Adversity in Film and Literature

The following sample essay on Adversity in Film and Literature tells about the behavior of people when they face adversity in their lives.

As William Arthur Ward once said, “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” Adversity is defined as a difficult situation of misfortune or tragedy (Merriam- Webster.) In “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, Mary Maloney is faced with misfortune when her husband decides to leave her and her unborn baby, resulting in her murdering him.

At Prince Prospero’s party in the short story “The Masque of Red Death’ by Edgar Allen Poe, adversity and death find him and his guests. In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Othello is convinced by Iago that his wife is a cheating on him with another man.

In William Broyles Jr.’s Castaway, Chuck Noland crash lands on a deserted island and is left alone with his thoughts and volleyball named Wilson. Throughout Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack battle for complete power over each other and the island they’ve been stranded on.

As Elie is living through the Holocaust, he is conflicted with the idea of leaving or staying by his father’s side in Elie Wiesel’s Night. All of these sources show that through adversity, a person’s true character brings to light. It’s also seen in contrasting patterns of foolishness and determination.

When faced with adversity, one often exhibit foolish behavior. When Mary Maloney’s husband announces that he is leaving her, she foolishly acts out of rage and murders him.

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Her life revolved around her husband and when the source of her adversity rooted for him it created a mix of emotions that she couldn’t handle. It is clear that she was loyal and loved her husband, so for her to kill him was only a lapse of good judgement. This lapse of judgement reveals that she makes poor decisions in times of misfortune.Similar to Mary, Prince Prosperoin Edgar Allen Poe’s The Masque of Red Death, also makes foolish choices. His efforts of seeking peace and health from behind his walls still pointless in that death still manage…