Research Paper on "William Faulkner and John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway"

Quoted Instructions for "William Faulkner and John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway" Assignment:

I selected a story from the book (literature AN INTRODUCTION TO READING AND WRITING BY EDGAR V. ROBERTS /HENRY E .JACOBS) and use it as a jumping-off point for further literary research.I CHOSE THE "SOLDIER'S HOME" BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY. For instance, you can read other stories or novels outside this textbook by the same autur and perform a literary analysis on each of them. How do the stories treat certain common themes? Do some stories seem to have more longevity and resonance than others? Do certain authors seem to have recurring themes in their work? You'll need a minimum of TWO sources (including the textbook) so make sure one of the refrences are from this text book that i mentioned above and the paper will be at least 1,500 words (about five double-spaced pages*****”if we were using paper.). please make sure our jumping off point starts with "soldier'home. this is an sample paper:

Themes in Susan Glaspell*****s Work

Each of these stories highlights Glaspell*****s feelings about men, women, and society. Glaspell writes about the characters who have been subjugated throughout their lives. She writes of real men, women, and real situations and makes them stand out to effect change in a society that often mistreats the people who are not able to fight back for themselves. The theme in all these stories revolves around morality and moral decisions. Each character makes an extremely personal decision somewhere in the story, a decision that will change their lives.

In *****The Plea,***** the main characters are the boy, Alfred Williams and Senator Harrison. Senator Harrison is a man who wants to serve his constituents but wants to serve his own conscience as well. He knows the right thing to do is to give the boy a chance, and he finally does it in a courageous manner. Throughout the story, Glaspell portrays her own ideas about society and human nature. For example, *****Then he was wondering why it was the philosophers had not more to say about the incongruity of people who had never had any trouble of their own sitting in judgment upon people who had known nothing but trouble.***** (The Plea) Clearly, Glaspell feels people judge each other far too much and too harshly. She shows a clear description of Harrison*****s personality with these thoughts, and indicates he is a man with a conscience and a sense of right and wrong.

In addition she continues, *****He wondered how high the percentage of children*****s crimes would go were it not for countermanding influences. It seemed the great difference between Alfred Williams and a number of other children of eleven had been the absence of the countermanding influence.***** (The Plea) He desperately wants to serve his constituents, but he wants to be able to live with himself at the same time. In his heart, he knows the right thing to do, and he does it even though it may affect his political career. He is a decent man who answers to his own conscience, and he knows right from wrong.

Most all of Glaspell*****s characters know right from wrong, and have a moral and sense about them. In fact, their moral choice at the end of each story is the recurring theme in all these stories. Each main character makes a moral choice to change something they know is wrong. Glaspell tries to portray with her stories that people know right from wrong, and there is always someone good in the world even if there are many who are not. Therefore, the Senator knows his moral decision will change his life forever, and that his constituents may not support him any longer, but he makes the right decision. Thus, Glaspell describes that it is more important to make the right choice in the end even if it can have disturbing consequences.

In *****The Last Sixty Minutes,***** the governor of a state is facing his last hour in office. He remembers the job he has done for the people of his state, and he is not happy about the results. He thinks to himself, *****It did not make for placidity of ***** to be told at the end of things that he had, as a matter of fact, never been anybody at all.***** (The Last Sixty Minutes) In fact, the governor is the leader of the same state Glaspell wrote about in *****The Plea.***** Glaspell mentions Senator Dorman, the impassioned speaker who pleads for Alfred William*****s second chance at life. She ties her stories together like this to give them more meaning and depth to the reader and make them seem as if they fit together like parts of a novel rather than unconnected short stories. Finally, the governor makes the right decision at the last moment by signing the contracts. The governor has not made the right choices throughout his term in office, but Glaspell again shows a man who would be unable to live with himself unless he made the right choice at the end. He knows he will pay, but he chooses the right decision because he is essentially a good man who has been led down the wrong path.

In *****A Jury of Her Peers,***** the two women stand up for Mrs. Wright as they clean up her home and look for some clothing to take to her in jail. While men stomp around and look for evidence, women quietly uncover the motivation for murder and decide to hide and save it. Mrs. Wright, like many of the other characters in Glaspell*****s work, has led a life of quiet desperation. Her husband is cruel, and he has abused her mentally as long as they have been married. Mr. Wright kills Mrs. Wright*****s bird who has been her only companion, and it is clear Mrs. Wright murdered him because of his cruel action. All the men in this story are full of themselves, and they belittle the women. Glaspell writes, *****Oh, well, *****˜said Mrs. Hale*****s husband, with good-natured superiority,***** women are used to worrying over trifles.***** (A Jury of Her Peers) Throughout the story, the men are condescending to the women, and Glaspell seems to be saying that Mr. Wright was even more so, and that is why his wife ended up killing him. The women in the story allow their husbands to subjugate them because that is how it is supposed to be. The men are strong and the women are weak, or at least that is what the men think.

However, women do not complain, and they are clearly wiser than the men are. They find the evidence the men overlook, and they hide it to save Mrs. Wright. Without the evidence, they have no motive for the murder, but with it, it would be clear why she killed him. Glaspell makes it clear when she writes, *****And then again the eyes of the two women met--this time clung together in a look of dawning comprehension, of growing horror. Mrs. Peters looked from the dead bird to the broken door of the cage. Again their eyes met.***** (A Jury of Her Peers) Like the other characters, the women have a conscience and know when there is something wrong. They want to make it right. They are moral, which is important to the story, but they are also fair even if it means doing something that might seem wrong in the eyes of the law. They are decent women, but they are much more complicated and aware than their husbands are. They are wiser than the men are, and moral at the same time.

*****A Jury of Her Peers***** seems to be compelling because the men are so terribly sure of their superiority, and yet it is the insignificant women who ultimate solve the case. The men would coldly try Mrs. Wright if they know and send her away for life. This way, there is doubt as who committed the crime, so she may even walk away. By hiding the bird, they are hiding crucial evidence, but they are standing up to the men, as well. By sticking together, they show just how ignorant the men really are, and how wise they are. This also ties into morality theme present throughout these stories. The men literally act immorally toward the women, humiliating them mentally or abusing them physically, and Mrs. Wright*****s penalty illustrates this fact.

If there is one theme that ties these three stories together, it is the sense of right and wrong and characters living up to their potential in the end even if they have not lived up to it before. The women recognize they have let Mrs. Wright down by not visiting her or supporting her, so they do the right thing by hiding the evidence and saving Mrs. Wright. The governor recognizes he will be remembered only as the puppet of Francis; therefore, he signs the contracts in his final minutes as governor to do the right thing and allow the new governor an equal chance to prove himself. The senator does the right thing and calls for another vote because he knows Alfred deserves a chance to live a real life and gain trust in the goodness of people. Each of these characters understands what they need to do even though it may have ongoing ramifications for them. Therefore, the common theme is goodness in the hearts of people even if there is evil all around them.

In conclusion, all of these stories seem simple at first. The plots are simple; it is the complex characters who give the stories meaning and a strong sense of morality. Each of these stories poses a moral dilemma and then solves it. Each story also has the character reflect on their lives and how they could have done things differently. They all react to the moral dilemmas facing them. Each character makes the right choice, which means they understand the morality of their actions, and they are consciously choosing the right thing. Therefore, Glaspell*****s work is more complicated than it might appear. Her situations are complex, and so are her characters***** reactions to them and these stories all illustrate that.