William Golding chose to express his anti-utopian views about humanity in Lord of the Flies. After the two World wars the world was shattered by its horrors. The elements of compassion, humanity, civilization seemed to be fast eroding from the face of earth. People during this period often blamed the political system of some nations who were responsible for the war. They failed to realize that it not any particular system that is responsible for the downfall of social order, instead the individual in power are the ones to be blamed.
Most boredom comes from a lack of stimulus and passion. Boredom is an indicator that there is a lack of desire. Essentially, when we desire something it motivates us to keep pushing through the fire towards our hopes, and goals. When boredom consumes you, you lose that essential desire that drives us. Genuinely, boredom is like running on a treadmill, you can keep going and going but you will never get anywhere.
After World War II the world saw a massive migration in many countries because of colonial impact, practicing of imperialist and discrimination (Bammer 1994). Rushdie in Imaginary Homelands discusses migration often results in confused human beings who don’t know who they are actually and how can they find themselves (124). After immigration they have a feeling of nowhere and they feel they are not standing in the right place. There is no sense of belonging rather immigrants feel alienated (Bammer). These people often representing new identities (Mills 261).
His dramatic creations are haunted by an absence of meaning at the centre. In spite of this meaninglessness, Beckett’s characters desperately strive to find a meaning for themselves. They are born into an irrational world. They life is wasted waiting for an explanation that never comes, and even the existence of such an explanation might be merely a product of their imagination , founded in their despair. Beckett’s drama is based on his perception of human condition, that is, being born and mostly living in pain, suffering ordeals, a short rough and unpleasant existence.
Throughout the play, moments of distraction and lack of focus demonstrate the meaninglessness of the characters’ lives and suggest that there may be no meaning to life at all. These moments are established through the characters’ unstable memories, the flatness of the plot, and the repetitive cyclicality of the play. Throughout the play, moments of distraction or lack of focus are often related to Estragon and Vladimir’s diminished memory. There is a constant sense of confusion surrounding whether or not the characters can even remember what they did the day prior. This lack of memory makes it difficult for Estrogon and Vladimir to ever really make sense of their lives.
It is his struggle to find who he has become as a result of the change. It is a quest to create a meaning out of meaninglessness. In the chapters leading to the conclusion, we shall see to where the question leads him, and whether he finds an answer to this
Dick’s personality flaws, newfound recklessness, and complicated marriage contribute to his destruction in the novel. Dick’s personality flaws is one of the many components that lead to his destruction. His characteristics and persona create more dilemmas for him. For example, Dick closes himself off to others, and by doing this, he can’t express his emotions properly when needed. “...Dick squanders his emotional capital and becomes unable to respond to the things that are worthy of deep emotion” (Tate 218).
The opening stories, those dealing with childhood, are written in first person narrative, through the eyes of a boy and present the beginning of paralysis describing the frustration of the boy’s increasing desire to escape from the tedious Dublin life. In each story, the child is frustrated by his environment which progressively corrupts and imposes its values on him. In the stories of adolescence (with “adolescence” Joyce did not refer to the physical stage, but to a stage of spiritual immaturity) the characters are defeated by the obstructing fears and prejudices the city has planted in them; they are unable to react and follow their hopes (paralysis of the will) The following stories, advancing in time and expanding in scope, concern the middle years of the characters and their social, political or religious affairs. THEMES
An anti-hero is the central character of a story or drama that lacks conventional heroic attributes like courage and honesty(Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, pg.1). This anti-hero often is characterized as selfish due to his desire to preserve his safety and the lives of others around him. The absence of these heroic attributes reflects a man’s indecision to customary social ideals. Robert Brustein states the following: “ Yossarian is animated solely be a desperate determination to stay alive”(p.489,2011). Yossarian fits into the definition of an anti-hero since in the whole novel he constantly finds a loophole to get himself out of a dangerous situation in which likely he could be killed.
Joshi probes deep into the psyche of the protagonist and picturises their mental toil and anxiety. Trapped between the Indian upbringing and Western influences, his protagonist suffers from evils of materialism which leads to up-rootedness, cynicism, loss of faith, and an identity crisis. Joshi’s protagonists are modern men of this world who are lost in a society of mixed ideals. His heroes, who rather turn anti-heroes due to this confused idealism, are running a fruitless expedition. They are struggling to sustain their faith in a world which stands in opposition to them.