... After the portrait is created, Dorian stops aging over time. The painting on the other hand, ages with the years and grows older like a real human being would. This picture is a driving force in Dorian’s life, and while he was once a very good person, his conscience was in the painting that led him to lead a corrupt life causing tragedy to others. On the final pages of the book, Dorian becomes fed up with what the painting makes him do, and after murdering Hallward, the creator of the evil painting, he decides to get rid of this dreaded piece of art once and for all. Dorian takes the same knife that he kille ...

... improper for a lady of the 19th century. Emotions any respectable girl would repress. Women at this time were not to feel passion, nor were they considered sexual beings. To conceive the thought of women expressing rage and blatantly retaliating against authority was a defiance against the traditional role of women. Jane Eyre sent controversy through the literary community. For not only was it written by a woman but marked the first use of realistic characters. Jane's complexity lied in her being neither holy good nor evil. She was poor and plain in a time when society considered "an ugly woman ...

... more clearly and determine why they exist. Ying-Ying St. Clair was born into a rich family. She was very pretty when she was a young girl. She was educated like every Chinese woman used to be: To be obedient, to honor one's parents, one's husband and to try to please him and his family. Ying-Ying was not expected to have her own will and make her own way through life. The result of this education was a disaster. She was married to a bad man who left her after a short time to follow other women. Her love for him turned to hate, and she killed her unborn baby. This act gave her remorse for all her life since she co ...

... of a person's success and character. "When a man says yes his chi says yes also." Pg 19 but at the same time a man does not challenge his chi. "The evil you have done can ruin the whole clan. The earth goddess whom you have insulted may refuse to give us her increase, and we shall all perish." Pg 22 Ezeani said this to okonkwo in response to his challenge against his chi, by beating his wife during the week of peace. Okonkwo can be an example for a person challenging his own chi since his desperate desire to succeed his chi, does not let him go any further than failure, destruction and death. Chi is simultane ...

... is saying that humans are all prisoners and that the tangible world is our cave. The things which we perceive as real are actually just shadows on a wall. Just as the escaped prisoner ascends into the light of the sun, we amass knowledge and ascend into the light of true reality: ideas in the mind. Yet, if someone goes into the light of the sun and beholds true reality and then proceeds to tell the other captives of the truth, they laugh at and ridicule the enlightened one, for the only reality they have ever known is a fuzzy shadow on a wall. They could not possibly comprehend another dimension without behold ...

... his lifestyle. They are walking home from breakfast at the diner and the other two are interested in why Joshua doesn’t mind living alone. “Don’t you get lonesome living by yourself?” Herm asks (72). But Joshua explains to them that he values the serenity of living alone. He tells them that he can peacefully enjoy the beauty of nature outside and the animals also keep him company at times. But the main reason why Joshua never feels alone is that God is always with him, loving him always, and will never abandon him: “No. I like being by myself… God is with us all the time” (7 ...

... belongs on "his" land, and should not leave it no matter if there was nothing there for him. After getting him drunk on coughing syrup, they force grandpa to join them on the long journey. As they travel on, they begin to notice how Grandpa slowly drifts off into nothing ness as he gets farther away from his home. Once stopping on the side of the road along the way and meeting up with the kind Wilson's, Grandpa finally broke down. Being such a strong man, it was very frightening to see him cry and once lay down for a while to rest, he went to the eternal rest as he passed away. It was thought by the ex-preacher, C ...

... Because she is not a musician, her listening is based on intuition, allowing for a direct apprehension of the music by the soul and leading to a confrontation with the reality itself — the reality of "solitude, of hope, of longing, ... of despair"(p.34). This is the beginning of Edna’s awakening, for such emotions, especially despair, are not an end but a beginning because they take away the excuses and guilts, those toward herself, from which she suffers. This revelation of previously hidden conflicts gives birth to dramatic emotions within Edna. It is so powerful that Edna wonders if she "shall ...

... could be anyone’s neighbor. It all comes together to be the most intense read I have had for quite a while. The heroine of the novel, Chyna Shepherd, is a 26-year old psychology student working hard to avoid being Edgler Vess’ next victim. Staying in the guest room of a friends house she hears “a soft thump, as though a heavy object had fallen to a carpeted floor.� Then there is “silence sifted down like a snowfall.� Pg.23. Things become suspenseful already. As mentioned in a book review by Mark Harris, Chyna doesn’t act like a horror-movie teenager and run into the hall. She does like most of ...

... people started to envision the world differently than they had before. They saw nature as all beautiful, powerful, and perfect. Previously, the inspiration for literature was law, order, and religion; now, it is in the writers imagination and powerful emotions. This change in the attitude of the people is called Romanticism. The Romantic Movement is one of the most important literary periods in history; affecting the literature, music, and art of the period. It encouraged spontaneity, and acting with emotions, not common sense. In the more classical style of writing, writers addressed their books to t ...