Analysis of Two Genres of Literature - Research Paper Example

Analysis of Two Genres of Literature Introduction The dividing line between the abstract and the material is very faint in a person’s life, which crosses several stages. A man’s expectations and emotions are related with both worldly and material matters. Often material aspects gains priority over the abstract and hence an individual sets material achievement as his or her goals. Yet death shows the irrelevance of all such obsessions. Death brings us to the last stage of life, a point where the rest of the life seems to pass like a dream before a person. The theme of death is explored from different angles in the works from different genres. In the short story Lawrence’s “The Rocking Horse Winner”, the obsession towards money and wealth is reflected through the main character, who crosses his adolescence and finally this obsession brings on his death. The other two literary works belong to the genre of poem and they have also incorporated the theme of death with different approaches. In Dickinson’s poem, ‘Because I could not stop for death’, a detachment from the material world is highlighted using the means of death. Again, in the poem of Bradstreet, ‘To my Dear and Loving Husband’ the abstract reins the material needs, as the poet values love more than riches. Therefore the way in which the material and the abstract aspects interplay in one’s life, rather, one choice between the material and the abstract, determine his death or way of accepting the same. In the work of Lawrence, we find obsession towards the material aspects (essentially, money) echoed by the characters of the mother and later in Paul and his Uncle Oscar. Paul uses up his power while energetically riding his wooden horse in order to get the name of the winner horses. Such is the drive of the obsession for the materialistic aspects of life! Again he is doing this to satisfy his mother or to make her happy and to prove to her that he is lucky. Hence the line between the material and the abstract becomes blurred for him but his way of living gives greater priority towards the material in order to achieve the abstract. The vigorous to and fro movements of the horse with the boy on his back show his gradual coming of age. Uncle Oscar rather invites him to give him tips on horse races when he finds out his skill. Both use him for their benefits and to quench their obsession with money as well. Thus, in ‘The Rocking-Horse Winner’ Paul tries to establish to his mother that he is lucky and his rocking horse assists him attain his goal. The dolls, the puppy and the rocking horse, all seems to hear the whisper – “There must be more money!” which resonated around the house though never uttered out audibly (Lawrence, 1885, p.101). The author makes an attempt to amuse us when Paul makes a right conjecture about Daffodil and afterwards, about Lively Spark. The readers are reassured to see the assurance of some relief returning to the house. The author takes care not to completely shatter the readers’ faith in righteousness by suddenly bringing on Paul’s death but rather rationalizes his position by exemplifying how the desire of money never ends and no matter how much money one gets, it is never satisfactory. When Paul’s mother gets the thousand pound on her birthday she needs to have all five thousand simultaneously which is instantly exhausted on extravagance and again the house is in need of more money. Hence the problem lies not in the shortage of money or luck but in one’s approach to life and lack of happiness. Paul’s mother is obsessed with money and could never be satisfied and hence Paul has to keep on riding his horse. His death arrives as he gets the last name of the winner horse, ‘Malabar’ (Lawrence, 1885, p.109). The obsession for the materialistic pleasures shall never quench for his mother and hence for the family perhaps but the boy seems to be satisfied as he proves to his mother than he is lucky. The author does not make it clear who would fulfill his mother’s ambitions after the Paul’s death but seems the final verdict of life would definitely arrive with death. It arrives without telling us and without any heed to our needs and comfort. While death releases the boy of his mortal pains, the others would survive with their temptations and the desire for materialistic luxuries. Therefore the boy accepts his death peacefully as he reaches his abstract objective and his uncle justifies his death to his mother saying, “poor devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking-horse to find a winner!” (Lawrence, 1885, p.110) The priority towards the material and abstract finally decides one’s approach to life, which in turn decides the arrival of death as well as one’s perception about the same. Here Uncle Oscar is surprised that a boy spends all his energy to get the name of the winner although he too banks on Paul’s ability to earn big. Their surprise comes from the differences in their objectives/ priority of lives. They bank on the material pleasures but for Paul proving his worth to his mother is more important. This basic difference gets reflected in their response to death. The boy thus trades his life for his mother’s happiness and to attain the material objectives in order to meet his abstract goal. The theme of death and the choice between the material and the abstract is evident in a works of a different genre and in different contexts. The poem entitled “Because I could not stop for death,” written by Emily Dickinson represents the speaker’s reaching the final stage of life or the end of the same. Emily wonderfully depicts death as a suitor or caller who is being polite with her during his gentle drive. Her sarcastic suggestion lies in the very opening lines: “Because I could not stop for Death, / He kindly stopped for me” (Dickinson, 1886, p.810). This also signifies that death is unavoidable and is free from the victim’s choice. Even if a person does not have time to stop for death, death will stop for him. The inevitability of death has been projected with a veil of softness and beauty to envelop its hideous face. No matter what we are busy with or how we are passing our lives, death will arrive to give us company just when the time is right for him. As the poet is driven through the journey of death in the carriage, she finds the drive slow, as death has no hurry indeed. Here the author disguises the reality with a show of respect towards Death. This actually shows the irrelevance of what we do and achieve once we are dead or once we know that death is not far away. The same feeling is implied when the rocking horse inner dies despite achieving the eighty thousand pounds. Therefore the Dickinson has no reason to worry about her labor and leisure. Here a sense of detachment is reflected as death detaches one from his or her material living. The value of labor and leisure lasts till one enjoys material life. After death, one becomes a silent observer like the poet and the soul attains immortality. The poet mentions about her youth, which is symbolized by the line “We passed the fields of gazing grain”. During the journey the poet passes though the childhood days once spent, (symbolized by “…Children strove/At Recess-in the Ring”) and here the mood is a little lively as one talks of life itself in a growing stage. The voyage however continues towards the old age and the point of death, which the poet describes through the line - “We passed the setting sun” (Dickinson, 1886, p.810). During all these stages of life, death has been a continuous escort to her. Whether we are aware or not, death is present right from the beginning in our lives. The poet here talks of the apprehensive expectation towards death. Use of imagery is common for Emily Dickinson and here she uses the imagery of green fields and the setting sun to denote the contrast between the two stages of life – youth and death. The poet chooses to stay detached and therefore accepts death peacefully. She honors death and cherishes the memories of the stages already passed. Paul, in the short story of Lawrence also attains death in peace as he has achieved his objective for the abstract while the goal for the material is never fulfilled when a person is continuously discontent with wealth possessed by him or her. The worry for money is not inherent in Paul but he acquires his thirst for wealth because he has always experience of the need for more wealth around him. Finally, the halt of her carriage at the grave is described as “We paused before house that seemed/ A swelling of the ground,/The roof was scarcely visible, / The cornice but a mound” (Dickinson, 1886, p.810). The final stanza finds the speaker realizing that she has already moved into death. She talks of herself dressed in a light ‘Gown’ and a cape or ‘Tippet’ made of ‘Tulle’. Tulle is a thin and clear material that indicates the blanket of death. “The Dews drew quivering and chill, indicates the coldness that is felt only in death. All the material luxuries therefore turn to dust with one’s death. The journey described here was one towards eternity – “I first surmised the Horses' Heads/Were toward Eternity” (Dickinson, 1886, p.810). The slow drive of death signifies that he does not want his victim to be aware of his arrival. Death also arrives unexpectedly for Paul in the short story at a time when he just found the name of the winner horse and thus achieves eighty thousand pounds. Yet, it is ironic that he will not be alive to enjoy the riches and perhaps the money was never important to him more than proving himself lucky to his mother. The change of mood in the poem is significant right from the beginning till the end. The time passes childhood, youth, old age and death, which eventually calms the speaker’s mind as she realizes her fate, which is pre decided and inevitable right from her birth. Dickinson shows us the ideal way of accepting death and the most important approach is that of detachment from the earthly objects. Anne Bradstreet in her poem “To my Dear and Loving Husband” talks about the eternal love she feels for her husband. She belongs to a period when the Puritan culture dominated and therefore she never published her works though she had a large collection. The Puritan women were supposed to be submissive to their husband and love them till death. She expresses the marital bliss that she experiences and claims, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold/ Or all the riches that the East doth hold” (Bradstreet, n.d., p.1077). She uses the riches as an imagery to express the association between emotions and materialistic pleasures. She again incorporates a spiritual element at the end of the poem making their love immortal, “Then while we live, in love let's so persevere/That when we live no more, we may live ever” (Bradstreet, n.d., p.1077). The poet here gives more stress on the abstract aspect of life and chooses love over any wealth. The poem is marked by a metric disruption throughout the twelve lines, but its impact is strong and meaning transparent. A sense of pride is also visible in the lines when she addresses the other women and says, “If ever wife was happy in a man,/ Compare with me, ye women, if you can” (Bradstreet, n.d., p.1077). Her pride in the achievement of marital bliss and her husband’s eternal love makes her fearless of mortal death as what gives more importance to the immortality of their love rather than the mortal end of life. Hence the abstract achievements of life are immortal and not exhaustive in nature while the material achievements do not last forever. In the short story Paul leaves back eighty thousand pounds for his mother but carries with him the sense of satisfaction in proving himself to his mother, which he wants to do from the very beginning when mother tells him that neither his father nor his mother are lucky. The poor boy fails to understand that luck is not the key to real happiness; rather, it is contentment, which can give the solace. This poem and the previous one are therefore the perfect complement to the story of the adolescent Paul in ‘The rocking Horse Winner’. Conclusion From the above discussion we may conclude that the theme of death has been explored differently along with the choice between the material and the abstract in the works of different genres but again they are fine complements to one another and finally render the same lesson. The abstract is always immortal especially when it is not deeply associated with the material. Although luck is abstract, it exists as long as one sees its consequence, money or wealth or anything material, as reflected in the short story. So, to prove his luck, Paul has to find a way for achieving the material pleasures. With his unexpected death, everything ends though he is able to prove his worth to his mother and also leaves back for her the eighty thousand pounds. The other two poems also show the way death automatically detaches one from the material aspects of earth and graceful acceptance of death always entails the irrelevance of the material and the immortality of the abstract. Hence we may find that the interplay between material and the abstract or the choice made between the two in one’s life determines the way he or she accepts death and also the time of its arrival. References Bradstreet, A. (n.d.), “To my dear and loving husband”, In, DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, reading fiction, poetry, and drama, Ashford Custom 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 1077. Dickinson, E. (1886), “Because I could not stop for Death”, In, DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, reading fiction, poetry, and drama, Ashford Custom 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 810. Lawrence, D. H. (1885), “The Rocking Horse Winner”, In, DiYanni, R. (2007). Literature, reading fiction, poetry, and drama, Ashford Custom 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp.100-110 Read More