Love Love is the engine that drives all of the girl’s behavior in “How I Contemplated.” She may be misguided, self-destructive, and immature, but the narrator’s actions all derive from her desire to be loved. Despite their generosity, the girl’s parents seem unable to give her the attention and unguarded affection that she craves. She…
Tag: Themes
The Grand Inquisitor – Themes
God and Religion The fundamental tension in “The Grand Inquisitor” is between God, in the form of Jesus, and religion, in the form of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the Grand Inquisitor, the two cannot coexist in the modern world; one must give way because they require different things from their followers. Jesus refused…
The Garden Party – Themes
Innocence and Experience “The Garden Party” traces the psychological and moral growth of Laura Sheridan. The story presents her adolescent confusion regarding the social values of her family and her awakening to a more mature perception of reality after her exposure to poverty and death at the carter’s cottage. Laura’s self-consciousness regarding her own youth…
Flowering Judas – Themes
Faith and Betrayal In “Flowering Judas” there is no faith that is not betrayed. The story is structured through a series of contrasts and parallels between religious faith, faith in revolutionary ideals, and romantic-sexual fidelity, all of which are misguided or transgressed. For example, Laura is a Roman Catholic and has been raised in the…
Blackberry Winter (Short Story) – Themes
Fathers and Sons Throughout his career, Warren was interested in exploring and writing about the relationship between fathers (and grandfathers) and sons, and in Blackberry Winter the theme takes center stage. In an interview, Warren agrees with his critics who say that the search for the father is a recurrent theme in his work: “I’ve…
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Themes
Classicism versus Romanticism In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, the narrator discusses two schools of thought— classicism and romanticism—and explores the reasons these branches of thinking have been set in opposition to one another throughout history. He advocates for a unification of these two ways of approaching the world, stating that ‘‘classic and…
When Rain Clouds Gather – Themes
Tribalism versus Progress Tribalism in Head’s novel refers to the concept that everyone must follow the dictates of the tribal chiefs, who rule according to long traditional practices. These principles include the power of men over women; the division of labor, in which men tend to the cattle and women grow the crops; as well…
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Themes
Education At Francie’s birth in chapter 9, Mary Rommely tells her daughter, Katie, that it is important that she read to her children every night, because education is a way to escape poverty. Katie reads a page from the Bible and a page from Shakespeare, and this bedtime reading is the start of the children’s…
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: Themes
Trauma and the Restorative Power of Speech The trauma of the rape that Melinda experiences before Anderson’s novel Speak even begins influences the entire story. Because of that trauma, Melinda’s mental state continues to deteriorate as the story progresses. As she attempts to find, within herself as well as in the world around her, places…
The Scarlet Pimpernel: Themes
Conflicting Loyalties and Moralities The most prominent theme in The Scarlet Pimpernel is that of conflicting loyalties and moralities, a theme that is explored through both individual relationships and interpretation of the broader events of the French Revolution. Those broader events, though historically significant, are given far less consideration than are Marguerite’s particular dilemmas. This…