existentialism

Hello everyone,this blog is response to Dilip Barad Sir's thinking activity. In this blog i will discuss about some videos and give my interpretation.

Video-1 First video is about what is existentialism in which many thinkers talked about the existentialism and Philosophical suicide meant nothingness in life and also a very good ideas about individuality, passion and freedom..

Video-2 The myth of Sysyphus: the absurd reasoning. In this video Albert Camus talked about the absurdity, life is meaningless and also there is an example of the movie 'Stay' in which we can see the existentialism that suicide is best option in this absurd life.

Video-3 The Notion of Philosophical suicide. This video talked about the philosophical suicide and this problem come out from A total absence of hope, A continual rejection and conscious dissatisfaction. From this method people escaped from absurd life.

Video-4 Dadaism and Nihilism has nothing to do with each other, there is only one similarity that both are fed up with arbitrary values of life. they do not want such values invented by others.

Video-5 Is Existentialism is gloomy philosophy? Every life is full of anxiety, despair and absurdity, but we are free to choose our own path of living. Every individual choose his/her way of life but when result is not good then they escape from this situation that is not fair practice. Existentialism is differ from Nihilism. After world war-2 People's life became miserable and full of despair. Everyone tried to find the meaning of life.

Video-6 Much difference between Existentialism and Nihilism. Existentialism believe in subjectivity like individuality, nothingness, absurd life while Nihilism believe in objectivity like everything is illusion in life.

Video-7 Existentialism ask question of existence that why I am here? what is life? Divine perspective and human perspective. Human were not design by any supernatural power, existentialism see the life from religiously, scientifically and philosophically and raise question about human existence.

Video-8 Existentialism and Nietzsche: Nietzsche's Existentialism talked about that human being is everything, there is no need any supernatural power to govern life. Like God is dead so human being can make their own rules and be like superman or ubermensch.

Video-9 Existentialism is away of life and understand life deeply. Existentialism says about what I am. Eric Dodson said that it is honest and shows reality of life and accept your fault and your abilities.

Video-10 I like the idea in this video is that only we can give reason to our choice or we can say that there is no reason for choice is just a choice. There is no meaning of life but meaning is given by us to our life.

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Indian Poetics

 

           Hello everyone,this blog is response to Dilip Barad Sir's thinking activity. In this blog i will discuss about Alankara,rasa,riti,  vakrokti and auchitya school.

Question 1:- Write a brief note on Alankara,Rasa,Riti, Vakrokti and Auchitya school 

 Introduction

       It is customary to begin the history of Indian Poetics with Natyashastra. Out of its thirty six chapters, two chapters deal with Rasa-bhava and Alankara-guna. By and large the text relates to dramaturgy in its practical applications. The aspects of Poetics that appear in text are not directly related to Kavya. In Natyshastra the nature of poetry as outlined in it is incidental to the discussion on Drama and it does not have an independent status. Bharat’s Natysastra is the earliest known treatise on Poetics and dramaturgy. His Natyasastra mentions four Alankaras (poetic figure), ten Gunas (excellences), ten Dosas (defects) and thirty six Laksanas (characteristic) of poetic composition (shodhganga).

        

           In Indian poetics, scholars had different viewpoints, and they also formed different school of thoughts.The chief schools are:

•  Alankara (poetic figure)
•  Rasa (aesthetic pleasure)
• Riti (Style)
•  Guna (attribute)
• Dhvani (suggestion)
•  Vakrokti (obiliquity)
• Auchitya (propriety)

    Let’s have a brief look on the Alankaraschool, Dhvani school, Riti school, Vakrokti school and Auchitya school.

1) Alankara School 

               Alankara refers to “the figures of speech”- The word alankara stands for a thing of beauty. The rhetoricians deal with the alankaras in detail and the poet use them profusely in their works. Alankara has an ancient origin. The alankara is the earliest and most sustained school which studies literary language and assumes that the focus of literariness is in the figure of speech in the mode of expression in the grammatical accuracy and pleasantness of sound. This does not mean that meaning is ignored. In fact structural taxonomies of different figures of speech are models of how meaning is cognized and how it is to be extracted from the text. 

          Bhamaha is the first alankarapoetician. In Kavyalankara he described 35 figures of speech. Many other critics also continue this tradition and they were Dandi, udbhata, Rudrata and Vamana. Rhetoricians like Anadavardhana, Mammata and Visvanatha have directly stated the connections of alankaras with rasa. They all were the Sanskrit Critics. Alankara is used for beautifying the language. Many critics also said that we can use figure of speech but it must be used in limited way otherwise it may happen that the work of art will lose its charm.

             The categories of Alankara have been classified by different poetician into different kind. Rudrata divides it into two types those based on phonetic form its called sabdalankara and those who based on meaning its called Arthalamkara. Bhoja also divided it into seven parts,

• Sadrasya 
•  Virodha 
•  Srnkhalabadha 
•  TarkaNyaya 
• Lokanyaya 
• Kavyanyaya and 
• Gudharthapratiti. 

Mamata also divided alamkara into seven types:

•  Upama 
• Rupaka  
• AprastutaPrasnsa 
• Dipaka 
• Vyatiraeka 
• Virodha and 
• Samuccaya.

2) Dhvani school

           Dhvani school of poetry was originated by Anandavardhana. He wrote “Dhvanyaloka” in the middle of the 19thcentury which brought focus on the potential power of the word in Kavya.Anandvardhana in Dhvanyalokam takes up three main types of implicit sese: Vastudhvani, Alankaradhvani and Rasa dhvani.

           Next only to the rasa theory in importance, the dhvani theory of anandavardhana considers suggestion, the indirectly evoked meaning as the characteristic property of literary discourse, the determinant that separates it from other rational discourses. Dhvani becomes an embracing principle that explains the structure and function of the other major elements of literature- the aesthetic effect (rasa), the figural mode and devices (alankara), the stylistic values (riti) and excellences and defects (guna-dosa).

           In Dhvayyaloka, Ana presented a structural analysis of indirect literary meaning. He has classified different kinds of suggestion and defined them by identifying the nature of suggestion in each. According to V. S. SeturamnDhavani means "That kind of poetry, where in the meaning renders itself secondary or the word renders its meaning secondary and suggests the implied meaning is designated by the learned as 'Dhavani' or 'suggestive poetry'.

3) Riti School

              Riti is the theory of language of literature. The word Riti was first used by Bharata'sNatyasastra' itself under the republic of vrtti. But it was Vamana who first developed it into a theory of VisistaPadaracanariti'. In the very simple words formation of or arrangement of marked constructions is riti.

             Two other words are used for riti are Marga and Vrtti. Later, around ninth century AD Anandavardhana distinguished this styles on the basis of the use of particular kinds of compounds. The Gunas have their potential being in this permanent source which Vamana regarded as the Atman of the Kavya and called it Riti. Hence the thesis "Riti is the Soul of a Kavya." 'RitiroatmaaKaavyasyaSareerasyeva'. Riti is to the Kavya what Atman is to the Sarira. It is necessary here to study the etymology of the terms Atman and Riti in order to realise the significance of Vamana's conception of the Soul of a Kavya. The word Atman is believed to have been derived from the root 'At meaning to move constantly or from the root Anmeaning to live, or perhaps from both.

            The term Riti is derived from the root 'Ri' meaning to move. The identity of Riti with Atman | becomes complete when we take Dandin's metaphor of Gunas as Pranas. Just as the Atman is the Karana Sarira of a person, Riti is the Karana Sarira of a Kavya. The natural beauty or Sobha of a Kavya depends on the Gunas of its Soul which is Riti.

4) Vakrokti School 

                In the whole range of Sanskrit poetics, the term Vakrokti took altogether a new significance and the highest position as the all-pervading poetic concept in Kuntaka'sVakroktijivita. Presenting the major schools of Sanskrit poetics, the book gives general definition of vakrokti and its multi- dimensional implications. Vakrokti means the hidden meaning of the work of art. The writer outs the message in the hidden way that at the first glance we will not be able to find the meaning of the poem or the sentence or any creative work of art. It is also a theory of language of literature. It claims that the characteristic property of literary language is its markedness'. Kuntaka made- Vakrokti a full-fledged theory of literariness.Vakrokti literally means deviant or marked expression. kuntaka's theory of vakrokti and makes its critical analysis in relation to various literary concepts-alankara, rasavadalankara, marga and rasa.

5) Auchitya School

                      

           We can say that Kshemendra is the founder of Auchitya School. The other nearest meaning of this word is Perfect' or we can also say that 'Complete'. It is true that the nature functions itself but only we human beings tried to make perfect or tried to add perfection in all most all the things.

           In literature, Auchitya plays a vital role. If Auchitya is missing in the work of art then that work of art will not be able to create that much effect. And for that it is compulsory that the meaning or we can say that the words used by the author must be conventional. The theory of property or appropriateness claims that in all aspect of literary composition. There is the possibility of a perfect the most appropriate choice of subject of ideas, of words, of devices as such, it has affinities with Longinus's theory of the sublime.

T.S.Eliot

  Question 1:-What is a the relationship between "tradition" and" the individual talent" according to T.S.Eliot?

About Author 

            Born:-26 September 1888

            Died:-4 January 1965

            Thomas Stearns Eliot was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor. Considered one of the 20th century's major poets, he is a central figure in English-language Modernist poetry.

Introduction

            Tradition and Individual Talent , written by T.S. Eliot is one of the most influential essays of all the times. It has placed an important concept of understanding the core meaning of Literature as a whole. He tries to justify the importance of art in academy as a discipline and if Literature has to be enacted as a discipline, it has to be critical , refine , allusive and complex in its nature. The essay serves as an important masterpiece to understand the theory of Impersonality and tradition”.

Relationship between "tradition" and" individual talent"

           The concept of “tradition” according to Eliot is the sense of continuity from the past. It is a continuity where a writer or a poet should write in tradition and it is readily unacceptable to the Whites as it is like a “censure”. The Western world seems to be occupied more on the creative forces but Eliot stresses on the elements of critical thoughts while obtaining a “tradition’. According to Eliot, a poet has to write in “tradition” and there exist the elements of past in the work of poet’s art when it is examined or explored from a critical lens rather than a creative force. The very “individual parts” will show the impressions of the continuity of the past or the elements of past which the poet has taken from which has been already existed before. He states that “the most individual parts of his work may be those in which the dead poets, his ancestors ,assert their immortality vigorously”.

             According to Eliot , if a poet or a writer imbues the element of the past, there is an imitation of the past but he justifies that the imitation is “not the slavish imitation” of the past or the existed work of art before. He argues that the strict blinding of imitation of the past is not tradition and hence “Novelty is better than repetition”. He tries to suggest that a poet do not slavishly imitate the past but there is something new which is born out of that imitation. Hence, there will be a new novelty in the piece of work of art which he implies the “individual talent”. He says that a passive imitation of the past is to be discouraged and ignored.

             In addition to this, Eliot suggest that a poet can obtain a “tradition” by understanding the past and he calls it as a “historical sense” which is not merely an imitation of the past but of its presence in the present. It not involves the “pastness of the past but of its presence” and the literary circles of the whole European literature produced from “Homer” to the present and the poet creates his own new work in the present with not just a mere imitation of the past but by understanding the past to obtain the “tradition”. A poet has to differentiate the good and bad things from the past and has to obtain the good things to create his own new work of art and hence the amalgamation of the understanding of the past and the poet’s liability to obtain the good things from the past constitute a “historical sense’. Hence,there will be both elements of past as well as of the present in a new work of art through a “historical sense” to establish a continuity of literary tradition by a poet.

          Moreover, he highlights that “tradition” is not easily obtained and “inherited” but requires a “hard labour” and effort. There has to be the development of the “historical sense” by a poet to write in “tradition” and there is a recognition of the past and the present poet who creates a new work of art so that there is a continuity of literary tradition because every poet writes in a tradition. The poet starts to write in “tradition” when he has obtained the “historical sense” and it is possible for the poet to obtain when he has understood the past and is guided by the past in the present where he adds a new piece of work. Here, he suggests that there is a continuity as well as the creation of a new work of art in the present.

           Eliot further goes on to say that “tradition” is a “dynamic one”. He suggests that the past directs the present and the present alters the past to create a new work of art which is the “individual talent”. Hence , the knowledge of the past and the creation of a new art becomes the “Tradition and the Individual Talent”. He adds that the poet takes a “tradition” or the elements from the past in his work of art but there is also a change or alteration in the present that creates something new and hence it is “dynamic one”. It is also a “dynamic” in a sense that when one would judge critically, one can find the elements of the past which has been existed before and is guided to the present but the present modifies it when the new work of art is produced. Hence, the entire structure becomes a reciprocal and the relationship of the past or the “historical sense” reciprocates to the present where it modifies the past to bring forth a new work of art or “individual talent” and the “tradition” is established and continued.

Conclusion

        Eliot also points out the judgement of the new piece of work in the present. He states that the judgement of the new piece of work is done by comparison and contrast between the past and the present that has altered the past. It is not merely done through a comparison and contrast but it is to see the manners in which the present has modified or altered the past and the present has done to the past. It is to observe the range of changes in the new work of art in the present and to the past as well as to undermine the values of the past and present to be equally balanced without undermining the past as well as the present. Hence, Eliot says that this is the real sense of “tradition’.

Transcendentalism

 Hello everyone this blog is response to Megha Trivedi ma'am.In this blog i will discuss about the term of Transcendentalism.

Introduction of Transcendentalism

          Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement started in the 1820s and 1830s by New England writers and philosophers. These writers and philosophers believed that institutional society impeded the importance of being an individual and building self-reliance. One of the foremost works which best describes the themes inherent to transcendentalism is Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson. This essay, first published in 1841, explicitly describes a difference between the individual self and the "other" -- the rest of society. Emerson, throughout the essay, proclaims that people should trust their individual thoughts and knowledge as opposed to what the rest of society says. He would rather act independent than do something good just because society deems it good. Emerson believed that the only way to grow better and improve is to trust one's own intuition and constantly work independently.

                 Ralph Waldo Emerson,  

      one of the first Transcendentalists

Origin of Transcendentalism

               Transcendentalism formed as a rebellious reaction to the Age of Reason -- a state where society was focused on rationalism and searching for objective truths in humanity and the universe. Transcendentalists opposed this idea, saying, rather, that each individual could find their own truth within themselves and by their own intuition. The movement was connected to a debate concerning religion, where one side wanted an emotional view of religion and the other side (which became known as the Unitarians) wanted a rational view. In response to this debate, four Harvard alumni met to discuss the ideas in this debate. They were Frederic Henry Hodge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Unitarian ministers George Ripley and George Putnam. This group continued to grow, meet, and discuss, and eventually became known as The Transcendental Club.

Brief Overview of the Movement

              Transcendentalism is a philosophical and social movement that began around 1836, in New England. However, before we delve into defining and comprehending this movement, it's necessary for one to understand why it was developed. It was created as a rebellious reaction to the previous Age of Reason, and its rationalist way of thinking. The original members of the movement also believed society and its organized institutions (for example, religion and politics) were corrupting the purity of individuals. The movement was created based on ideas from a variety of sources, including Hindu texts, various other religious ideas, and German idealism.

           Transcendentalism, as a whole, centered on the writings and teachings of American author Ralph Waldo Emerson; it especially focused on his piece entitled, Self-Reliance. Transcendentalists were some of the first known non-conformists in America, and thus they critiqued contemporary society for its unthinking conformity. Through his writing, Emerson urged everyone to find his own 'original relation to the universe.' Now that we have a better idea why this movement was created, let's move on and focus on its core, essential values.

Some of the characteristic features of Transcendentalism are as follows:

1. The Transcendental believed that the power of divine or God can be known through the power of emotion and intuition. They rejected the rational and logical entity of mind to know God and reacted against the ideals of Unitarianism. They relied on intuition for all the answers and believed that knowledge comes from within and intuition resides within an individual. They wanted to go beyond or transcend the limitations of human senses and based their knowledge of spiritual and other knowledge by their emotions and inner voice rather than sensory perceptions.
2. They championed the idea of individualism and believed in the idea of self-reliance. They thought that individual entity is the spiritual center of the universe where the prime importance of individual presence on society is established to make progression and development. They critique the society and political aspects which destroy human mind and corrupt their souls. Hence, they believed in the independent of every individual and one should listen to their own mind and soul.
3. The other important philosophy is the philosophy of over soul. It is about the soul’s connection with God where every other souls are connected to God who is the over soul. It means to emphasize that God is omnipresent and is everywhere and hence there are no clear distinction between human soul and nature as the study of nature will help in better understanding the laws of nature which will lead them to understand God and other aspects of soul.
4. The nature also plays an important role in their philosophy as nature is the scared place of solitude and peace which the English Romantics finds it too. It is through nature one can understand God , self and soul which resides within us. They emphasized that man should spend time on nature and study nature which will enable them to attain spiritual guidance and morality than religious texts as God is omnipresent to them and studying nature will guide them to understand God and its relationship.
5.  They believed in the idea of non-conformity and hence argued to restrain from any social and political doctrines. They clearly wanted to detach themselves from the set principles and conventions led by the society and urges every individual to become self reliant and independent. They believed that these set of principles destroy mankind and one cannot understand God from it and hence one should not conform to such rules and regulations constructed by the society.
6.  They believed in the simplicity of life and sought to restrain from the materialistic and worldly desires. They detached themselves from the urban life and settled in the lap of nature to find solace and calmness instead of the material values which are easily accessible in the urban and city life.

The Scarlet Letter

             The Scarlet Letter is  Romance is a work of historical fiction by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne, published in 1850.[1] Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Containing a number of religious and historic allusions, the book explores themes of legalism, sin and guilt.

Some quotes based on Transcendentalism 

“A pure hand needs no glove to cover it.“                                                              Chapter XII

             Transcendentalist believed in the truth. Transcendentalist did not want to follow society thought their rules and regulations, transcendentalist wanted to express them selves by their own thoughts, not ones given to them by religion or culture. When people fallow the rules and regulations, they are fictionally meaning they are putting on gloves, covering their impulse.

“A bodily disease, which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.” 

                          Chapter X

          Hawthorn writes that the character is suffering from a spiritual sickness. Transcendentalist did not try to prove that their theories of the spiritual world were true, but that everyone is free to believe in it anyway they want to.

Conclusion:

       Transcendentalism is not a religion, it is a way of thinking. One could be involved in a religion and still believe in Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism is how one views the world through their eyes. Knowing one's self is key to learning about transcendentalism. Transcendentalist are constantly faced with questions about themselves and their thoughts. It must have been hard to go against everyone in the community. But what motivated the transcendentalist was the phrase "fallow your heart". 

20 the century

Question 1:-Characteristics of 20th Century Literature

Introduction

            The 20th century was like no time period before it. Einstein, Darwin, Freud and Marx were just some of the thinkers who profoundly changed Western culture. These changes took distinct shape in the literature of the 20th century. Modernism, a movement that was a radical break from 19th century Victorianism, led to postmodernism, which emphasized self-consciousness and pop art. While 20th century literature is a diverse field covering a variety of genres, there are common characteristics that changed literature forever.

Fragmented Structure

           Prior to the 20th century, literature tended to be structured in linear, chronological order. Twentieth century writers experimented with other kinds of structures. Virginia Woolf, for instance, wrote novels whose main plot was often "interrupted" by individual characters' memories, resulting in a disorienting experience for the reader. Ford Madox Ford's classic "The Good Soldier" plays with chronology, jumping back and forth between time periods. Many of these writers aimed to imitate the feeling of how time is truly experienced subjectively.

Fragmented Perspective

          If there's one thing readers could count on before the 20th century, it was the reliability of an objective narrator in fiction. Modernist and postmodern writers, however, believed that this did a disservice to the reliability of stories in general. The 20th century saw the birth of the ironic narrator, who could not be trusted with the facts of narrative. Nick Carraway, narrator of Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," for example, tells the story with a bias toward the novel's titular character. In an extreme case of fragmented perspective, Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying" switches narrators between each chapter.

The Novel of the City

            The 20th century is distinguished as the century of urbanism. As more people moved to cities in Europe and America, novelists used urban environments as backdrops for the stories they told. Perhaps the best known of these is James Joyce's "Dubliners," a series of short stories that all take place in various locales in Dublin. Other 20th century writers are also closely associated with various urban centers: Woolf and London, Theodore Dreiser and Chicago, Paul Auster and New York, Michael Ondaatje and Toronto.

Writing from the Margins

           The 20th century gave voice to marginalized people who previously got little recognition for their literary contributions. The Harlem Renaissance, for example, brought together African-Americans living in New York to form a powerful literary movement. Writers such as Langston Hughes, Nella Larsen and Zora Neale Hurston wrote fiction and poetry that celebrated black identity. Similarly, female writers gained recognition through novels that chronicled their own experience. Finally, the post-colonial literary movement was born, with writers such as Chinua Achebe writing stories on behalf of subjugated peoples who had experienced colonization by Western powers.

Cubism was principally a movement in the visual arts in the early 20th century spearheaded by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. These painters explored new forms of expression by emphasizing subjective mental experience over objective sensible experience, fragthation over linear plotting, and multiple perspectives over singular perspective. The movement influenced modernist novelists and poets of the same time period, such as Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and William Faulkner, wo used cubist elements in their writing to push the boundaries of literary por

Internal Landscape

           Coming off groundbreaking advances in the social sciences, particularly the theories of Sigmund Freud, cubists were more concerned with the internal landscape of the individual than the external landscape of the objective world. Likewise, the psyche, the subconscious, the conscious intellect and creative abstraction itself all became more important in modernist literature than the more objective, one-dimensional portraiture of the Victorian period that preceded it. In “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” James Joyce plumbed the internal depths of his protagonist, Stephen Dedalus, discovering a vivid and varied inner life that would come to characterize his later, more experimental novels: “His soul was swooning into some new world, fantastic, dim, uncertain as under sea, traversed by cloudy shapes and beings."

Stream of Consciousness

           The cubists’ exploration of the mind through visual arts led many writers to do the same through words and sentence structure. Whereas previous modes of writing had relied on logic and clarity to convey information, modernist writers tried to portray thought as it happened, randomly and illogically. This method became known as “stream of consciousness.” One of the great pioneers of this method was Virginia Woolf. In her groundbreaking novel “Mrs. Dalloway,” she captured the streaming thoughts of multiple characters. For example, early in the novel, Woolf traces the random and erratic thoughts of Septimus, a war-scarred visionary on the verge of complete madness: “Men must not cut down trees. There is a God. (He noted such revelations on the backs of envelopes.) Change the world. No one kills from hatred. Make it known (He wrote it down).”

Multiple Perspectives

          Anyone familiar with Picasso knows his paintings contained various planes and angles of perception. Modernist writers used this technique to great effect to show how narrative realities change through the subjective perspectives of different characters. A master of this technique was William Faulkner. In his novel “As I Lay Dying,” the death and burial of rural matriarch Addie Bundren is portrayed through the interlinking perspectives of more than a dozen characters. Each character has his own voice, tone and vocabulary, and relays the events of the narrative in a distinct way. Like Picasso, Faulkner created a stark collage of images revealing the subjectivity, and relativity, at the heart of human experience.

Fragmentation of the Individual

          Added together, cubist techniques presented something rather frightening: the individual as an assemblage of broken images. With the same techniques, modernist writers explored the implications of movements like cubism. If subjectivity trumped all, then how could the individual retain a rational purpose in society? How could the individual avoid alienation, loneliness and despair, or worse, the fragmentation of insanity? In “As I Lay Dying,” Faulkner famously used a child character to show how identity is irrationally predicated on discrete, subjective percepts. Because his mother dies after he kills a fish, young Vardaman projects the identity of the former onto the latter. One chapter is composed of a single sentence: “My mother is a fish.”

Literature scholars differ over the years that encompass the Modernist period, however most generally agree that modernist authors published as early as the 1880s and into the mid-1940s. During this period, society at every level underwent profound changes. War and industrialization seemed to devalue the individual. Global communication made the world a smaller place. The pace of change was dizzying. Writers responded to this new world in a variety of ways.

Individualism

            In Modernist literature, the individual is more interesting than society. Specifically, modernist writers were fascinated with how the individual adapted to the changing world. In some cases, the individual triumphed over obstacles. For the most part, Modernist literature featured characters who just kept their heads above water. Writers presented the world or society as a challenge to the integrity of their characters. Ernest Hemingway is especially remembered for vivid characters who accepted their circumstances at face value and persevered.

Experimentation

           Modernist writers broke free of old forms and techniques. Poets abandoned traditional rhyme schemes and wrote in free verse. Novelists defied all expectations. Writers mixed images from the past with modern languages and themes, creating a collage of styles. The inner workings of consciousness were a common subject for modernists. This preoccupation led to a form of narration called stream of consciousness, where the point of view of the novel meanders in a pattern resembling human thought. Authors James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, along with poets T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, are well known for their experimental Modernist works.

Absurdity

            The carnage of two World Wars profoundly affected writers of the period. Several great English poets died or were wounded in WWI. At the same time, global capitalism was reorganizing society at every level. For many writers, the world was becoming a more absurd place every day. The mysteriousness of life was being lost in the rush of daily life. The senseless violence of WWII was yet more evidence that humanity had lost its way. Modernist authors depicted this absurdity in their works. Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," in which a traveling salesman is transformed into an insect-like creature, is an example of modern absurdism.

Symbolism

           The Modernist writers infused objects, people, places and events with significant meanings. They imagined a reality with multiple layers, many of them hidden or in a sort of code. The idea of a poem as a riddle to be cracked had its beginnings in the Modernist period. Symbolism was not a new concept in literature, but the Modernists' particular use of symbols was an innovation. They left much more to the reader's imagination than earlier writers, leading to open-ended narratives with multiple interpretations. For example, James Joyce's "Ulysses" incorporates distinctive, open-ended symbols in each chapter.

Formalism

           Writers of the Modernist period saw literature more as a craft than a flowering of creativity. They believed that poems and novels were constructed from smaller parts instead of the organic, internal process that earlier generations had described. The idea of literature as craft fed the Modernists' desire for creativity and originality. Modernist poetry often includes foreign languages, dense vocabulary and invented words. The poet e.e. cummings abandoned all structure and spread his words all across the page.

Question 2:- write about the  impact of industrialism  

 

Impact of industrialism 

             The scale of industrial enterprises in the United States increased during the early years of the twentieth century, making the American workplace very different from that of the preceding century. During the period of the Industrial Revolution known as the Gilded Age (the era of industrialization from the early 1860s to the turn of the century in which a few wealthy individuals gained tremendous power and influence; see Chapter 5), manufacturers in the largest industries, such as steel and oil refining, were pushed aside by enormous new factory complexes sometimes employing fifteen thousand to twenty thousand workers. These new plants produced automobiles, farm machinery, electrical equipment, textiles, and many other goods.

             During the twentieth century the nature of manufacturing gradually changed. American consumers had more money to spend and wanted to be able to choose from a variety of products. To remain competitive, corporations had to respond to consumers' desires. Gradually, in the last decades of the century, the heavy industries such as steel and auto manufacturing went into a slow decline, and the U.S. economy passed into a postindustrial era—a time marked by the lessened importance of manufacturing and increased importance of service industries such as food and custodial services, health, finance, recreation, engineering, and computers.

The Great Gatsby

           Hello everyone, this blog is response to Dilip Barad Sir's thinking activity.In this blog i will discuss about the character study of Jay Gatsby.

About Novel

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.

Question:- Character study of Jay Gatsby 

         "The man, the myth, the legend,

         Jay Gatsby is the titular hero

               of   The Great Gatsby."

           Nick first comes to know him as an incredibly wealthy, mysterious man who throws lavish parties, but we eventually learn his background: a boy from humble origins who is desperate to win back the love of a rich woman, Daisy, and loses everything in his last attempt to win her over life

Physical Description

 

          Gatsby's very first appearance is a bit surprising and anti-climatic—he is presented as just another party-goer of Nick's age before it's revealed that he's actually the famous Gatsby. That said, Nick's description of Gatsby's smile—"rare" and "full of eternal reassurances" that "understood you the way you wanted to be understood"—sets Gatsby apart as someone special and alluring.

          Gatsby has tan skin and short hair, but otherwise most of Gatsby's characterization comes through his dialogue and actions—Nick doesn't linger on his physical appearance the way he does with other characters (especially Tom and Myrtle).

            Perhaps Gatsby having more of a "blank slate" appearance allows the reader to more easily project his shifting characterization onto him (from mysterious party host to the military man madly in love with Daisy to the ambitious farmboy James Gatz), whereas characters like Tom Buchanan and Myrtle are more stiffly characterised.

Background

         Gatsby was born "James Gatz," the son of poor farmers, in North Dakota. However, he was deeply ambitious and determined to be successful. He changed his name to "Jay Gatsby" and learned the manners of the rich on the yacht of Dan Cody, a wealthy man who he saved from a destructive storm and ended up being employed by. However, although Cody intended to leave his fortune to Gatsby, it ended up being taken by Cody's ex-wife Ella Kaye, leaving Jay with the knowledge and manners of the upper class, but no money to back them up.

           Gatsby ended up enlisting in the military during World War I. He met Daisy in Louisville before he was shipped out to Europe. In his uniform, there was no way for anyone to know he wasn't wealthy, and Daisy assumed he was due to his manners. He kept up this lie to keep up their romance, and when he left she promised to wait for him.

         Gatsby fought in the War, gained a medal from Montenegro for valor, and was made an officer. After the war ended, he briefly attended Oxford University through a program for officers, but left after five months. By the time Gatsby returned to America, he learned that Daisy had married and became determined to win her back.

            Through Meyer Wolfsheim, Gatsby got into shady business (read: bootlegging, gambling) to get rich. It worked, and Gatsby accrued a huge sum of money in just 3 years. He moved to West Egg, bought an extravagant mansion and a Rolls Royce, and started throwing lavish parties and building up a reputation, all in the hopes of meeting Daisy again.

            Luckily an aspiring bond salesman named Nick Carraway moves in next door just as the novel begins. Nick is Daisy's second cousin, and through that connection he is able to reunite with Daisy during the novel.

Jay's character in this novel

           Although Nick briefly glimpses Gatsby reaching out to Daisy's green light at the end of Chapter 1, we don't properly meet Gatsby until Chapter 3. Gatsby has been throwing lavish parties, and he invites Nick Carraway to one. They meet, and Gatsby takes a liking to Nick, inviting him out on his hydroplane the next day. He also speaks to Jordan Baker in private, and reveals his past history with Daisy Buchanan.

             In Chapter 4, he spends more time with Nick, telling him about his service in WWI as well as a made-up story about his past as the only surviving member of a wealthy family. Later, he has Jordan explain Gatsby and Daisy's background in a bid to get Nick to help the pair reunite.

          Through Jordan and Nick, Gatsby is thus able to meet with Daisy again and begins an affair with her in Chapter 5

         Throughout all of this Gatsby continues to do business with Meyer Wolfsheim and run his own bootlegging "business," mainly based on the mysterious phone calls he's always taking. Rumors begin to swirl about where he got his money. Tom Buchanan, in particular, is instantly suspicious of Gatsby when they meet in Chapter 6 and even more so after he and Daisy attend one of Gatsby's parties. Daisy seems particularly unhappy and Gatsby frets.

            At the beginning of Chapter 7, he stops throwing the parties, fires his current staff, and hires Wolfshiem's people instead, telling Nick he needs discreet people—this makes the affair easier, but also hints at Gatsby's criminal doings. In the climactic Manhattan confrontation with Tom and Daisy later in Chapter 7, Gatsby tries to get Daisy to admit she never loved Tom, and to leave him, but she doesn't. Later in the same chapter, he and Daisy leave together to drive back to West Egg in Gatsby's distinctive yellow car. However, Daisy is driving and hits and kills Myrtle Wilson, who ran out into the road since she thought the car was Tom's. Gatsby resolves to take the blame for the incident and still believes that Daisy will leave Tom for him

           During Chapter 8, Gatsby confides in Nick about his past, the true story this time. At the end of Chapter 8, Gatsby is shot and killed by George Wilson, who believes Gatsby killed Myrtle and was the one sleeping with her. Meanwhile, Daisy and Tom have left town to avoid the repercussions of Myrtle's death.

In Chapter 9, Gatsby's funeral is sparsely attended, despite Nick's efforts to invite people. Gatsby's father does make an appearance, sharing some details about young Jay's early ambition and focus. Nick leaves New York shortly after, disenchanted with life on the east coast. Thus Gatsby's actual death has caused Nick's metaphorical death of leaving New York forever

Robert Frost

 Hello everyone, this blog is response to Megha Trivedi ma'am  thinking activity.In this blog i will discuss about  2 poem of Robert Frost.

Question:-Poem by Robert Frost

Poem:-1 "The Death of the Hired Man"

Introduction

           The Death of the Hired Man" is a poem by Robert Frost. Although it was first published in 1914 with other Frost poetry in the North of Boston collection, critic Harold Bloom notes that the poem was written in 1905 or 1906.

           A farm wife, Mary pleads with her husband, Warren, to take back a former farmhand who has always disappointed him. The farmhand, Silas, is very ill, and Mary is convinced that he has returned to the farm to die. Warren has not seen Silas in his ill state and, still angry over the contract that Silas broke when them in the past, does not want to have Silas on his property. Mary’s compassionate urging eventually convinces him, but when Warren goes to get Silas, he is already dead.

Analysis

           This poem contains many of the stereotypical characteristics of Frost’s poetry, particularly the rural environment, the everyday struggle of the farm couple over their relationship to the farmhand, and the colloquial dialogue. The blank verse form makes the text extremely clear, and Frost even breaks up the stanzas by employing dialogue.

            In the poem, Frost outlines the traditions of duty and hard work that he explores in many of his other poems. Silas returns to the farm so that he can fulfill his broken contract to Warren and die honorably, having fulfilled his duty to the family and to the community. Silas’ return to the farm also signals the importance of the work that he performed on the farm as a way to give his life meaning and satisfaction. Silas does not have any children or close family to provide a sense of fulfillment in his last hours; only the sense of duty and the satisfaction of hard work can provide him with comfort.

            Ironically, even after Silas’ attempt to die in the companionship of Mary and Warren, the people whom he views as family more than any others, he ultimately dies alone. Moreover, he dies without ever fulfilling his contract to ditch the meadow and clear the upper pasture. For all his attempts to fulfill his duty, achieve satisfaction through hard work, and find a sense of family, Silas’ efforts are unsuccessful. Even the way in which his death is introduced expresses its bleak isolation: Warren merely declares, “Dead.”

             The poem also creates a clear dichotomy between Mary and Warren, between Mary’s compassionate willingness to help Silas and Warren’s feelings of resentment over the broken contract. Mary follows the model of Christian forgiveness that expects her to help Silas because he needs it, not because he deserves it. Warren, on the other hand, does not believe that they owe anything to Silas and feels that they are not bound to help him.

            It is interesting to note that, of the two, only Mary actually sees Silas over the course of the poem. She finds him huddled against the barn and instantly recognizes the extent of his illness. As a result, she is automatically more willing to be compassionate toward him. Having not seen Silas in his current state, Warren takes the more rational view of the situation. Had Warren found Silas first, his treatment of the former farmhand would no doubt have been more compassionate.

Literary Devices in “The Death of the Hired Man”

          literary devices are tools that represent the writers’ ideas, feelings, and emotions. The writers use these devices to make their words appealing to the readers. Robert Frost has also used plenty of literary devices in this poem. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem has been given below.

Assonance:

 Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line. For example, the sound of /e/ in “And set them on the porch, then drew him down” and the sound of /oo/ in “And nothing to look backward to with pride”.

Alliteration: 

Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession. There are plenty of alliterations in this narrative poem. For example, the sound of /w/ in “Waiting for Warren. When she heard his step”, the sound of /th/ in “When he begins like that, there’s someone at him” and the sound of /l/ “He studied Latin like the violin”.

Enjambment:

 It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

“Silas has better claim on us you think

Than on his brother? Thirteen little miles

As the road winds would bring him to his door.”

Imagery:

 Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “She took the market things from Warren’s arms”, “Slipped to her side, caught up her hand and waited” and “I’ll sit and see if that small sailing cloud.”

Rhetorical Question:

 Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. For example, “‘Yes, what else but home?”, “‘Of course he did. What would you have him say?” and “That sounds like something you have heard before?”

Symbolism: 

Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. Death of the poor man symbolizes the dark aspect of human nature or lack of forgiveness by themselves or the other person.

Figurative language

 

simile -

 In "Death of a Hired man" the simile "well, those days trouble Silas like a dream". By Frost saying this he is comparing Silas past to a dream that he can not change. This simile represent his "family" or Warren and Mary that he can not make up too.

Iambic pentameter -

 In this poem Frost uses iambic pentameter to make the poem seem more like a conversation between Mary and Warren.

Themes

             Robert Frost is a great author who wrote many poems that hold much meaning. Poems such as a “The Road Not Taken” and “Fire and Ice” are just two examples of his literary works. In his poem, The Death of the Hired Man, he displays many themes. Themes such as holding a grudge or home is where you belong. One of the strongest themes that he beholds in his story is life is short, and should be lived to its fullest potential. Robert Frost displays this theme through the characters, and symbolism throughout the story. Characters play a major role in developing the theme of The Death of the Hired Man. Warren holds a grudge throughout the story, finding it difficult to accept Silas, an old friend back into his life. He argues with his wife that Silas …show more content… 

         When the moon came into the night, Mary confessed that Silas came home to die. The moon coming over the sky symbolizes that death was coming over Silas and his time was out. Later when Warren went inside and Mary was waiting to see if a cloud would hit the moon. It showed that all of those chances that Silas had to achieve his goals in life are over. The cloud achieve its goal of hitting the moon and dimming the moon’s light showing that death was upon Silas. After that three clouds were blocking the moon showing that people can use help to achieve goals. In the end, they all had made mistakes which ended the short …show more content… 

            Silas’ life was lived in the wrong way. He was earned money to buy tobacco, ditched his friend when he was in times of need, and was disowned by his family members. His life was hard and when he tried to fix it, everything was too late. He tried to make things right with his old friend Warren and when Warren tried to go and talk to him, he was dead. This symbolizes that Silas should have tried sooner rather than later because he was already on his death bed when he had any chance to make things right. If he would have realized that his life was shorter than expected he might have tried to help out more and lived life to the fullest. The tragedy also shows that Warren shouldn’t have argued so long with his wife Mary. If Warren would have gone to talk to Silas right as he had gotten home, he would have seen the state he was in and could have discussed his past with him. Even if Silas couldn’t have talked he could have spoken a few last words to him before he died.

 Poem 2:-Mending Wall

Introduction

              'Mending Wall' was written by the great American poet Robert Frost. It is a stimulating and interesting poem about human boundaries or limitations and their benefits in the society. It was first published in the year 1914. The poem revolves around the story of two neighbours who come across each other in spring every year to mend the stone wall that separates their farms. The poem demonstrates how good fences create good neighbours, and how people can preserve their long-lasting relations with neighbours by founding such walls. It has gained massive popularity due to its publication across the globe because of its simple yet thoughtful subject.

Analysis

'Mending Wall' as a Representative of Tradition:

        Mending wall poem focuses on the activity of mending a wall that the speaker and his neighbour make every year during springs. The speaker of the poem senses that there is no need for any boundary, as neither of them has anything treasurable to keep in lawns. They have just trees in their farm. According to the poet, mending the wall is an unreasonable activity. He then also sees the falling of stones from the wall and says that even nature is not in favour of this fence between the farms. But, since his neighbour is attached to his traditions, he tries to justify building it. He emphasizes on boundaries and distances that are important for relationships to work. However, the thing that captivates the reader is the message he delivers- which is that most relationships can work well with boundaries.

Major Themes in 'Mending Wall':

          The major themes of the poem are exploration, curiosity and the need for the gap that the poet found in the poem. The poem also presents a clash between the two neighbours. However, they meet every year in the spring to mend the wall, but the speaker is not able to understand the necessity of the wall between their farms. Out of curiosity, the poet questions the neighbour about establishing the wall. Still, he does not get any acceptable answer. Whenever his neighbour stresses on the need for separation, he is implying that good fences keep the relations affectionate and warm.

Analysis of Literary Devices in 'Mending Wall

Literary devices are used in the poem to convey the richness and clarity of the texts of the poem. The writers and poets of the masterpiece use these literary devices to make their poem or prose texts pleasing and expressive. Robert Frost has also used some literary devices to converse the prominence of the fence. The analysis of literary devices of the poem has been given below.

Assonance: 

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as /e/ sound in 'To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, No one has seen'.

Enjambment: 

Enjambment refers to the continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet or stanza such as,

Imagery:

 Imagery is used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses. Frost has used visual imagery in this poem such as, 'And some are loaves and some so nearly balls', 'He is all pine and I am apple orchard' and 'Not of woods only and the shade of trees.'

Consonance:

 Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as /n/ and /t/ sounds 'And set the wall between us once again'.

Symbolism: 

Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings different from their literal meanings. Similarly, 'fence' symbolizes 'gap' that one should maintain to establish long-lasting relationships and to maintain privacy. 'Nature' symbolizes the reunion of the two as the speaker meets his neighbour every year in spring to fix the fence.

Metaphor:

 It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. There is only one metaphor used in the poem. It is used in seventeenth line where it is stated as, 'And some are loaves and some so nearly balls.' He compares the stone blocks to loaves and balls.

The Waste Land

         Hello everyone, this blog is response to Dilip Barad Sir's thinking activity.In this blog i will discuss about T.S.Eliot's The Waste Land.

Question:-'The Wast Land' as a allusion poem

Introductionon

 

       The Waste Land has been deemed an obscure poem by some critics, precisely because it contains several allusions-literary, religious, mythical. The poem within the space of four hundred odd lines has quotations, imitations and allusions to more than thirty writers from Virgil, Ovid, and Dante to Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, the Buddha and St. Augustine. Early critics reacted adversely to this medley, feeling that the poem appeared to be an excuse to incorporate Eliot's sense of the literary past. Indeed, the extremely erudite style was considered to be 'cold' and 'anti-life'. It was regarded as a vulgar and ostentatious display of learning. However, we have to examine whether the allusions have been brought together into a unified whole giving a coherent expression of the theme.

 Mythical allusion controls the poem:

            The Waste Land is organized round the mythical material drawn from Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance and Frazer's The Golden Bough. The story of the loss of virility of the Fisher King and the resultant drought in his land and the fertility rituals of olden times are woven with the story of the Grail. The aridity of the Fisher King's land would be removed only by a young knight undertaking the quest for the Grail. Eliot applies this myth to the contemporary situation which he calls a 'waste land' because of its spiritual barrenness.

Allusion in The Wasteland

        Mythical allusion controls the poem: The Waste Land is organized around the mythical material drawn from Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance and Frazer's The Golden Bough. The story of the loss of virility of the Fisher King and the resultant drought in his land and the fertility rituals of olden times are woven with the story of the Grail. The aridity of the Fisher King's land would be removed only by a young knight undertaking the quest for the Grail. Eliot applies this myth to the contemporary situation which he calls a 'waste land' because of its spiritual barrenness.

         Several allusions in the poem reinforce the symbolic purpose of the poem - Firstly to emphasize the desolation and sterility of the modern world and secondly to hint, although very slightly, at the possibility of rejuvenation. We have several allusions to various fertility rites and symbols, such as the Tarot cards, the Phoenician Sailor, the Hanged Man (the hanged God) the ceremony of foot washing (which preceded the recovery of the Fisher King.) In the mythical sources, these ceremonies and rites had desired effect of restoring life to the dead land; in the modern context the aridity is so deeply entrenched, for it is spiritual aridity born of loss of faith, that the mythical allusions emphasize the sense of contrast between then and now.

         Allusions were not intended to glorify the past, even though they serve to emphasize the contrast between the past and present. But even while Eliot seems to be setting the romantic glory of Elizabeth and Leicester against the sordid present of Sweeney and Mrs. Porter, the clerk and the typist, we are also made aware of the basic hollowness of the relationship of Elizabeth and Leicester: for theirs too was a fruitless love. If Eliot compares the crowd on London Bridge, to the lost souls in Dante's inferno and the crowd of Baudelaire's Paris, the past is not glorified by the allusion; the parallels merely serve to demonstrate the soullessness and state of damnation or 'living death,' the ghostlike unreality of the city crowd.

Allusions to earlier writers

            Allusions to The Tempest by Shakespeare form part of the atmospheric and thematic design in The Waste Land. The line from Ariel's song follows Madame Sosotris's discovery of one of the Tarot cards - that of the Phoenician Sailor. Ariel's song describes the sea's change. The image of the drowned man in the poem is basic to the section 'Death by Water'. References to The Tempest recur through the poem - in 'A Game of Chess', in The Fire Sermon' (where Ferdinand appears in person identified with the figure fishing on the banks of the dull canal. Only, he muses on the decay and death and relation of the two to sexuality). The recall of The Tempest serves to highlight the loss undergone by those existing in Eliot's waste land.

      References and quotations from writers such as Dante, Baudelaire and Webster are meant to reinforce Eliot's theme through the power of associations, Eliot calls his city of London 'unreal city', and echoes Baudelaire's description of Paris in which dream and reality seem to mix. Cut off from both natural and spiritual sources of life, Eliot's city is unreal. This spiritual 'death in life' and life in death reflect Dante's Limbo. In Dante's Limbo the people lived a neutral life devoid of praise or blame like Mrs. Equitone, When Eliot uses a direct quotation from Baudelaire - You, hypocrite reader, my fellow men, my brother - the intention in clear enough: he wants to complete the universalization of stelson, Stelson thus becomes everyman in the modern context. The reference to Webster's The White Devil reinforces the sense of horror in the vision of the soulless crowd flowing over London Bridge. The quotation from Dante towards the end of the poem about the 'fire which refines' clearly links up with the theme, with a slight suggestion of how the protagonist may set his lands in order.

            Wagner's Tristan and Isolde (an opera) offers two quotations in 'The Burial of the Dead'. It forms a lyrical framework for the hyacinth garden episode. The Thames - maidens of 'The Fire Sermon' are echoes of the Rhine maidens in another of Wagner's operas. These allusions, besides strengthening the theme of the poem, give it a lyrical tone.

Complex allusive method

           The multiple imitation effect. There are at times so many allusions woven by Eliot into a single description that there emerges an effect of multiple imitations. Belladonna is one example. In the description of Belladonna, one may tind echoes ranging from Plutarch to Walter Pater. She represents a composite woman, the siren and temptress delaying the knight in his quest as well as a victim of loneliness and betrayal in love. Besides the echoes of the mythical Philomela and the Biblical whore of Babylon (the latter suggested by the reference to the 'waters of Leman'), there are allusions to Shakespeare's Cleopatra and Ophelia (good-night sweet ladies), Virgil's Dido welcoming Aeneas, Pope's Belinda (The Rape of the Lock), and also echoes of Keats's Lamia.

           Biblical allusions also are woven into the poem. The theme of The Waste Land has been called religious, and specifically Christian. Thee Biblical allusions are, furthermore, most relevant to Eliot's analysis of the modern waste land with its degeneration and desolation which seems to be the vindication of the Biblical prophecies. It is easy to discern the voices of Ezekiel and the preacher of the Ecclesiastes in lines and words such as 'What are the roots that clutch'. 'I will show you fear in a handful of dust' and 'rattle of bones'. The wanderings in the desert ("What the Thunder Said") echo the exodus from the Sinai. Eliot's words and phrases have the sound of Jeremiah's words when he denounces and laments the degeneration of Judah. There is the suggestion that the absence of God signifies a time of burning - both for purgatorial purification and destructive judgment. There is also the promise of a deliverer in the Prophets. The deliverer may be the equivalent to the quester in the Grail legend used also in The Waste Land. The Hooded Figure and the Hanged Man obviously stand for Christ. There are also allusions to the Crucifixion and the journey to Emmaus. These allusions give a wider time dimensions to the poem.

Use of the Indian religion

         Eliot does not confine himself to Western influences, but also draws on Indian religion to reinforce his theme in The Waste Land. 'The Fire Sermon' is a direct reference to Buddha's preaching against the fires of lust, anger, envy, and other consuming passions. Closely linked with this allusion is a quotation from St. Augustine. The third section has various scenes showing the sterile burning of lust. The references to Buddha (and St. Augustine) speak of the need for restraint and asceticism to check the pressures of lust and desire. The use of St. Augustine's words in consonance with references to Buddha is part of Eliot's device to give a universal significance to the dilemma as well as the possible solution.

         In 'What the Thunder Said', we have another allusion to Indian religion, indeed to the very beginning of the Aryan civilization. The source is a hymn from the Upanishad in which Thunder the Lord of Creation tells His children to 'Give, Sympathise, Control. The protagonist accepts these words. (Datta; Dayadhvam, Damyata) as the active way to bring rejuvenation to the waste land. The additional word 'Shantih' adds to the allusions to Indian religion. But these allusions are linked with the Christian doctrine in the last section

Justification of the allusions

  

         The main reason for Eliot's allusive technique is to establish a parallel between the past and the present and also to give coherence to the immense panorama of futility and anarchy which is contemporary history. Eliot saw the technique as part of the complexity of modern art. F.R. Leavis feels that the allusions, references, and quotations usually carry their own power with them, as well as being justified in the appeal they make to special knowledge. By means of such quotations, Eliot attains a compression approaching simultaneity he co-presence in the mind of a number of different orientations, fundamental attitudes, orders of experience. In a way, Eliot was bringing the whole of literature to bear upon the situation described, thus giving it a historically and geographically extended dimension. It is part of his contention that a poet should write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with the sense of the literature of the whole world being in simultaneous existence. Ultimately the question whether Eliot's use of the allusive technique is successful or not depends on the individual reader. It is true that an ordinary reader would find the poem somewhat 'overburdened' even if the allusions are relevant. It does seem that the profusion of allusions hinders the achievement of a coherent effect, whatever F.R. Leavis may say.

Conclusion: 

The Waste Land is certainly overflowing with allusions. To the extent that Eliot wanted to enlarge the scope and dimensions of his poem, the incorporation of the allusions to Indian religion was necessary. Furthermore, it contributes to the spirituality which Eliot felt was the answer to the Western dilemma. However, it is arguable that Christianity too has sufficient spirituality to provide the answers as, indeed, Eliot showed in his Four Quartets. All said and done, the allusions in The Waste Land are too many to allow a smooth and coherent understanding

From whom the bell tolls

 Question 1:-From Whom the Bell Tolls critical analysis of the end of the novel.

          For Whom the Bell Tolls was inspired by Hemingway's experiences as a foreign correspondent, first in Paris and then in Spain itself, during the Spanish Civil War. Hemingway visited Spain in 1931, just after the monarchy of Alfonso XIII had been overthrown. After several years of political conflict and civil unrest, elections were held in Spain. The resulting parliament was evenly divided between leftists and rightists, creating a very volatile political situation. It was then that Alfonso XIII voluntarily exiled himself and on April 13, 1931, the Republic was proclaimed.

         Hemingway, observing these events, predicted that a civil war would erupt between the leftist and rightist political factions. He was correct, and when the Spanish Civil War began in 1936, Hemingway wrote articles and delivered speeches to raise money for the leftist, now called the Loyalist, cause. In 1937, Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the war for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Only a few months after his arrival, Hemingway announced to the literary world that he was working on a new novel- its subject was the Spanish Civil War.

            The fact that the protagonist of the novel, Robert Jordan, is an American is not unusual. The Spanish Civil War quickly became infiltrated by foreign intervention on both sides, and indeed has been likened to a "testing ground" for World War II, as the forces of Fascism and Communism pitted against one another. Many volunteers from democratic countries volunteered fought for the Loyalists against the Fascist army of Francisco Franco. The Russian General Golz who orders Robert Jordan to blow the bridge is also historically grounded. Russia sent "observers" and financial aid to help the leftist cause. The Fascist Monarchists had the support of Germany and Italy. As well as sending money and volunteers, these countries had the financial means to send weapons, vehicles, and supplies. To understand the context of For Whom the Bell Tolls, an important fact to remember is that it was a war between communism and fascism, an ideological and tactical practice for foreign volunteers. Also, it is important to remember that the communism of the Spanish Civil War strictly abolished religion, as this will be an important theme in For Whom the Bell Tolls.

           By the spring of 1937, the time in which For Whom the Bell Tolls takes place, the Monarchist army had won their way up the Iberian peninsula and were besieging Madrid. The action in For Whom the Bell Tolls takes place in the woods surrounding the city of Segovia, which is a three hour journey from the capital. Although the Loyalists still retained control of the area, the Monarchists were slowly closing in. Over the next two years, a blockade prevented the Loyalists from receiving supplies and resistance in Loyalist villages began to crumble. The war lasted until March 28, 1939, when the better-armed Monarchists finally conquered Madrid.

           A year after the war ended, in 1940, For Whom the Bell Tolls was published. The story of the American volunteer, Robert Jordan, is loosely based on Hemingway's own experience covering the war for the press. Hemingway intended that the novel reveal the realities behind "the good fight" of the Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. According to the majority of critical receptions to the work, it seems Hemingway succeeded. After reading the preliminary manuscript, literary expert Maxwell Perkins told his friend that "If the function of a writer is to reveal reality, no one ever so completely performed it."

        For Whom the Bell Tolls was hailed as Hemingway's finest work upon its publication, and is still considered by many critics to be his masterpiece. Specifically, the literary world hailed Hemingway's spare style and powerful symbolism. The love scenes between Jordan and Maria, the dramatic account of El Sordo's defeat, and the ironic commentary on the death of ideals created a novel of broad scope, with greater emotional power than his previous novels. Themes such as love and war had been narrated before, but never with such realistic and poignant prose as Hemingway crafted in For Whom the Bell Tolls. It is still celebrated not only as one of Hemingway's best, but also as one of the best war novels of all time.

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