Love is supposed to be this great thing, but in Henrick Ibsen’s A Doll House the love between Nora and Torvald Helmer is absolute bullshit. There is no way that after being married for eight years and three children together that they wouldn’t truly understand the love they have for each other. 

 Nora does what she believes is the best thing in order to save Torvald’s failing health by taking him on an extravagant trip–that she could not afford. First off it’s not wrong to borrow money from someone you truly trust and understand, and pay them back on a regular basis, the exact opposite of what Nora did. It isn’t clear on how close Nora and Krogstad were, but not paying him back regularly was her second mistake–her first was borrowing the money. Secondly, her biggest mistake was forging her father’s signature on legal documents so she could keep her scheme to herself and not damage anyone’s pride. It’s understandable that she was doing this “selfless” act out of love but it comes back to bite her in the ass because she was not honest with her husband in the first place.

But Torvald has no room to point fingers. He is mainly focused on his reputation–basically himself rather than his wife and children. He clearly cares more about his position at the Mutual Bank than spend time to get know his family demonstrated in how often he was locked away in his study. Another dickish thing he does is treat her like a child, he tells her what she can’t eat–especially sweets, gives her an allowance, and knowing calls his wife a series of pet names. This treatment only degrades Nora which is the reason for her “childish” actions.

Then all hell breaks loose when Nora admits her true feelings on their marriage after Torvald releases his anger at her over the truth of Nora’s actions in Krogstad’s letter. The truth reveals that the couple does not actually understand or love the other. In this revelation, Nora decides that the best for her, Torvald, and the children is for her to leave and find who she truly is.

Shakespeare neglects to portray Malvolio as a likable character in his comedy Twelfth-Night. In fact, Malvolio’s name means “ill will” in Italian, referring to his displeasing nature. He doesn’t attempt to feign friendliness or politeness to anyone aside from Olivia–ultimately he comes across as a pompous and unsympathetic enforcer of authority. Malvolio’s negative disposition towards others is revealed in his first few words of the play – Malvolio insults the clown, Feste’s wit, by calling him a “barren rascal” [1.5.79]. Malvolio’s words come across as hostile, due to the fact that Feste hadn’t wronged him. This demonstrates the first impression of Malvolio, and he does little to redeem himself throughout the play. The unprovoked strictness of his nature makes symbolizing almost impossible, making his downfall more humorous since it could be seen as a form of comeuppance.

 Malvolio’s reaction to Maria’s forged love letter unveils that he has very high ambitions for himself. Despite being a simple steward, he pines after Olivia in hopes to marry her, almost exclusively so that he can socially elevate himself–having aspirations of becoming “Count Malvolio” [2.5.32], as he states it. He envisions himself “sitting in [his] state” [2.5.42], “in [his] branched velvet gown” [2.5.44], almost comparing his dreams to that of a king. After reading the false letter, the thoughts are no longer of love for Olivia, but of contempt toward Sir Toby. 

Despite being a lowly servant, Malvolio seems to hold a very high opinion of himself in regard to others; when Fabian, Maria, and Sir Toby jestingly feign belief that Malvolio is possessed by the devil, he sternly responds to their quips by retorting “You are idle, shallow things; I am not of your element” [3.4.119]. The language Malvolio uses here reflects his personality–he is well-spoken, but pompous, and displays himself as being above others.

 The way Malvolio easily succumbs to the trickery of Maria’s letter without question shows the extent of his self-delusion. His perception is warped so that he believes everything will turn out the way he envisions it. Malvolio’s extreme self-delusion and self-righteous inhibits any sympathy the audience might feel for him; since it is his egocentrism that allows him to believe the false love-letter, is nobody but his own fault seeing that he fell for the trick, making his misfortune more comical, rather than pitiful.

For a vast majority of people, there seems to be no question about who the monster is in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The creature that Victor Frankenstein has created, that has already murdered an innocent kid. However, looking beyond the hideous outer appearance and actions of the creature, it becomes clear that what he becomes was not a monster. Instead, it was the extreme misconceptions of humans, resulting in extreme isolation of the creature, which caused him to become a ‘monster’. The creature had no “relation or friend upon earth,” (Shelley, 100). Similar to the health and survival of a human baby is dependent on social interactions, the creature that Frankenstein created lives a torturous and bleak existence without companionship. He strives for friends, yet his disturbing appearance causes him to fail and be shunned by everyone, including his creator. 

In contrast to the creature, Victor Frankenstein seems to be content in isolation. His passion for sciences and his work causes him to revert to isolation. Frankenstein mentions that “no youth could have passed more happily than mine” (Shelley, 21). Furthermore, his parents emphasize to him that it will cause them great distress if he doesn’t stay in touch with them. Despite the pleading of his loved ones and their past kindness towards him, Victor selfishly remains isolated, despite the great pain he brings upon the ones who love him. His choice to remain isolated contributes to his monster-like attributes. In addition, Frankenstein even pictures himself similarities of a monster. He thinks, “can you wonder, that sometimes a kind of insanity possessed me, or that I saw continually about me a multitude of filthy animals inflicting on me incessant torture, that often extorted screams and bitter groans” (Shelley, 82). It seems that in this reflection, Frankenstein is truly seeing himself from the perspective of an isolated monster.

Frankenstein’s extreme ignorance towards fixing the issue he created also contributes to his monster-like side. Demonstrated by his actions and his thoughts, Frankenstein is a hypocrite. For example, Frankenstein asks himself  “why does the man boast of sensibilities superior to those apparent in the brute”(Shelley, 84). Through this statement, Frankenstein recognizes that humans are in fact equal to beasts, yet despite his breakthrough, his interactions with the creature seem to show little to no respect for the creature, rather a great amount of regret and contempt.

Victor’s Frankenstein’s chosen isolation and ignorance for those who care for him as well as his own creation makes him the real monster.

Snowflakes are random, unique and fragile, which resembles characteristics of human nature. James Joyce parallels the imperfections of snowflakes and humanity in his novela The Dead.  Joyce depicts snow as the symbol that unifies humanity through a flawed essence and expands Gabriel Conroy’s narrow mind as he escapes from a superficial mindset.

Gabriel Conroy is a man obsessed with an unordinary superficial perfection, which at the beginning of his aunt’s christmas party causes him to fear the harsh reality of human nature. Upon entering, his actions speak for his mightier-than-thou attitude which is displayed in the remarks of his wife causing the late arrival which sets his tone initially trying to escape the snow. Gabriel, “stood on the mat scraping the snow from his galoshes…He continued scraping his feet vigorously… A light fringe of snow lay like a cape on the shoulders of his overcoat and like toe caps on the toes of his galoshes” (237).  The aggressive removal of the snow demonstrates the detached nature of Gabriel.   

 This is the first instance that Gabriel comes into contact with the symbolic snow, and the most suitable for his hurry to shed the snow mirrors how quickly he wants to detach himself from the party guests. 

Later, the galoshes became the subject of conversation when Gretta, Gabriel’s wife, makes mention of her husband’s demand that she wear galoshes in the snow. She jokes, “Tonight even he wanted me to put them on, but I wouldn’t. The next thing you know he’ll be buying me a diving suit” (242). This example demonstrates the extremes Gabriel will go through to protect his wife and himself from the snow. 

While Gabriel tries to protect  himself from humanity (the snow), Gretta embraces it.

Similar to snow melting, Gabriel’s superficial outlook begins to thaw. Gabriel  lacks the warmth that comes from the friction of ordinary humanity. He is a cold person who is perhaps afraid that being covered by snow will freeze him. Yet  he transforms when he finds himself reflecting upon life after when Gretta informs him of the relationship she had with Micheal Furey.

When finally exposed to the snow, he is overcome with an overwhelming awareness that is unmistakably human.  Joyce depicts the modest aspects of humanity through the unique forms of snowfall, that defines mankind. It is the snow that Gabriel initially ignores, and it is the snow that opens Gabriel to the idea of humanness. Joyce’s purposefully mirrors unstable emotions of Gabriel, to the everchanging snow.

The Things They Carried is a short autobiographical collection of stories by Tim O’Brien. Although the stories mainly focus on Vietnam War memories, O’Brien includes important female characters. Each female character represents significant values and emotions; Martha — love and danger, Mary Anne Bell — the loss of innocence, and Linda — memory and death. 

One of the most important female characters is Martha who is introduced in the first story “The Things They Carry”. Martha is described as Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s friend from college.  Cross keeps all letters and photographs of her with him and all times and he often thinks about whether she dates other guys, in fact he understands that Martha does not love him and gives him false hope.  While the alpha company leaves her operation one day, Lieutenant Cross cannot concentrate due to his thoughts of his distant love Martha. Due to his wandering thoughts, his friend Ted lavender gets injured, and after a brutal injury, he dies. This tragic event leads Jimmy cross to reflect on the love of Martha and to analyze the consequences of his obsessive thoughts about her. In this story “The Things They Carried” Martha symbolizes love, as a most valuable human feeling,  and danger since its attitude leads to tragic consequences.

 Another major female character is Mary Anne Bell, who appears in the story “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”. Mary Anne Bell is described as a curious girl in nice clothes who closed Vietnam with Mark Fossie. While  In Vietnam she learns the local language, communicates with other soldiers, and learns how to handle weapons. This story symbolizes not only the transformation of Mary Anne come up but also every soldier. The author draws a parallel between Mary Anne Bell and how she loses her femininity upon arriving in Vietnam, and how men enter war inexperienced and progress into strong tempered men. Due to this parallel Mary Anne Bell symbolizes the loss of innocence of all who go through the horrors of war. 

 The final character Linda appears in “Lives of the Dead” and signifies memory in death. The last story depicts O’Brien’s memories of his first love. At the beginning of the war, he thinks of his classmate Linda, with whom he went to the cinema with. He was in love with her but later discovered she had a severe incurable illness. After some time, Linda passed away, and O’Brien remembers her funeral. The author retells this event of his first experience with death and analyzes how in the contacts that memory is capable of giving me eternal life to people who were once dear to the heart. 
The parallels O’Brien uses between the seemingly unimportant female characters in The Things They Carried provide important emotions for the other characters in the war, and  O’Brien includes them in his story because this allows him to interact with the reader within the text without actually interacting with the reader personally while depicting traumatic situations from the past.

Stereotypes often limit the way people live which leads them to desire a reality that is not their own. In Philip Roth’s “Goodbye, Columbus”  Neil Klugman lived an alternate reality when he met Brenda Patimkin. Brenda comes from a wealthy Jewish family, on the other hand, Neil is from a lower-class Jewish family, and when he is first introduced he is living with his Aunt Gladys. Due to his living situation, the unlikely relationship between the two takes form. 

Due to the stereotypical nature of the pair, they begin their relationship off with lies in hopes to make themselves appear better to the other. During the relationship Neil progressively distanced himself from his lower-class roots in order to fit into the new reality with the Patimkins. The progression of Neil’s new reality is shown while conversating with his Aunt Gladys about spending more time with Brenda and the Patimkins, and not attending the family’s New Year celebration Rosh Hashana. 

  After Brenda’s brother, Ron, got married the argument over the diaphragm became the main focus of their relationship.  And because of the unstable foundation of the relationship, the opposing opinions would make them crumble. The consequences of Neil not attending Rosh Hashana to spend time with Brenda led to the couple’s downfall.

Everybody has a desire to want something more in their life than what they have, and Neil Klugman proves this to be true when he leaves Brenda to return to his reality.

“Do not be afraid; our fate cannot be taken from us; it is a gift” 

-Dante Alighieri, Inferno

Fate has many titles, but inevitably has the same meaning. It is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control, determined by a supernatural power. Faith tends to be the common supernatural that is used to rationalize one’s fate. In John Irving’s novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, Owen believes that through his faith God has given him a gift that will lead him to his dream. 

After the tragic death of Tabitha Wheelwright, John’s mother, Owen claimed he is “GOD’S INSTRUMENT” (87). He began to explore his proclamation during the Christmas of ’53. Due to his small stature he was cast as Baby Jesus in the annual Christmas Pageant, and due to his unique voice he was cast as the ghost of Christmas yet to come. The role of the ghost led him to see a vision; his own tombstone rather than Scrooge’s. This horrifying vision terrified him, but everybody told him it was just a dream.

Throughout highschool Owen continued to unveil what his fate. During his first semester at Gravesend academy Owen began to explore and find his “VOICE” by writing a column in the school newspaper The Grave. He also picked up the hobby a shooting basketball. He became so obsessed with basketball, he was determined to make a slam dunk in under 3 seconds.  

The story comes full circle when John and Owen were in Phoenix’s airport. The two became sidetracked with helping young Vietnamese children to the restroom. Everything changed when Dick Jarvits threw a grenade in the room. This is when the countless hours of practicing “The Shot” became crucial in everyone’s survival. John easily hoisted Owen up towards the window where the children cannot be harmed.

 Owens dream then became reality. 
I thought that Dante Alighieri’s quotation from Inferno was a perfect fit for describing Owen Meany’s outlook on life. Growing up he knew that his unique speech was a gift. He knew that he had a purpose, that he intended to fulfill by having faith. “I KNOW THAT I AM GOD’S INSTRUMENT. I KNOW WHEN I’M GOING TO DIE… I’M GOING TO BE A HERO! I TRUST THAT GOD WILL HELP ME” (416).

Faith is the structure of many people’s lives. It certainly is for John Wheelwright. Johnny credits his faith to his best friend. “I am a Christian because of Owen Meany” (1). Throughout the novel, we see the importance Owen has on John’s faith in John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany.

While Johnny and Owen do not belong to a specific church, they do believe that God exists. To demonstrate their belief, the boys participate in a Christmas Pageant. John is cast as Joseph and Owen as Baby Jesus. The pageant does not go as planned, Owen was very outspoken on how the pageant should follow the hymn, and towards the end of the pageant he yells “IT IS A SACRILEGE FOR YOU TO BE HERE!” (220). This outburst leads many people of the congregation to believe that Owen was speaking about them rather than his parents. This outburst was the beginning of Owen’s “Voice”.

 The young boy has a very unique and memorable high pitch voice. This feature has led him to believe that his voice is a gift from God. Owen uses his gift by writing a column for the school newspaper, The Grave, under the byline “The Voice”. 

I believe that Owen will continue to use his “Voice”, which will leave a long-lasting impression on John and his faith. 

“because everything of value that we will know in this life comes from our relationships with those around us because there is nothing material that measures against the intangibles of love and friendship”

-R.A. Salvatore

In John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany love and friendship bring John wheelwright in Owen Meany together after a tragic event. Without learning what unconditional love was, the boys would not have been able to grow in their friendship.

John Wheelwright and Owen Meany are best friends and are opposites of each other. Despite the fact that John was born into wedlock to his mother Tabitha, he was born into a wealthy and well-known family who provides him with all the love and opportunities you could ever need. While Owen comes from a poor family who owns a granite quarry. 

John’s mother was the kind of woman that everybody loved. She was beautiful and affectionate towards all. Tabitha Wheelwright went out of her way to provide for her son John and for his best friend Owen. She took Owen in and cared for him as if he were her own son. “she hugged him, she kissed him, she touched noses with him. She said all these things as naturally” (29). Naturally, Tabitha supported and loved both John and Owen.

To show her support for John Owen Tabitha went to one of their little league games. She had just arrived and Owen was up to bat. “the crack of the bat was so unusually sharp and loud…the ball struck her left temple, spinning her so quickly that one of her high heels broke and she fell forward” (33). The force of Owen hit killed Tabitha.

Due to this tragic accident, Owen felt that he needed to make it up to John by showing his love. To do so he gave John his most prized possession, his baseball cards. ”he gave me his baseball cards to show me how sorry he was about the accident…and to give me all his cards was his way of saying that he loved me”  (81). John then returns the gesture by giving Owen the prized armadillo. During this exchange, no words were spoken because it shows that actions speak louder than words.

The “intangibles of love and friendship” are found throughout the novel. They are demonstrated in the unconditional love of Tabitha Wheelwright and the actions of John and Owen. And without the love demonstrated by Tabitha, the friendship of Owen and John would not have been intangible.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton