This
study will involve a theme analysis of three literary pieces. In essence, it
will cover the thematic perspectives of “I’m still here”, “a story of an hour”
and “a doll house”. These are three literary pieces with distinct genres and contents.
The meaning portrayed in these three literary works will therefore be the basis
of this study when all the existing aspects of the works are taken into
account. The human aspects of these analyses will also be at the epicenter of
the study because it will conceptualize the entire thematic experience of the
three literature pieces.
However,
this study is not directed towards establishing the moral of the works and
neither does it explore the subject of the story. The study does not also try
to identify the construed meanings behind the three pieces of literature.
Literature
Summaries
The story of an hour is the first literary piece and revolves around
the life in an hour of Mrs. Millard who is the main character in the story. She
hails from a heart condition. She is confronted with some bad news that her
husband was involved in a fatal road accident and didn’t make it (DiYanni,
2007, p. 38). Josephine and Richard who is
both her husband’s friend break the news to her in a gentle manner, considering
her delicate heart condition. Ironically, Mrs. Millard is not shocked about the
news and instead embraces it with excitement. This, as was later understood was
a sigh of relief from the kind of life she lived before her husband passed on (DiYanni, 2007). She is excited because of the fact that she
does not have to answer to anyone now but herself.
A
doll house revolves around the life of Nora Helemer who is the lead
character. She begins to question the direction her life took when her marriage
is put to the test. She takes money from her father in form of a loan to help
her husband get treatment. This event is followed by unprecedented intrigues.
Her husband is thereby promoted to a senior managerial position at a bank and
Nora thinks this is the end of her problems (with regard to loan repayments).
However, Krogstad approaches and
informs her that his position is set to be given to someone else. He then
threatens to expose Nora’s secret if she doesn’t persuade her husband to maintain
his position at the bank. Her efforts were however futile. Meanwhile, Nora flirts
with another guy by the name Dr. Rank. Krogstad informs Nora that he had a
change of mind and won’t reveal her secret to the public but instead opts to
write a letter to her husband to help him rehabilitate while he maintains his
position at the bank. Nora is against this idea. Anyway as the story
progresses, Nora’s husband forgives her and is even more attracted to her
because she tried to protect him in this whole ordeal. However, Nora lets her husband
know that she is leaving him. Her husband tries to prevent her from doing so
but she does it anyway (DiYanni, 2007,
p.38)
I’m still here is a literary piece
that revolves around the civil rights movements that happened in the early
1960s. The author uses this literary piece as a platform to enlighten both
white and African Americans on the importance of racial equality. It also gives
an insight into human rights violations that afflicted the African American
population. This piece therefore makes us better understand the racial
inequalities and inhuman experiences that surrounded the civil rights movement
era (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1014).
Female
Self Discovery and Identity
The theme of female self discovery and identity is
clearly brought out in the analysis of Chopin’s character in a story of an hour. When Mrs. Mallard learns
of her husband’s demise, she gets engrossed in grief but after short moment,
she is overcome by relief and the feeling of independence sums her. In other
words, she celebrates her own identity as a woman and is glad that she doesn’t
have to answer to any person (DiYanni, 2007, p.
38).
In the same regard, a doll house also professes the female
identity theme especially in the analysis of Nora. At the end of the story,
Nora leaves the husband and gains her own independence. She identifies that she
owes it to herself to leave her husband because he didn’t love her anymore. She
also questioned her life under her father and husband. These are two figures that
have been very prominent in her life and have in the past controlled her life
in one way or the other. For example, she forged her father’s signature to obtain
money so that she could help her husband get the necessary medical care he
needed. She actually gets herself in trouble because this scheme was bound to
ruin her life. Her trials in the entire story revolve around the intrigues centered
on her husband and father. However, at the need of the piece, she liberates
herself by leaving her husband. She then enhances this theme of female
identification because she goes on to live her own life (DiYanni, 2007. p. 1666).
Oppression
A story of an hour eminently expresses the theme of
oppression especially in the analysis of the roles of women. In the 19th
century, the world was different, especially in the analysis of the roles of
women, because during that time, women were expected to stay at home cook, keep
the house clean, bear children, and maintain the role of child bearing. Despite
the efforts of most gender activists such as Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, and Susan B, women never got out of the oppressive 19th
century retrogressive tendencies. For the example, the right of women to vote
had not been established by the close of the century. In addition, employers
employed women to work for medieval jobs and failed to remunerate them the same
way they would, the men for the same jobs. In the analysis of a story of an hour, Mrs. Mallard was
evidently under the husband’s oppression as explained above because of her
relief after his death (DiYanni, 2007, p.
38).
In a doll’s house, the author brings out a very bleak picture of the
sacrificial nature of women especially in their roles in the society. This has
happened at all economic stratification levels of the society. The play’s
character manifestation of females exemplify the assertions properly evidenced
by Nora especially in chapter three which observes that regardless of whether
men fail to sacrifice their integrity for the betterment of the society, women
always have (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1666).
Due to the nature of an oppressive
society and the sacrifices women have to make, Mrs. Linde had no choice but to
abandon Frogstad and marry a richer man in order to support her mother and her
two brothers. Moreover, the nanny in the story also had to abandon her child in
order to support herself when she took the job of working for Nora’s caretaker.
In fact she thanks Nora for the job because she admits she was a pauper who had
always lacked direction. However, despite the fact that Nora is economically
stable, she still experiences a lot of challenges in her marriage as compared
to other female characters in the story. This has been evidenced because of the
way society has perpetrated male dominance in the society pitting her, a subordinate
to her husband (DiYanni,
2007).
As the plot progresses, it is
evident that Nora’s husband issues decrees and condescends them to Nora which
then makes Nora hide the fact that she took the loan to help her husband. She
does this because she was aware of the fact that her husband could not accept
the fact that her wife financed his health care. Furthermore, Nora had to
effectively work to conceal the loan repayments because she could have got into
trouble if it was discovered that she took a loan without the consent of her
husband. This therefore leaves Nora vulnerable to Krogstad’s blackmail. Nora
also makes a lot of sacrifices by leaving her children behind, despite the fact
that she loved them a lot. She does this because of the fact that she couldn’t
accept to pollute the minds of her children by the undertakings that went on
around her. Ultimately, she leaves her children in the hands of the nanny.
In the analysis of the poem I’m still here, there is a clear theme
of oppression because it tries to date back to the slavery period when the African
Americans were oppressed. The poem goes on to say that the subject of the poem had
been waiting on his target but in the meantime, the snow had been falling on him
and the sun was baking him. This was a clear depiction of oppression by his target
and he was trying to get out of it. The poem also portrays the subject as under
some form of oppression because he says that the enemy had tried to make him
stop laughing and loving. However, he kept on having a good time in disregard of
his master (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1014). This is a state whereby the
master was preventing the subject from being happy or enjoying human rights
such as the right to associate (love).
The title of the poem; “I’m still
here” is carefully coined to show that despite the afflictions and oppressions
one may get, its important to forge on and never give up., It also tries to portray
oppression in general terms; like it is part of life and we should all be
prepared for it. The poem also portrays the subject as having undergone a lot
of life struggles which are represented by the “sun” and “snow” (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1014).
Repression
In a story of
an hour, Louis Mallard passes off as a woman who had a weak will. More
often than not, she repressed her desire to define her own destiny. This was
consequently more evidenced in her marriage whereby she suffered a lot of
stress under her husband. She felt like a subject to her husband all along and
her relief when her husband died was a clear attestation to the depth of the
matter (DiYanni,
2007, p. 38).
In the first sentence of the
story, her heart condition is discussed. Some literary critics have observed that
her heart condition may be a result of the repressive marriage she was living
in. As the story progresses, the reader is strongly under the impression that
her inferior status in the society and the strong male dominance on her life
was also a contributor to her heart condition and the resultant life of
less-than-ideal marriage. For instance, in the 8th paragraph of the
analogy, Chopin notes that the face of the young woman “bespoke repression” (DiYanni,
2007). Further into the fourteenth paragraph,
it is observed that an unknown strong will was arm-twisting the wishes of Mrs.
Mallard (DiYanni,
2007, p. 38).
Parental
and Filial duties
Parenthood is viewed as coming from a basis of moral
ground and honesty especially from the point of view of Dr. Dank, Torvald and
Nora in a doll house. This is
especially true because parenthood was perceived as a disease that was to be
passed from generations to generations. Dr. Rank’s father depravity is a true
attestation to this phenomenon because Dr. Rank shows symptoms of a disease
that comes out of this relation. This is explained from the reckless sexual debacles
Dr. Rank’s father had with random women, which he passed on to his son, later
causing him to contract a venereal disease. Torevald also asserts that the deeds
of one’s parents are definitely bound to affect the morals of the descendants.
He was speaking to Nora. He also asserts that nearly all young criminals had
either cohabited or were raised by a lying parent. He also went on to bar his
wife Nora from interacting with their children after learning of her deceitful
behaviors because of the fear that she would corrupt their minds (DiYanni, 2007, p. 1666).
However, the story also identifies
that young children are also too preoccupied to protect their parents. Nora is better
placed to evidence this fact because she chose to protect her husband at the expense
of her father by taking a loan to cover his medical needs. The author therefore
tries to bring out the personal responsibilities parents and children have with
respect to family obligations (DiYanni, 2007).
The Misguided Nature of Appearances
In the analysis of a doll house, appearances seem to be misleading on the characters
of the actors and the different situations that are analyzed. Undercut
impressions are evidenced when it comes to the analysis if Nora, her husband,
and Krogstad. Nora easily passes off as a silly and childish woman at the start
but as the story concludes, she passes off as a strong-willed, intelligent
woman (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1666).
Torvald
who passes of as a strong, independent and benevolent man turns out to be
cowardly, petty and selfish because he lives under the fear of being exposed by
Krogstad. Krogstad also passes off as a sympathetic and merciful character
though later in the analysis, he turns out to be a lesser of the above. The end
of the story actually turns out to be a whole identity issue because character
identification among specific key characters turns out to be the opposite of initial
expectations (DiYanni,
2007).
Nevertheless,
situations also appear misrepresented by both the readers and the characters
alike. Mrs. Linde and Krogstad turn out to be enemies at first but upon
development of the plot, they turn out to be friends. Krogstad also turns out
to be Nora’s creditor but then again, it turns out that he isn’t. This is a
misreading by the readers as well as Mrs. Linde. Krogstad who seemingly passed
off as strong-willed traitor later returns Nora’s contract. Mrs. Linde who also
seemed very kind-hearted fails to help Nora and facilitates the revelation of
her secret. The eminent instability in the Helmer household when the story
concludes is partially brought about by Torvald’s craving for an image that is
attained at the expense of happiness. It is quite evident that image is quite
important on his part especially from his friends, employees and his wife. Any
form of disrespect that is directed towards him such as his wife calling him
petty or when Krogstad called him by his first name is not taken kindly by him.
At the end of the story we see that Torvald’s obsession with image finally
breaking down his family (DiYanni, 2007).
I’m still here also has instances where
there is a misguided sense of appearance. When the author says that the snow
has frozen him and the sun has baked him, he portrays some form of hidden
meaning that doesn’t necessarily mean extreme situations as most people would
think. The hidden meaning is however open to interpretation though most
analysts have observed that it means that the hopes for freedom had been
quashed (DiYanni,
2007, p. 1014).
Conclusion
The themes of oppression, parental and filial
duties, appearances, female identification and repression have been extensively
used in all the three pieces of literature. These thematic subjects have been
majorly used to pass a certain message. For example, in female identification,
these literary pieces are somehow used to empower women at some level. It is
one thing, practically limiting the rights and freedoms of women but it is also
another thing liberating them in literary works. This is what most authors, who
have used this theme, try to pass across.
Some
themes have also been used to educate us on past happenings and enlighten us on
various social issues that still plague the society to date. The theme of
oppression has been used to show how archaic laws were used to oppress women in
the past, especially during the 19th century. The same also regards
oppression during slavery in I’m still
here. In essence, we get to learn of the happenings in that century but
also at the same time, we are enlightened about social issues like gender
equality that still plagues the society in the 21st century. Themes
have therefore been used tactfully to enlighten the society as regards past and
current issues. Themes therefore play a distinct role in literary pieces
depending on the messages it intends to pass on to the audiences.
Reference
DiYanni,
R. (2007). Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama (6th Ed).London: McGraw-
Hill.
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