Symbolism in The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King Essay

Symbolism in The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King - Essay Example Mostly fairytales apart from the original story have to tell the other stories as well. The writers of the fairytales use some symbols to take the simple narrative to a higher level where it unravels some cosmic realities. Symbol is something which stands for something else. Generally concrete objects are used as symbols to conceptualize the abstractions. Symbols are born out of the connotative meanings of the words and are used by the skilled writers to highlight the abstract concepts. The novel The Eyes of Dragon, though apparently a fairytale, employs certain symbols and involves archetypal characters like Flagg (the incarnate evil: the offspring of the infernal serpent). The very age of Flagg suggests that he is more than a human character. The timelessness he enjoys makes him a symbolic character. Peter represents the archetypal innocent hero always beguiled by a near one (Thomas). Archetypes are actually the symbols that recur in literary depiction and are the offspring of huma n unconscious. Northrop Frye () and Jung contend that human unconscious has a stock of images or symbols that are shared by all and have some sort of cosmic significance. The symbol of Eyes of the dragon is a stock symbol used traditionally to distinguish between good and evil. Koch (2003) declares that The Symbol of Dragon’s Eye belongs to ancient Germanic tradition. ... It also stands for balance of power, love and wisdom. In King’s novel it relates to the mystery and also acts as the crystal ball through which u can see the see the truth. Thomas sees Flagg poisoning his father through Eyes of dragon. Thomas heeded Flagg's advice not to go often, but he did use the passageway from time to time, and peeked at his father through the glass eyes of Niner-peeked into a world where everything became greeny-gold. Going away later with a pounding headache (as he almost always did), he would think:Your head aches because you were seeing the way dragons must see the world-as if everything was dried out and ready to burn ( King , p. 78). The animals in the Novel (their symbolic significance) The animals in the novel have symbolic significance. The animal kingdom is represented in many instances from dogs to dragons and all of them have symbolic significance. Animals can be divided in to two groups: one belonging to evil and other belonging to good. Anim als related to Flagg are the harbingers of evil and destruction while animal of the good group represent faithfulness. Frisky represents the archetypal guide soothsayer who brings the protagonists to their required destination. According to Michael Peebles (n.d.) animals related to Flagg are the symbols of his evil designs for the kingdom. He means corruption to the Kingdom and the animals are the instruments that bring this corruption. The dragon is on such example and another example is the hawk.† Frisky The dog is the cosmic symbol of faithfulness and in Christianity takes the role of guide. Frisky, with his noble nose helps in locating the exact place where Dennis, son of Brandon has gone to from Peyna’s farmhouse. The Dragon

Hitler's Rise to Power and Fascism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hitler's Rise to Power and Fascism - Essay Example Rather, he wanted to become the dictator of a Nazi Germany. This paper seeks to examine and analyze the events that took place between 1929 and 1934 that contributed to the rise of power of Hitler and evaluate how these events define fascism. The paper also tries to examine fascism and its nature from a Marxist viewpoint1. The late 1920s and early 1930s market the most unstable period in Germany socially, politically, and economically. Most of the government administrations were is a state of disarray, the populace scared and disillusioned, and the Great Depression of 1929 market the crumble of the economy before the eyes of the population. The events combined to create a precarious stature in the nation, a country looking for a saviour. However, the saviour came in form of fascism, an ideology whereby the all-power state dominates the individuals under the rule of one supreme leader. The hand â€Å"designated† to lead the Germany people out of the deceptions and problems was Adolf Hitler, the fascist dominator2. The challenges and difficulties of this period gave the Nazi party and Hitler an opportunity to employ their schemes and propaganda to gain favour with the disenchanted nation and win their trust, but importantly, manipulate their minds. By mid-1920s, Hitler was an established leader of the Nazi Party. Hitler’s success in his pilgrimage to higher power as a politician was due to his dominating and powerful personality. Hitler was not only a master orator and a charismatic speaker, but also his public speeches were so dynamic and passionate that he drove the crowds wild with enthusiasm. His devoted oratory prowess enabled him to make vague promises while avoiding details, by using simple catchy phrases and repeating them repeatedly3. Hitler’s authoritarian and dominance nature was the exact change that people of Germany were looking for after subjection to unsuccessful and indecisive muddling of Weimar government and other predecess ors. Another most significant factor that led t the rise of power of Hitler was the Treaty of Versailles, in five basic ways. First, the people of Germany believed that they had been betrayed because the Armistice was signed before the arrival of allied troops into German soil. Second, the treaty angered the people of Germany and caused economic and political disabilities. Third, the Weimar republic was moderate and weak, thus allowed things to get out of hand. Fourth, the German economy was over-dependent on American loans, which led to significant devastation after the Great Depression of 1929. Last, the Stock Market Crash and the subsequent increment of tariffs created tense international relations4. All these created the right condition for Hitler to seize power. After the Great Depression, the economy of Germany was in ruins, and the inflation rate was staggering. For majority of its citizens, the hyperinflation resulted to more suffering than the war5. This led to festering re sentment and anger among the people, not laying the blame on Kaiser’s war government that had initiated the borrowing trend. Instead, the blame was on Weimar government, which had signed the Versailles treaty to pay reparations. This meant that Germans were more willing to listen to extremists who advocated for the overthrow of the government. Among the most successful extremists was the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. The famous Wall Street Crash and the resultant Great Depression of 1929 plunged the world into an economic slide. Most people fell