... . Marlow falls ill soon after and barely survives. Eventually he returns to Europe and goes to see Kurtz's Intended (his fiancée). She is still in mourning, even though it has been over a year since Kurtz's death, and she praises him as a paragon of virtue and achievement. She asks what his last words were, but Marlow cannot bring himself to shatter her ... mundanely malicious men and "flabby devils," attracting enough attention to be worthy of damnation is indeed something. Kurtz can be criticized in the same terms that Heart of Darkness is sometimes criticized: style entirely overrule...

• Word Count: 3088
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... - -. Piggy's feelings of loss and hopelessness echo those that Golding himself felt during the war. Because of Golding's loss of faith in mankind, the boys experience the harsh realities of the human condition. "Ralph wept for the loss of innocence, the darkness of man's heart -. The boys fall from innocence represents the loss of innocence of all mankind that Golding saw during the ... described as "the fat boy with asthma."" These characteristics make Piggy seem like an unpopular and unattractive person. Golding uses Piggy to symbolize society's resistance to reason and order. His dea...

• Word Count: 4223
• Approx Pages: 17
• Grade Level: High School

... original curse on the house, but the curse that the Pyncheons have continued to bring upon themselves". It is not Maule's death which needs avenging, but the anguish caused by the Pyncheon family's greed. "Lust for wealth has held the Pyncheon" in its inflexible grasp". What Hawthorne saw handed down through the generations were not material unreality's such as gold and family position ... has saturated the forgotten "children", making them unfit for human contact. As Phoebe uses her light to help them, Jeffrey's dark influence threatens to steal the innocent beauty that Phoebe possesse...

• Word Count: 2711
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... well as good and evil. It is important to acknowledge the fact that both Duncan's and Banquo's murder takes place in the dark. The latter notices, on the night of the king's death, that the stars are not shining, meaning that the murder does occur in complete darkness: "There's husbandry in heaven;/ Their candles are all out" (II.i.4-5). The fact that the lights are out ... acts: "Stars, hide your fires!/ Let not light see my black and deep desires" (I.iv.50-51). He then wants darkness to prevail to hide his unnatural, evil acts and qualities. Darkness, thus being merged with death and ...

• Word Count: 2650
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... owl screams, and when murder steals forth to his work. In 'Macbeth' I think the darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most importantly, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness could partially blind out all of the horrible things that occur in the night. For, only in darkness can such evil deeds be done. Secondly, the darkness shows one of Lady Macbeth's weaknesses: her fear of the ... dark. In the play, phrases of fear escape from her lips even in sleep. She believes darkness to be the place ... of torment. In the whole drama ... ...

• Word Count: 12917
• Approx Pages: 52
• Grade Level: High School

... a motif is sleeplessness. [S] Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth experience sleeplessness. Towards the end of the play, Lady Macbeth falls into a sleepless state, and this sleeplessness represents her guilt for her role in Duncan's death, as well as all the murders Macbeth has committed. Lady Macbeth, though, begins with an unrecognizable conscience. She would "kill her own" child rather than break her word to ... have been sealed The blood on their hands symbolizes their inability to annul the murder from their memories. [T] The motif of darkness also helps illustrate the theme of Macbeth. ...

• Word Count: 2918
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

... womb and seed germination, both of which take place in the dark; darkness is the complementary opposite of light in a fundamental duality. Darkness can also encompass a primitive chaos, and the powers of that chaos; it is not essentially evil, yet it is largely associated with death and destruction. Victor struggles with his mother's death and the evil forces, which took her away from him. He sees ... the world as dark and his mother as light, highlighting the power of his deep seeded, primitive feelings of death and longing for rebirth of himself and his mother. Victor spends time alon...

• Word Count: 2532
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... out something about a dead body on the hill' even whilst being inflicted by the beast' of humanity. As the beast lay huddled' our grief and remorse at his death are enhanced for even in the rain they could see how small a beast it was, now even we can see his smallness set against the majesty of the cosmic forces, the huge magnificence of ... over-mastering. Only Ralph remains honest with himself to openly accept responsibility for his role in Simon's death, that was murder, so that with loathing' and rage, he can fiercely hit out at' the Lord of the Flies, determined that the obscene d...

• Word Count: 3770
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... meet with Macbeth" This first scene makes the reader think about whether Macbeth is evil and if he has made alliances with darkness. In Shakespeare's time, when this play would be shown in the theatres, the audience would be confused at this first scene, because they knew Macbeth as a heroic fighter and king from ... bring wonderful things, they speak the devils words and can tempt people to darkness. " But "tis strange: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truth, Win us with honest trifles, to betray's In deepest consequence." Macbeth begins to get f...

• Word Count: 2837
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... to the ranks of evil spirits (or demons) and they became minions of Ahriman, the lord of darkness. The daevas logically had to be relegated as enemies of God in order to elevate Ahura Mazda to the position of the one High God. Even though there was a ... around the moon, a concept that became very appealing to Plutarch who filled his writings with lunar daemonology. Plutarch, who had held a priesthood for life at Delphi since A.D, 95, wrote a treatise on the growing problem that the great oracles of the ancient world were losing their power ... minor deities (daemons) who grow old and d...

• Word Count: 2828
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... bears this motto, appears "a huge human foot d'or, in a field of azure; the foot crushes a serpent rampant whose fangs are embedded in the heel." (p.283) It is important for Montresor to have his victim know what is happening to him. Montresor will derive pleasure from the fact that as Fortunato hangs in darkness surrounded by imminent death he realizes what has happened to him and will ... see how his greedy craving for wine brought about his impending doom, as well ... as notice that his would-be-murderer gave him ample opportunity to escape. In structure, there can be no doubt, that...

• Word Count: 4324
• Approx Pages: 17
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... powers to fill her heart with cruelty, and rid her of feminine kindness. If she were truly evil, then she would not need this extra infusion of darkness. This is an interesting point because it reveals a whole new side to her, which while it isn't a good side; it is a more human side ... murder on the guards. Macbeth applauds her, and quickly psyches himself towards the task, steeling himself to put on a false face for the banquet. Act 2 begins with Lady Macbeth waiting for Macbeth in the Courtyard of their Castle, after he has killed the King. (It is an interesting point to note, that th...

• Word Count: 2777
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... wreak that hate upon him" ( Melville(1),157). Thus, Ahab's struggle to kill the white whale takes a deep religious meaning and as one critic suggested," His quest for Moby Dick is in part a metaphysical one, for he is in revolt against the existence of evil itself. His vindictiveness is against the eternal fact of evil" ( Parke, 569). Furthermore, the whale's whiteness holds a special religious significance ... and his only recourse is to kill Moby Dick. Clearly then, Ahab is a man with no innocence left in his character for he has" revolted and leagued himself now with darkness "( Park...

• Word Count: 3225
• Approx Pages: 13
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... which is blanketed with darkness. The opponents are Ahura Mazda and Ahriman, with Ahura Mazda representing the good force and Ahriman representing the bad. The battle will last till Ahura Mazda defeats Ahriman in the year 12,000 (we are now presumably around 11,500). In accordance with Zoroaster's teachings ... of Zoroaster's seed, which is preserved in a lake. The prophet will bring about an improvement in society for a short period of time. The last of these prophets, Saoshyant, or "helper", will bring about a resurrection of the dead. The final fight will then occur and the death of ...

• Word Count: 2504
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... strengthens the theme of good and evil. The second scene starts with Mr. Utterson looking at Jekyll's will. The will says that in case of decease or unexplained absence for more than three months that Edward Hyde receives all of Jekyll's belongings. Utterson decides to go see Dr. Hastie Lanyon, an old ... his life as a rationalist, he cannot deal with the world that Jekyll's experiments have revealed. Literary critic Brittany Nelson explains the cause of Lanyon's death, "The death of the doctor, finally explained because of the exposure to the pure evil of the Jekyll experiment gone wrong...

• Word Count: 2799
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School

... daevas were demoted to the ranks of evil spirits (or demons) and they became minions of Ahriman, the lord of darkness. The daevas logically had to be relegated as enemies of God in order to elevate Ahura Mazda to the position of the one High God. Even though there was a history of ... the daimones around the moon, a concept that became very appealing to Plutarch who filled his writings with lunar daemonology. Plutarch, who had held a priesthood for life at Delphi since A.D, 95, wrote a treatise on the growing problem that the great oracles of the ancient world were losing their power an...

• Word Count: 2641
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography

... , is Hephaestus (God of the forge/fire). Basically, this god was Zeus's right-hand man. He forged Zeus's fire bolts, which were necessary for Zeus to win the battle between the Titans. Taking this idea into the Christian arena, the reader is lead to understand that the imagery of the ... mentioned by Blake to indicate the basest nature of evil - terror and death. Here, the reader is finally introduced to the fully realized vision of the Tyger - a creature created by God, yet also heavily influenced in its creation by Satan in an effort to kill the faithful (the use of "deadly- helps to ...

• Word Count: 2680
• Approx Pages: 11
• Grade Level: High School