John Burke John Burke is the ‘‘queer-head’’ son of Miss Lottie Burke. Although his condition is never labeled, he is known to be mentally challenged. Lizabeth describes him as ‘‘totally unaware’’ of his surroundings, an ageless black man prone to violence if his ‘‘mindless stupor’’ is interrupted. John Burke spends most of his time sitting…
Tag: The United States of America
Marigolds by Eugenie W. Collier – Summary
‘‘Marigolds’’ is set in a rural Maryland steel town during the Great Depression (1930s). Since segregation is only just beginning to be legally opposed, it is safe to assume that the entire community is African American. At the very least, all the characters in the story and the neighborhood in which they live are African…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Analysis
There can be few readers of ‘‘The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind,’’ especially those who note the date of the story’s first publication, who have not viewed it an allegory of the cold war, with the deadly rivalry between the cities regarding the shape of their walls being a metaphorical presentation of the nuclear arms…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Setting
The Cold War Even before World War II ended in 1945, the world divided into two power blocs, East and West. The United States and its Western European allies believed that the communist Soviet Union was an aggressive power that would seek to expand its influence throughout the globe. In 1946, George Kennan, who was…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Allegory – Moral Lesson – Symbolism
Allegory The story may be interpreted as a political allegory. An allegory is a narrative in which characters, objects, or events represent something independent of the actual story told. As William Flint Thrall and Addison Hibbard state in A Handbook to Literature, ‘‘Allegory attempts to evoke a dual interest, one in the events, characters, and…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Themes
Conflict The story presents two different models for relationships between human communities. They can choose conflict or cooperation. At first the unnamed city of the Mandarin and the growing city of Kwan-Si choose the conflict model. Each city feels threatened by the other. For example, the people in the first city think that the wall…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Characters
The Daughter The Mandarin’s daughter is the person who eventually comes up with the correct solution to the problem that is devastating the two cities. She appears to be very close to her father, and he relies on her absolutely for her advice. Unlike the Mandarin, she does not passively resign herself to defeat but…
The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind – Summary
‘‘The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind’’ has no specific setting in time and place, but it is suggestive of ancient or medieval China. The story begins with the Mandarin questioning a messenger. In ancient China a mandarin was a bureaucrat. In this case, the Mandarin appears to be the man in charge of a city….
The Bass, The River and Sheila Mant – Analysis
In Wetherell’s short story ‘‘The Bass, the River, and Sheila Mant,’’ the narrator yearns for two things in the summer of his fourteenth year: fishing and Sheila Mant. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning short story author Robert Olen Butler, good writing revolves around the yearning of a main character. In his book From Where You Dream,…
The Bass, The River and Sheila Mant – Setting
The Connecticut River An avid fisherman and nature lover, Wetherell has written many essays about his adventures and explorations on the Connecticut River. This river has played a prominent role in the history of New England, being the largest river in this area (410 miles long). The river flows along the borders of New Hampshire…