to demonstrate how subconscious desires manifest certain realities in times of despair. In the several scenes which death occurs,…...
AngerPsychologyRealityThe Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby Has Various Scenes Where Water Is Used as a Symbol
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Throughout works of literature water can represent different ideas from the washing of sins to cleansing and purity. The characteristics of water are used to define different moods, from calm sprinkling to unsettling thunderstorms. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald water appears at various times and moves as a progression, from separation, and uncertainty, to purification. For more than five years Gatsby has fantasized and ached for the day where he and Daisy could meet again. At the…...
CultureFictionLiteratureThe Great Gatsby
The Early Life of Emily Bronte and Her Literary Techniques in Wuthering Heights
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Yorkshire, England as the daughter of a clergyman. She grew up without a mother, because she died from cancer roughly nine months after giving birth to Emily's sister, Anne, when Emily was only three. Emily was sent away to school at age 6, but was brought home when her two oldest sisters became fatally ill with tuberculosis because all of the children were weak and sickly to start off. The remaining Bronte children had very active imaginations, which stemmed from…...
FictionLiteratureWuthering Heights
The Brontes Mystery and Suspense in the Wuthering Heights
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Analyse how Bronte creates mystery and suspense throughout wuthering heights. "But Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his abode and style of living. He is a dark- skinned gypsy in aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because he has an erect and handsome figure—and rather morose. Possibly, some people might suspect him of a degree of under-bred…...
FictionLiteratureWuthering Heights
A Characterization of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, a Novel by Emily Bronte
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Heathcliff is introduced in the family structure story as an outsider. He is initially considered to be both a gift and a threat. The conflicting identities of Heathcliff, therefore, form part of the uncertainty of his character in the story. He is typically identified by contradicting definitions even as the story proceeds. To Catherine, he is a brother as well as a lover while to Isabella; he is a romantic hero and an oppressor who seems to lack the virtue…...
HeroLiteratureWuthering Heights
The Burning of Books in Fahrenheit 451, a Dystopian Novel by Ray Bradbury
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Books and fire never go well together. Afterall, books are made of paper which is flammable as tinder for fire. But in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, books are the bane of their futuristic society. Firefighters are supposed to put out fires but in Fahrenheit 451, firefighters start fires, burning down buildings that house books even with the inhabitants inside. Books, a valuable asset to our society since the day history was written down, are a taboo in Ray Bradbury's fictional…...
DystopiaFahrenheit 451Fiction
Censorship in Fahrenheit 451
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In the novel Fahrenheit 451, author Ray Bradbury explores the idea of censorship in a futuristic, dystopian society of the United States in which possessing or reading books is against the law. The ban on reading or even owning books is an example of the censorship of information. The government banned books because they believed the information inside of the books could hurt people. Beatty discusses the ban on books with Montag: "Colored people don't like Little Black Sambo. Burn…...
DystopiaFahrenheit 451Social Issues
John in The Yellow Wallpaper
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John is the husband and the doctor of the narrator, who is suffering from an illness called nervous depression, which is a slight hysterical tendency. One might think that John is the antagonist in the story "The Yellow Wallpaper", but there are a few reasons why one would also state as the protagonist, including he was only trying to help the Narrator get over her illness. John prescribed the best and possibly the only thing he knew, and he did…...
FictionLiteratureThe Yellow Wallpaper
The Use of Diction in the Story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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In the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Gilman uses many different techniques in order to cogently critique the gender roles of nineteenth- century America. One example of this would be her use of diction in the story, Gilman strategically uses language that displays the intensity of the gender roles. She also very strategically uses setting in order to symbolize the complete isolation and deprivation that women were forced into during this time. More specifically Gilman…...
PhilosophyPsychologyThe Yellow Wallpaper
The Loss of Choice and Free Will in The Handmaid’s Tale and The Yellow Wallpaper
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Jean Paul Sartre once said, "We are our choices". Without choices, that makes us nothing, nobody. The value of the ability to choose and judge, our free will, is our humanity and independence. It is what separates humans from animals and plants and machines. Our ability to judge and to make decisions leads each person on their own individual path. When the freedom of choice is taken away, we are left with nothing that is our own. We become less…...
CultureFree WillThe Yellow Wallpaper
Yellow Wallpaper Madness Causes
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There are many reasons for the progression of the author from depression to madness. Here are some of the causes. A misunderstanding husband – Gilman had a misunderstanding husband who saw things in a different way. For example, he told Gilman, that she should not touch anything or perform any house chores after she delivered. This according to Gilman was not only depressing but also drove her into madness. The rest cure - The other thing that made the author…...
HealthMedicineThe Yellow Wallpaper
The Exercise of Functions in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
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The author, Charlotte Gilman Perkins stated, "Every kind of creature is developed by the exercise of its functions. If denied the exercise of its functions, it can not develop in the fullest degree" (Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-paper"-The "New Woman). This is a very bold statement and brings my thoughts back to the psychological perspective behind her short story titled "The Yellow Wallpaper". Both the narrator and the author have suffered or currently suffering from a mental illness. It…...
HealthMental HealthThe Yellow Wallpaper
Humanity’s Quest for Space Exploration Throughout History
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Historically, there has been no better way to prove a nation’s dominance than being able to be the first to publicly show off their achievements for the whole world to watch. That is why when the Soviets launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite mankind has ever released into the cosmos, the US government authorized NASA in order to hastily reestablish their superiority in the great Space Race, Nations have always been in possession of a somewhat unhealthy amount of ambition…...
AstronomyFlightScienceSpace Exploration
Book Burning and Censorship in the Novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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As the scent of burning paper and boiling ink drift through the air so does the fragrance of broken liberty. When we allow our knowledge to be taken away we allow our freedom to be stolen as well. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was written as a cautionary tale about book burning and other various acts of censorship and the book still remains extremely prevalent in today‘s society. “Books were only one type of receptacle where we stored a lot…...
CensorshipCultureFahrenheit 451Politics
Holocaust Victims’ Psychological Transformation in Night and Maus
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Viktor Frankl, A holocaust survivor, once stated "...in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal," (Victor Frankl Quotes) These l'animal" behaviors became quite common during the holocaust; they were essential to the survival of most individuals. In two novels, Night by Elie Wiesel and Maus by Art Spiegelman, it was proven time and time again that both of the main characters had to lie, cheat, and steal in order…...
JudaismMausPoliticsThe Holocaust
Survival in Auschwitz in Maus an Illustration Book by Art Spiegelman
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The early 1940’s was a very dark time for many countries Counties such as Germany, Japan, America, Britain, France, and Italy were all involved in World War Two, The death count was very high from the fighting but it wasn’t just the fighting where there was death. Concentration camps had been set up and Jewish people were regularly dying in them. They had to do extreme physical jobs, follow every single rule, and rarely acquired enough food for a day…...
CultureMausReasonViolence
The Changes in Europe During the Middle Ages as Illustrated in Beowulf
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The early Middle Age of Europe is thought to be the period where Europe emerged as a distinguishable society. This emerging culture for Europe can be seen through the influence it has on European language, and art. Each part of this new culture is very important to our readings from Beowulf because they correlate strongly. For example, Christianity was becoming popularized among the people of the European region during the early Middle Ages, and is apparent in the ancient work…...
BeowulfEuropeMiddle Ages
John’s Anti-Heroism in Brave New World
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A large amount of literature follows the same general patterns of plot patterns and characterization. When beginning to study literature, most are taught the five elements of a plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. Similarly, characters are placed into categories of archetypes, ranging from the hero and the mother figure to the villain and the scapegoat. For some works, categorizing characters into these archetypes is simple. Ursula is the villain of Disney's The Little Mermaid, while Ariel…...
Brave New WorldHeroLiterature
The Portrayal of the Shakespearean Allusions in Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
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In Brave New World, the World State advocates for the whitewashing of human history, in particular the gory bits of their past, as well as the parts that they consider disruptive to their continuous operation in in such a manner that everything counter to their ideology, cultural values and socio-politico-economic systems is practically erased, except from the memory of certain individuals (e.g. Mustapha Mond) who remember what the world was like prior to the World State. Mustapha Mond also keeps…...
Brave New WorldCultureEthics
Dystopian Futures: Orwell vs Huxley
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1984 and A Brave New World the authors explain how society is always evolving in a multitude of ways, and in ways that do not live up to the world's standard. Postman goes into detail to explain how the two stories explore the fears of what our world may come to. In reality society has to accept that the world will change drastically eventually, just as it has changed for over hundreds of years in the past. Postman provided intriguing…...
AdolescenceBrave New WorldCulture
An Analysis of Technology in Brave New World, a Novel by Aldous Huxley
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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a satirical novel that revolves on Huxley's personal opinion about the growth of technology. The novel's theme addresses the influence of technology on society by changing the innate nature of humans into sin. Huxley's novel manifests a world heavily indulged by science and technology. Science and technology has overpowered humankind and governs the society. In fact, it has altered the way in which humans are reproduced! This is accomplished through the industrialised method…...
Brave New WorldExperienceTechnology
Discrimination of Women in the Middle East
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While reading I have learned more about women‘s rights. In ancient times, Pharaohs and kings ruled nations and governments. Throughout time women have struggled getting the rights that men have had, in the books Women‘s Rights Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives by Julie Stone Peters and Andrea Wolper, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; l have been very interested in how women‘s rights have changed in the Middle East over the past century. The Kite…...
CultureHuman RightsMarriageThe Kite Runner
The Transformation of Amir in The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
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Robert Bulwer Lytton once said, “What is past is past, there is a future left to all men who have the virtue to repent and the energy to atone’. What Mr. Bulwer meant is that there is no way to change the past ,and since there is nothing one can do to change their past actions, if a person is willing to ask for forgiveness and make up for it, then that person can move on with their life and…...
FictionForgivenessLiteratureThe Kite Runner
Chapter Nine of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
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In chapter nine of The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, Hassan, and Ali are forced to leave the house of Amir and Baba because Amir’s Christmas presents are found under Hassan’s bed as if he had stolen them However the narrator (present-day Amir) explains to the reader that it was actually Amir who hid the presents under Hassan‘s bed to get him in trouble so that Baba would make them leave. When Ail and Hassan return Baba asks Hassan…...
BooksFictionLiteratureThe Kite Runner
Feel The Cruelty Of the World In The Movie “The Kite Runner”
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In the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, tells a story of a young man Amir who experience the force of violence and change in Afghanistan and the journey to redeem himself from his past sins. Amir is a tragic hero that will experience the cruelty of the world and find out what matters in life and suffer to find the path to be free of guilts. Amir is born as a Pashtun, someone who has power in society and born…...
HeroLoveRapeThe Kite Runner
The Prevalence of Symbolism in Lord of the Flies, a Novel by William Golding
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In the book The Lord of the Flies, symbolism is everywhere because it is an allegory, all of the characters and objects in the story symbolize something in human society. The main symbols consist of the conch, the beast, and Piggy’s glasses. They all represent and play important roles in our society. First, is the conch, it plays a huge role in the story that is what gathered everyone on the island for the first time. It was also the…...
CultureLord Of The FliesSocietyThought
The Evil Within in Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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In Golding’s microcosm of the world in The Lord Of The Flies, the descent from civilization into chaos, or in other words superego to id, was the outline for the story. While some characters seemed to welcome the id, others fought it, nevertheless, it seemed that no matter how hard one fought to cling to civilization, savagery was the endgame for all. Golding believes that all humans need rules to follow to keep their evil within contained, yet while it…...
EthicsLord Of The FliesPhilosophyPsychology
The Characters in the Novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding
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In his novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding tells the story of a young group of boys who are trying to survive after being stranded on an island as the effect of their plane crash. While having to face many obstacles, the boys find several different items that become crucial symbols. Golding proves, with the use of symbols like Piggy’s glasses, the fire, the pig’s head, and the conch shell, that when separated from society, humans let the evil…...
FictionLiteratureLord Of The FliesSociety
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The Great Gatsby Has Various Scenes Where Water Is Used as a Symbol
...It seems that Gatsby died peacefully and in purifications involved with water they are supposed to give the person peace and a sense of renewal. Throughout the whole work of literature there is no mention of any other of Gatsby’s relatives, except ...
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