Long Essay
Theme is the soul of an article. Even though it may be hided in the
story, there should be some hints of theme disperse in the whole story.
But every author has a different style in writing, they use their own way
to release the emotion. What we can do is not only read them, but also
need to perpend slowly. Probably, if you catch author’s thinking, you will
taste the real intent what he/she wants to express. Up to the present, I
have learnt three articles: “Miracle Boy”, “The Love Song of J.Alfred
Prufrock”, “A Worn Path”. One is story about a handicapped boy how to
get rid of dissociableness, one seems like a love poem, another describes
an old woman’s rough trip for her grandson. It is common that you
considered these are just three article of different subject after your first
reading. But I think the themes of these three stories have some
common grounds; each protagonist is unlucky in their lives, and every
author used a heavy even dark technique to finish the story. Then, I
understood that they are linked by the confliction of the human nature
and emotion.
According the common grounds, we can realize the real points. For
example, “The Miracle Boy”, shows how there are miracle hints in life if
person can catch it. The miracle boy is a defenseless dude because of his
claudicant foot. The tragedy was happened a few years ago, which was
result by boy’s father’s inattention. After that, Miracle Boy became more
and more unsocial. One day, three teenagers ragged him after school just
because of their interest of Miracle Boy’s maimed foot. But then, when
they saw the Miracle Boy’s shoes were threw on the electric wire, their
conscience were tormented too, especially shoes brothers Lizard so
much, just like what Lizard thought, “kept hoping the laces would break
and the shoes would come down themselves , and that way he wouldn’t
have to see them anymore.” Then Lizard decided to pick the shoes back
and apologized to Miracle Boy. Suddenly, Miracle Boy was disburdened
and no longer felt lonely, author depicted that, “Miracle Boy nodded
eagerly at Lizard, shyly ducking his head. Then he beckoned, crooking a
finger at Lizard, and he was smiling, a strange small inward smile.” It is
not difficult to figure out that the author hopes to express the emotion,
a conflicting emotion, to impact readers’ hearts, because everyone has a
standard. Maybe the author want to tell us that everything we do can
affect other people; a person shouldn’t do anything he/she will regret
later, because the heart is always enrolled deeply by warm and goodness,
but also guilt. Not only that, the Miracle Boy’s experience teach the
readers that everyone is able to change his destiny, even though he may
have been in trouble briefly. So every day can be a miracle day, if a
person wants to improve himself. And the real human nature is not only
mean the moral, but also emotions.
Just like Phoenix’s journey gives “A worn Path” an emotional response.
Phoenix Jackson, an old woman, is the dramatis personae of this story.
According the story, during her trip, she came across many obstacles,
such as wild animals, thorns, scarecrow, pines or oaks and a hunter with
his dog. Some of these caused her a bit of trouble, the others helped her
to reach the town finally. When she arrived in the town, she was
confused by her intent, for what? It is impossible for an old woman to
finish such a long way. But she always encouraged herself to keep
walking. She did her best to get there in order to bring a windmill back
for her grandson, her love, who had been her memory, but it’s her
energy to live along, like what she said, “This is what come to me to do. I
buy my child a little windmill they sell. He is going to find it hard to
believe there such a thing in the world. I’ll march myself back where he
is waiting, holding it straight up in this hand.” Phoenix got the answer,
she was satisfied and walking on the back way silently. It is a worn path,
not only because of the hard course. The most difficult thing for Phoenix
is that she had to face the loneliness. “Out of my way, all you animals.
Keep out from under these feet and out of my path! I got a long way.”,
that show Phoenix is lonely. I think her travel is a endless journey, and
her imagination supports her until she gets to her destination. The
author wants to express a conflicting mentality and behavior to express
Phoenix’s sincere emotion. She hadn’t accepted that her grandson was
dead, because she felt so much. “We is only two left in the world. He
suffer and it don’t seem to put him back at all. He got a sweet look, I
remember so plain now.” can prove that Phoenix just thought her
grandson was still alive, and she can’t accept the truth. Phoenix was lost
and confused about herself in the real world, and she put a huge amount
of life and energy into her dream, and refused to agree reality. Reality is
callous for Phoenix, but Phoenix’s conflict and backbone for love can
move readers.
In “The love song of J.Alfred Pruhock”, the author wanted to explore
what surrounds him. He lacks friends, cannot see the beauty in the world
and he was scared by evil doings that filled the air. He hoped to improve
all of these by changing himself first, but everyone laughed at him; he
realized he only could obey society without struggling, except in his own
space. In this poem, the author wanted to express his impatience and
depression as a result of this world where the author lived in, is not
suitable for him. Day after day, but people never focus on the
atmosphere and their lives. People can see hypocrisy, disdain, and
apartness everywhere, everyday. If it’s true, if there is no warmness in
life, we are struggling for what? The writer discerned all of these, he was
afraid to face the fact, but he didn’t lose the belief. He disclosed himself
first, tried to be honest to earthlings. He walked around the town and
looked on back his life with regrets –– for not acting and just wanted to
find the hope, “Am not Prince Hamlet. Am an attendant lord, one that
will do. To swell a progress, start a scene or two. Advise the prince; no
doubt, an easy tool. Politic, cautious, and meticulous, full of high
sentence, but a bit obtuse. Almost, at times, the fool.” To his despair, the
world seem dark, dirty and roaring, including others’ jeer. In the end, the
author realized that his was too old to change the world, he couldn’t
doing anything except obey. He wanted to escape, to only stay in the
dream or a perfect place in his own mind, because he thought he just
like a corpse with breathing in the human’s world, he had given readers
the hint, “I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I don’t think
they will sing to me. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea, by
sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown, till human voices wake
us, and we down.” The author is suffering to preserve his moral integrity
and conflicted with life in a villainous world. Actually, this isn’t a love
song – more about dying.
“The Miracle Boy” told readers that there is not only worm but also
guilty in the heart, and we can change ourselves to help others. “A Worn
Path” let people know that happy or sorrow, gain or lose, the cruel
reality can make a person to lost himself, these is love’s witchcraft. “A
Love Song of J.Alfred Pruhock” teach people that if a person does’t
struggle for your life, the dark and false part of this world will engulf him,
so do something for your future when you are young. There is sincere
emotion hided in human nature, moreover emotion is resulted by the
convulsion in the cockles of the heart and the confliction in the thinking.
Everybody do cannot negate that, thinking, judging, choosing. But also
because of that, life is becoming valuable and wonderful indeed. No
doubt, these three articles are all great opuses, because of their soul, the
theme of the article what arose readers’ emotional sympathize.