... play. Most soldiers don't run away like Cacciato because of there heavy training. Also because of their pride and respect for one another. Two major themes in the story of Cacciato are its human nature to destroy and commit evil acts and that war has no order what so ever, there are no rules in war. Nothing in war can be wrong because ... the army rescued all or most of his platoon from heavy attack from the Vietnamese. That was very brave of Gump and he received the Medal of Honor for that. A short story written by Tim O'Brien called "The Things They Carried" was about things the soldi...

• Word Count: 983
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... lottery today is looked at as fun, entertaining and almost as a type of recreation for many Americans, but not in this short story. The lottery in this story is the total opposite of the way we view it today. It does not deal with entertainment but it deals with your life ... communities share no matter what, a church or a courthouse. This also hints at the town's evil side despite the calm normal setup of the story. A big clue that sort of stands out is their celebration of Halloween, but the failure to mention Easter or Christmas which further proves the point ... story because he isn'...

• Word Count: 992
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... , are they really as bad as they think they are? A common theme during the story is nature. One of the boys refers to nature twice, in two very different situations. The first time is almost animalistic. He states, "This is nature- when they are in the woods drinking beer and howling at the moon. The second ... do to occupy their time. We are told that the Indians call Greasy Lake "Wakan- because of how clear the water is. Later on in the story, when one of the boys is forced to hide in the lake to escape, we learn that the lake is actually filthy. There is a layer ... actual physical ap...

• Word Count: 682
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... . ''The Lottery," a short story of threatening evilness written by Shirley Jackson, is an allegory of village itself. At first, the story seems completely harmless and the readers might think the lottery is a good idea, not knowing what the 'prize' at the end of the story is. This village lottery ... Tessie Hutchinson is quite willing to participate in group-sponsored violence until she becomes its victim, i.e. the scapegoat. She displays hypocrisy and human weakness. The lottery makes an absolutely unwilling, hypocritical woman bear the burden of the community's ritual murder. Tessie i...

• Word Count: 1240
• Approx Pages: 5

... used Romantic literature is Edgar Allen Poe. Poe was a writer who contributed to America by helping to introduce fictional forms of writing. In his short stories and tales such as "The Raven" and "The Pit and the Pendulum" he shifted away from the classic style of writing most people ... I came to die, discover that I had not lived." (Thoreau 228) said Thoreau in his writing titled "Walden". He believed that by connecting with nature on a personal level an individual could create and experience the ideal person and fulfill his or her potential for real existence in this world. A final e...

• Word Count: 844
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Dysfunctional Lottery Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", raises many questions in the back of a reader's mind towards the gruesome yet blind rituals of human kind. "The Lottery" clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning human kind's evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. Having said that it shows tradition, symbolism and settings. How could people live a life like that? Ms. Jackson shows how cold-hearted and ... women of the village are gathered together talking about taxes and farming. Jackson's description of the setting supports the theme of the story by displaying how h...

• Word Count: 556
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... "The Lottery" clearly expresses Jackson's feelings concerning mankind's evil nature hiding behind traditions and rituals. She shows how coldness and lack of compassion in people can exhibit in situations regarding tradition and values. Jackson presents the theme of the short story with the use of symbols and setting. The setting of "The ... (310). Men and women are gathered in the center of the town talking about farming and taxes or into gossip. The date of the story is June twenty-seventh, which Helen E. Nebeker states in American Literature, has "symbolic overtones which alerts us to...

• Word Count: 895
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... town is motivated by evil, which Hawthorne uses many written devices to portray. Hawthorne incorporates symbolism, irony and metaphors into this story, which uncover the truth of this small community, and teaches the reader that nothing is as it seems, no matter where ... evil thrives and replaces faith. Hawthorne is outlining more than the underlying transition from good to evil, but the failure of a human to prescribe to human nature, as sin is a natural part of life. He died a miserable disillusioned man who rejected the remaining good of his ... wife and those surrounding him convi...

• Word Count: 787
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... Young Goodman Brown Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "Young Goodman Brown" is an allegory set in New England during the puritan age. The theme of the story is the evil nature of mankind, the inner struggle of good and evil, and the deceptiveness of appearances. Many questions go unanswered throughout the story. Why did Goodman Brown enter the forest? Is his trip into the forest reality ... or an illusion? Perhaps the author intended for the readers to come up with their own conclusions. The story begins with ... , Brown's new knowledge of the sin and evil in the world was very disturbi...

• Word Count: 467
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... Man from the South" also lacks the ability to impress a sense of terror and dread on the reader. Like "A Rose for Emily" the story is entertaining, but the reader is not really terrified by any of the events that happen in it. There is a slight sense in revulsion at the ... idea of collecting human fingers but there is no overall sense of doom in the story. "The Call of Cthulu" however is of a completely different nature. In it H.P. Lovecraft weaves a tale full of dread and unfathomable terror. The mystery of ... a modern-day prophet who throws the world into madness. The entire basis fo...

• Word Count: 1001
• Approx Pages: 4

... society, life would be hectic. Humans are evil and this evilness is hidden by society's laws. Greediness and the materialistic nature of human beings results in evil actions. In the short story, "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, the dark heart of mankind is revealed. Marlow encounters the dark side during ... his trip to Africa. At the beginning of the story Marlow introduces his journey by saying, "this has been one of ... and exploit them. Since nobody is there to watch over them, the Whites unjustly break "unspoken" rules. Lastly, towards the end of the story Marlow realizes that...

• Word Count: 437
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... "A Good Man is Hard to Find," a short story by Flannery O"conner, was a delight. There were many components that made this piece so great. Among these, the relationships of the characters and how they treat each other created a good base or backdrop for the story. The narrator, the grandma of the family, seemed ... to give the writing more depth from her unusual point of view. Also, there was that timeless question of good and evil; forcing readers to look at human nature, disturbing as it may be. When we ... , the readers, are first introduced to this family it's obvious how disfunctio...

• Word Count: 443
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... often paralleled to Adam, the protagonist's primary quality is his extraordinary and even disturbing innocence, and naveté. In the novel and the story of Adam and Eve, its clear how evil will destroy innocence. At twenty-one years of age, Billy has never directly confronted evil. ... innate wickedness is causeless, Melville suggests that he was born evil "In whom was the mania of an evil nature...but born with him and innate, in short a depravity according to nature-(Melville 38). Claggarts inner motives are to sophisticated for Billy to understand. In the novel's Christian allegory cla...

• Word Count: 692
• Approx Pages: 3