The Unbearable lightness of being - Thomas and Teresa

Within the opening pages of the novel

the unbearable lightness of being

we are introduced into the basis of the novel and two of the main characters.

The basis of the novel consists of the philosophical view of the way one looks at life. The Idea is that every person has a kind perspective that they see the world through, lightness and heaviness. People who look at the world with a heaviness attached to every event that occurs believe in a repetition of all the 'heavy' events that occur. The people who's perspective is more towards the lightness end of the scale tend to not think through their actions and take events as they are produced.

If we look at this idea through the two characters we are introduced to - Thomas and Teresa we can see Thomas is a man of lightness and Teresa a woman who sees the occurrence of events through the heaviness perspective. These philosophical differences in beliefs show an interesting relationship that is emerging. We can see from the very beginning of the text that as soon as Thomas is influenced by Teresa he sees a heaviness in the world, even if it was a brief moment of contemplation of Teresa "offering him up her life".

definitions - points of view, dialogue, narration and extended metaphor

Points of view: (narrative) the perspective used by the author of a literary, theatrical or other piece of writing to convey the story to the audience.

Dialogue: a conversational exchange between two or more characters, A singular character being expressed through his thoughts is using interior monologue.

Narration: a recital of events that have been constructed into a format that is sequenced, narration can be of fictional or non-fictional events


Extended Metaphor: Metaphor that is sustained or developed through a considerable number of lines or throughout the whole written piece.

First look - We (record One and Two) & We Modern vs ancient

We - first look

Method of narration - first person
Types of language showing through - mathematical and idiomatic language

other ideas -
Irony
Conformity

key word -
dichotomy

The first look we get into the world of One State is through a news article that D 503 has copied word for word. The article allows us an insight into how the One state is run. We see the One State as a totalitarian state, the control even the newspaper has over the people controlling all the information they know about the world they live in.

The One State also differs dramatically from the world we would imagine as the 'perfect' world. We would imagine freedom as the key aspect to this world where as the one state controls nearly every minute of the lives of the people living there. This changes the view on everything we see in the text as our perception on their world is that it is wrong as we have been brought up with different values on what the world should be like.

In Record Two the paragraph starts with D-503 describing spring, the way he looks into spring for a small moment allows D-503 to break away from the mathematical way life is usually seen through, "the wind brings the yellow honey-dust". After the short poetic burst D-503 goes back to talking through logically about the world around him. We also see that D-503 sees the integral as more than a mathematically designed machine but more as a piece of art.

We modern vs Ancient:
The main thing we see about the modern in We is the Green wall. The Green wall symbolizes the divide between the 'modern' city and the way the world used to be in the ancient times outside the on the 'wild' side. The wall acts as a sort of seperation of values and lifestyles, it creates a barrier stopping all of the information from the outside getting into One State thus stopping corruption of residents and also allows full diplomatic control.

In the modern all of the buildings are made of 'glass' eliminating privacy within the ciphers own homes. In addition privacy is eliminated in public as all ciphers have to walk in fours, thus stopping private conversations that could be enforcing ideas that contradict the diplomatic way. In addition ciphers have an individual schedule preventing them from having time to think outside of the benefactors way.

In contrast the people living outside of the wall are living similar lives to the way we do now 'ancient'. These people believe in freedom,privacy and individuality - the compete opposite of the way the people inside the glass wall are being forced to live. These ancient values have been twisted in the one state to show the people there that the other way of life will corrupt them as people and make them 'bad' people. The Journey D-503 is taken on however is something that the One State did not think of - the minutes of free time there schedules do allow is enough to let D-503 be taken on a journey showing him what the other side is truely like.

femme fatale and fredrick winslow taylor

femme fatale: an irresistibly attractive woman, esp. one who leads men into difficult, dangerous, or disastrous situations; siren.

I-330 can be related to femme fatale as she is a woman who is leading D-503 into situations that are dangerous,difficult and disastrous and ontop of that life threatening. The way I-330 draws D-503 in with her looks is her attractiveness and especially her eyes which are intriguing to him.

Fredrick Winslow Taylor -
He was a mechanical engineer who goal was to improve the efficiency of the industrial world. He liked the idea of controlling the industrial world. He liked to be able to control aspects of the mechanical process into time. He liked to plan time by the hundredth of a minute this way he could control every aspect of what was happening.

This relates to We as the lives of the ciphers is controlled with there daily routine - but unlike fredrick winslow taylor the ciphers have small amounts of free time that are unaccounted for. This time i swhat enabled I-330 and D-503 to question the world they were living in, this shows us that we can never truely have control of someones life and thoughts unless we control every second of it.

Often the setting in a text will carry symbolic significance, supporting as well the writer's key themes. Discuss these concepts in the light of The Sorrow of War.

A place of being can haunt those who visit even if the buildings are gone. Because of the third dimension of belief in the country of Vietnam, even if there is no physical presence of being trauma cannot be erased as it lives on in memories and the presence an area has. " set the village alight to cleanse it. but after the fire the soldiers were still terrified". This concept shows that no matter how hard you try to get rid of the past the place will forever hold a significance as memories last forever. War permeates this as trauma is trigger when we go to the place it occurred.
If a person who did not know the history of what happened in that area so they have a different mind set no memories to be triggered only the memories being created. The past is something that can forever haunt us and in war you have no distractions war becomes your life.

The Sorrow of War extra reading

I chose this book as it has given me more insight into what the Vietnam war as a whole and then there is a page (92) on the sorrow of war

. This page made "the sorrow of war" more real to me as it explained to me more about the Vietnam war so that the context of the book has become more realistic. I believe this extra reading has also added to my full understanding of the war putting the life of Kien into perspective.

The History of the war also means that because of the non linear timeline throughout the book I was able to gain more understanding of what was going on around the same time period as the war lasted for such a long period.

An aspect I found interesting in "The Sorrow of War" is the extended metaphor of the river. The text even though has a non-linear time frame is tied together by Bao Ninh in other ways like the use of extended metaphors.

The extended metaphor of the river is telling the audience about how turbulent war is and like a river there are twists and turns. It is used to show the audience that life after the war is changed.

The River is ever present throughout the piece after war has occurred. This is showing the audience that war will be ever present in your life. The River is also in the background which could be representing the river in the background of your mind and life affecting all that you do.

If we look at the metaphor at the beginning of the book we see Kien sitting on the river bank fishing. The river in this scene shows Kien thinking about the war. Even in this beautiful moment the war is still ever present. It doesn't matter where you run or push the thoughts in your mind the war always haunts you.

character of krogstad

(Pages; 169-176, 197-200, 207-211)
a) what role does Krogstad serve in the play?
b) In what ways does Ibsen develop the character, i.e. how does he change and what are the reasons?
c) What themes does Krogstad assist in conveying to the audience'



a) what role does Krogstad serve in the play?
Krogstad is Ibsen's Villain within A Doll's House. In scene one and two we can see Krogstad as a aggressive, ignorant, rude man who is determined to get what is best for him even if it involves black mail. After hearing rumors that Helmer is going to fire him from the bank. " I know now whom I shall have to thank for getting me dismissed."
This example of Krogstad shows he will go to the length of blackmail to get what will be best for him, by intimidating Nora he believes he can scare her into keeping his job.

b) Ibsen developed the character of Krogstad as we see his actions of blackmail, are for the security of money to look after his children. We also see that Krogstad is human in Scene 3 as he shows the emotions of any other human, the reason for this is the love between him and Mrs Linde and that he can be kind and loving and is not always the villain.

c) Krogstad portrays the theme that love can change all. Krogstad is changed from being portrayed as a villain through the love of Mrs Linde. He assists the portrayal of this theme in all the pages of text and finally where he and Mrs Linde declare there love for one another changing Krogstad into a man who will change things just for her " I shall ask for my letter back" shows Krogstad will change everything for Mrs Linde - even lose his job for her.

journey of mrs Linde rough bullet points

- Mrs Linde enters Helmer house hold
- Discussion about the last ten years - widowed
- Immediately Mrs LInde is changing the stereotype of Nora bringing more of her true self out
- Mrs Linde brings in the real hardships of life which take us away from the dolls house fasade
- Mrs LInde tells her life of hardship
-talks about why she married whom she did, for a purpose - mother bedridden
- puts what we first see of noras life in context to other person of different background
- brings out the truth in Nora which no one else knows
- brings ethics into conversations, try get Nora to realise the consequences of actions
- first learn of Krogstad knowing Mrs Linde in past
- working tirelessly to support herself which is bad for health
- Mrs Linde used as a scape goat for macaroons
- Mrs Linde enquires over job at bank
- mrs linde is practical - fixes noras dress
- mrs linde is inquisitive
- is upfront on matters like nora and rank
- mrs linde is observant as she notices changes in Nora when talking about situations
knows when to be scarce
- does not try to cover emotions - reacts fully to situations although tries to help
- mrs linde is a problem solver
- mrs linde finally announces love for krogstad

relationship of Mrs Linde and Nora and other characters in text - Noras journey through story

English: Presentation speech
In the play “A Doll's House” by Henrik Ibsen we can follow the journey and changes of the character Nora. We can look at the actions of this Housewife and mother and see that she is not as idiotic and immature as she is first portrayed to the reader.

We can first get a look into Nora through the title of the play A Doll's House which can be interpreted as a metaphor of how the family appears to be on the surface. It is referring to a child's fantasy doll family that is perfect in every way with nothing to be concerned about. This metaphor is extended throughout the whole of the play and is finally broken down over time as we look deeper into the characters lives.

In the first scene of “A Doll's House” we see Nora exhibiting qualities that are quite child like and immature. We see that Nora can be childish through one of the first actions in the play, where she gives an excessive amount of money to the porter as a large tip. We can see from this action that Nora does not value money. This is emphasized later on in the text when we find out that her family is struggling financially. We also see Nora as more of a child when she is around her husband.This is most likely due to the fact that she is always asking for favors which makes Torvald very in control of the situations that occur. In addition the way Torvald and Nora interact makes Torvald the dominant one in the relationship. This is reinforced by Nora being called names like “little one” “little song bird” or “squirrel”. These phrases diminish and dehumanize Nora as a person, making her subservient to her husband. Further more when Kristina says later on in the Act “ Nora, Nora! Haven't you learned sense yet? Even at school you were a terrible spendthrift”. This as well enforces the image of Nora being child like as we see her being the same as when she was younger.

However we learn that Nora also has underlying qualities like having the capacity to lie whole heartedly to her husbands face. In the passage Torvald says “Surely your sweet tooth didn't got the better of you in town today?” Nora replies “ No.... how could you think that”. This blatant lie shows that Nora is not as idiotic as we are first lead to believe. This is because as an audience we think that if she is able to get away away with lying this time there must be other things that Nora is lying about to Torvald.

Later on when we introduce new characters into the situation Nora's personality changes and she is less child like. This idea is shown vastly through the conversations with Kristina. We see Nora become herself and start to open up and share some of her darkest secrets. In the conversation with Kristina about how she got the funds for the trip for her and Torvald to Italy is a good example.

Nora states “I hinted that he could easily borrow the money. But then, Kristina, he nearly lost his temper. . . 'but your life must be saved somehow.' And then I thought of a way . . .” Ibsen used this conversation to change the readers perception on Nora. This is because with Kristina, Nora is able to talk about parts of her life that don't tie into the perfect “Doll's House” world as Kristina brings the real world into the situation because she is actually talking to someone who has experienced life unlike all of Nora's other friends who are also trapped in this facade.

Later on in the text we learn about how exactly Nora has been able to pay off the loan that is secretly owed. We can view Nora as leading a sort of double-life with her family and the majority of friends believing she is spending money thoughtlessly but she is really using this acquired money to pay back the loan she forged in her fathers name and what makes the situation worse is the fact that Torvald does not know about any of this. This adds to certain aspects of the character Nora. Firstly we the audience do not see Nora as a care-free and contained wife of a banker. This is because we now know Nora's true capability to take risks and also have a life that doesn't conform to our first impressions of the perfect “Doll's House” fasade.
In addition taking out the loan in her fathers name without assistants shows Nora can be independent in decisions and actions so does not need Torvald as much as we are first led to believe. Nora says “ I've found other ways of earning money too. Last winter I was lucky enough to get alot of copying to do,” This shows Nora was also proactive and this backs up that she does not rely on Torvald as it shows that she can be self reliant. As well as this the style of Ibsen writing is more sophisticated when Nora is conversing with Kristina than with any other character throughout the play.


As we progress we see Nora faced with desperation as she is being threatened and Blackmailed by Krogstad as he is threatening to ruin Torvald's name. Krogstad says it is against the law to sign someone else name, Nora responds “This I refuse to believe. A daughter hasn't a right to protect a dying father from anxiety and care? A wife hasn't the right to save her husband's life”. This shows Nora does not know what the real implications of what she has done are. Including ruining her husbands reputation as a banker. I believe slowly these implications begin to become real in Nora's eyes and she now realises she has to face the consequences of her actions.

“You've completely wrecked my happiness, you've ruined my whole future!” This affirms the consequences Nora is going to face, through Torvalds reaction. All these allegations lead to Nora drawing one conclusion on how to face what she has done - suicide. However, Torvald was able to prevent her before she actually committed to running into the icy lake – it appears to be far to easy for him to do this, so we can assume that she was actually more looking for attention and a saviour, than to actually end her life.

In conclusion Nora as a main character finally decides to leave her husband, her children and her home to find who she truly is outside of the Doll's House. Ibsen has portrayed the character of Nora very differently throughout the progress of the play. We see her change from being subservient and child like at the beginning to an independent women at the end. We see that she as a person is very different when she is placed outside of her “Doll's House” comfort zone and into real life situations. We see that we should not believe what is on the surface of the characters because as Ibsen takes us deeper we see a very different side to Nora in all aspects of her life.

Introduction to reflections of a gift of watermelon pickle recieved from a friend called Felicity.

Introduction to a close analysis of Reflections of a Gift of Watermelon Pickle received from a Friend called Felicity.

In the poem Reflections of a Gift of Watermelon Pickle received from a Friend called Felicity by John Tobias we see clearly the main theme of the experiences childhood. We can look at the intertwining of childhood and adulthood through each stanza of the poem by analysing key ideas we are shown. Some key images are the motif of the watermelon and and also the metaphor of unicorns. We see the nostalgic memories of summers past in the preservation of the watermelon.

A look at Helmer through the text

Quote " Nora, Nora! Just like a woman! But seriously, Nora, you know what I think about that sort of thing. No debts, no borrowing. There's something constrained, something ugly even, about a home that's founded on borrowing and debt. You and I have managed to keep clear up till now, and we shall still do for the little time that is left. ...... Now, now, my little song -bird mustn't be crestfallen."

From this text we see that Helmer is a man who's very independent and does not want to use others money to support himself. This is because he likes to be self reliant. In addition this text shows us that he likes to be in control of situations “My little song-bird” shows him over powering her wife by putting her down and reducing her confidence. We also see the clash of views between Helmer and Nora and the fact that Helmer is the controlling and dominate one. This is especially clear throughout the play through the idea of money.

Secondary sourcing - looking at what a critic analyses the play to be.

I have firstly looked at http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=LitRC&userGroupName=per_k12&tabID=T001&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&contentSet=GALE|H1420014978&&docId=GALE|H1420014978&docType=GALE&role=LitRC


The writer of this piece is attacking the play A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen. He is firstly doing this by questioning the basics of the play like the common sense portrayed. The notion that is being called common sense in this case is the fact that if a relationship was strong and happy as it is portrayed to be then why would there be the need to lie about money or smaller things such as biscuits? Further more the character Nora is being portrayed as a woman who lies out of her teeth, has even got the capacity to forge documents and defy the law without her husband being able to even notice this is unbelievable. As well as this a women who has been able to throw her morals out of the window by leaving her husband which is against all she believes in is hardly believable.

Analysis - first three pages of the dolls house

I am looking at the dolls house a play by Henrik Ibsen. The first thing we find out in the first paragraph is that a Dolls House is a play. We are led to believe this through the description of the house being something you can base a play on and also the second paragraph gives us a small outline of how the scene begins.

As the text begins we start to see the kind of relationship that is shared between Nora and Helmer. Even before we meet both characters in a face to face conversation we are given the impresion the marriage is not fully open as Nora hides a packet of Macaroons from Helmer. From the first few lines of dialogue shared between Nora and Helmer we see dominance from Helmer over Nora as he is referring to her in a diminutive way refering to her as "my little skylark". This also shows a possessiveness over Nora, In an equal relationship people would not be referring to owning one or the other which also can represent strain. We also learn that Helmer does not believe in borrowing money to spend because it is not earned yourself and portrays you as a lower status to the rest of society.

Individually we can see that Nora already early on in the book as a woman who makes her self out to be more child like than Helmer. We see that Nora is hiding things from her husband from the start of the book. We learn from this short look into the character of Nora that she easily has the capacity to lie.

The character of Helmer individually we see has a life that revolves around work and also his position in his works hierarchy. We also see that he believes that he is emotionally and intellectually above the ones around him especially his wife, as-well as the fact that Helmer likes to control the money earned within the household.