đề cương tóm tắt môn Văn hóa anh mĩ dành cho chuyên ngành ngôn ngữ anh

môn học văn hóa anh mĩ chuyên ngành ngôn ngữ anh, tổng hợp những bài, tác phẩm văn học hay, nâng cao khả năng tóm tắt tác phẩm nhanh chóng, hiệu quả. giúp sinh viên hiểu rõ tác phẩm 1 cách nhanh chóng

The adventure of tom sawer

"It is not a boy's book, at all It will only be read by adults It is only written for adults."

Mark Twain Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Clemens-America's most famous literary icon-was born in the small town of Florida on Nov 30, 1835 He is a mastermind of humor and realism, is seen as a giant in world literature His humor had great impact on the following men

of letters, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", which is seen as one of his famous works, was written in 1876 The young protagonist of the novel, Tom Sawyer, is drawn from real life, but is

a combination of the characteristics of three boys Through Mark Twain's vivid portrayal, he introduced the immortal character of Tom to the "Hall of Fame" of American literature

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Centers on the youthful adventures of the young protagonist, Thomas Sawyer, who is bored with the monotonous school life and is always getting into

mischief He has a strong craving for adventure and also has a gift for active

At the beginning of the novel, Tom successfully escapes Aunt Polly's beating by diverting her attention A vivid Tom Sawyer is so well represented before readers that we are inmediately attracted by the lovely boy Tom's first impression leaves me winking he is clever, irresponsible and fond of mischief In a word, he is a typical mischievous boy

In chapter 2, Tom reveals his basic knowledge of human psychology; that is, that a person most desires what cannot be easily attained Tom is also a fine actor, and he cleverly uses this ability

in handling his friends Thus, Tom is able to use this basic understanding of human nature to get others to do his work for him and to pay for the privilege of doing it Instead of being able to join the others at the town center, he brings the center of the town to him, has others do his work for him, and he ends up with all sorts of treasures In this way, Twain reveals Tom as a natural leader Throughout the novel, we will see that Tom in the leader, it will always be "Tom

Sawyer's gang," it is always Tom's ideas of what game to play, and Tom is ways the winner in games as well as in fights with his peers He is also usually the winner in his conflicts the adult world

In my opinion, Tom is an extremely clever boy The great law of human action which he has found is astounding for his young age When he is playing, he is not only playing, but also makes the best use of his true intellect to analyze the Moreover, he also takes stock of the situations roupa kothen make division He can draw somethingschul from what he is doing, which is very uneasy even for the children now In a werd, Blessed with full intellect, Tom is good at thinking and processes an inte inglght

This character is obviously shown in chapter 4

In this chapter Tom appeared to be a very brigh boy He has a great deal of difficulty learning his Sunday school lesson because he is bored and "takes no stock" is sermons, not even the famous Sermon on the Mount." The humor here is that Tom cannot learn the simple verses of the

Beatitudes, yet, through his finagling of the red, yellow, and blue tickets, others believe that Tom has memorized over 2,000 verses in the Bible

True to form, Tom makes nuisce of himself in Sunday school, pinching, pulling hair, sticking pins into other boys, and committing other annoying acts Unlike Sid, who is food of Sunday school, Tom "hate[s] it with his whole heart and Twain's Resentation of a day in Sunday school with the long tedious and boring speeches proof enough why anyone-except Sid, that is-would dislike it

Twain best in satirizing religion and church In the scene with the church service wain uses gentle satire to mock and make fun of a typical church service Consider, for example, the minister who "turn[s] himself into a bulletin-board" by reading long and tedious lists of various meetings, the "little German boy" who recites Biblical verses nonstop and then suffers a nervous breakdown, or the people, such as Mr Walters and Judge Thatcher, who show up just to be seen

or to make an impression Tom, of course, does the same thing when he barters for the ribbons, which are symbols of accomplishments, not the accomplishments themselves: All the ribbons in the world do not make him know any scriptures

Also in this chapter, Twain begins to develop an obvious thematic dilemma: Tom's maturation into an adult member of the community, but Twain's disapproval of many of the behaviors found

in these adults

In conclusion, within only a few chapters, we are able to see that Tom's character is much more than what it seems Hidden behind the face of a child could thrive the mind of a genius Complex and convolute, his nature seems to have much more to be leamed by readers At the beginning, Mark Twain said 'It is only written for adults But I think it is suitable for people from all levels

of ages, because in everyone's heart there exists a unique Tom Sawyer, from whom everyone can find part of himself

THE LAW OF CLUB AND FANG The Call of the Wild,

which was written by Jack London, is a story of transformation in which the old Buck-the civilized, moral Buck-must adjust to the harsher realities of life in the frosty North, where survival is the only imperative Kill or be killed is the only morality among the dogs of the Klondike, as Buck realizes from the moment he steps off the boat and watches the violent death

of his friend Curly The wilderness is a cruel, uncaring world, where only the strong prosper In the old, warmer world, he might have crificed his life out of moral considerations; now,

however, he abandons any such considerations in order to survive

1 Buck and his lessons from real life

On the 1" day of his life, Buck was a happy dog living in a house among people of civilised world Buck was treated ery different from other dogs He could do every thing

he like He was a gentlemen with strong built and added by universal respect and easy life There would not have been anything new in his spirit if he hadn't been moved to another environment However, he left Santa Clara Vally and the peaceful life there because of the betrayal of the gardeners He was taken to the North and forced to work as

a sled dog Then he had a new life He was isolated from civilization and lived in

primordially world This chaotic world made by struggle and death So Buck was

conscious of this world He surveyed all incident happes around him and draw lesson for himself For Buck, the peace in Seth og longer lasted Instead of that, the principal of new life of club and fang or to be eaten began

1 lesson: from the tragic death of Curly Buck learned an importance principal of life in the North that was "once down that was the end of you" It means never to let him down

He experienced this when witness the fight between 2 dogs Curly and Spitz He

recognized clearly the manner of fighting to "strike and leap aside" If rival fell down, he would never reagain Hence he would be eaten immediately Was jungle law that "Might

is right" we can take Curly as an example in terrible fight She lost her life and right then she became a miserable victim

The image of Curly on snow made a deep impression on buck's mind he understood that in the ruthless environment, there was the way no fair play Buck learn that was never let down if he expected to be there Everything in the North is different from the South Creature here behave to each other in bad way They was at enmity with all As a matter of fact, Buck adjusted himself to changing condition He learned how to behave with other dogs and how to respect them The bursh life here forced him to act as all these other dogs did

- 2nd lesson: how to survive from a freezing cold night The 2nd lesson Buck learned from his new life was how to deepen now Never before had Buck had a freezing cold night At first, he un't find any way to sleep and he couldn't find place for night He was disappointed about that Finally, he found out another lesson from other dogs in order to have a quiet place He dug a hole for himself

lesson 3: how to pull a sled

This wild life Buck also a lesson of how to pull as a sled dog That was really a new job for Buck, for he had never done it before He couldn't help admiring him they took more care of him Through gesture" instruction of his comrade He recognised his failure and mistakes and correctd them He learned very quickly Buck made much progress in doing work as if it was sth belong

to his instinct In order to correct himself, Buck found it to be tripper to mend his way than to revenge Little by Little Buck won his master sympathy "Buck took good care to keep the traces clear thereafter; and ere the day was done, so well had he mastered his work, his mate about ceased nagging him Francois' whip snapped less frequently and Perrault even honored Buck by lifting up his feet and carefully examining them" Buck was the master together work diligently

on the trail Buck underwood that was the duty and significant here in the North They have to work hard He knew that they was so important and useful for human in this place

• 4 lesson: developing new Another lesson Buck learn in the North is steal food for himself In the South, Buck used to eat good food But now how can he live in the frozen of North Buck felt sorry for himself Truly, he must have been a happy dog in wealthy condition He was not born

in which he worked He was so big and he needed more food than the "potion" with little fish provided Buck had to eat as quickly as possible as he eating habit and learning how to steal food could Furthermore, Buck began to take food that didn't belong to him "This first theft marked Buck as fit to survive in the hostile Northland environment It marked his adaptability, his capacity to adjust himself to changing conditions." Without food no one can exist He did it because of the clamor of his stomach To sum extend, Buck was a bright creature He assessed the situation and steal food secretly in order to avoid with club He turned out to be a very skillfull theft that his master was cheated by him He had to learn to steal food from other dogs not for joy, but for the existence He stole for the sake of his existence not for joy The things he did was done because it was easier to do them than not to do them According to the principal, only the stronger could exist in this place If someone pull to be weak, he would be eaten soon

In the North, Buck understood that there was no place for the weak The authority of the wild was based on the strong who was the strongest, he was the dominant He became the most violent and The law of club and fang was an imperativeness for Buck to watch and learn to survive In addition, the instinct helped Buck successfully adapt to the changing condition and accomonodated to the new mode of life This was completely awaken of his long dead instinct was due to the law of club and fang in the wild world of the North where dog and man was savage All of them who knew no law but the law of club and fang where was no fair play Once down it was the end of you

2 The author's implications

A part from the lesson that Buck achieved in the new life in the North, he now had a good comport of distingussing 1 thing from the other The harsh in the North help him

recorgnise the nature of all things Then he found which was good and which was bad for him It was in the North he got out the real master, the real love for him Through all the lesson that Buck learnt from his life, JL want to deal with the reality of life in the

capitalist society Everything in society is complicated In the wild world, the leading position belongs to the strongest, but in the human world the rich has authority They are strongest as they can do everything they want even force other to do for them In order to

be in these position, each person had to earn more and they get in by many ways as possible And in order to survive, people have to adjust themselve to horrible ways of life Sometimes they must suffer from ignorant the injustice in the society They all know that being

poor they can't do anything They are un use people wins have in i words in thing In real life, a dog like Buck can be well or badly treated that is true But through Buck, the significant is much greater that JL want to mention which is the relationship between the rich and the poor The rich can have priority to do anything and the poor have to obey whatever and whenever they are said The number of people who have the last for gold are great They are ready the change their society All they do are for the only aim at adjusting to the lye in human society All they do bance they are usually be demoralised and they easily turn back to their poverty natural They slugged for survive not on but also with themselves Their ambition is combined with great and

“grouros” ferocity Little by little all their good civilized and moral native to be lost That's true implications of JAck london thought the call of the life

The link between man and beast grows stronger; the distinctions are more blurry The roles of humans and dogs become more or less equal in this chapter Both are heading for the same place, albeit with different intentions Buck is now part of a team, the group of dogs who pulls the sled

He must adapt quickly to the new life These animals work together, better than any humans, to complete their allotted tasks Buck learns how to pull and steer through punishment inflicted by the other dogs There is little distinction made between man and dog Francois, Dave and Sol-lek work together to teach Buck When Dave nips Buck, Francois" "whip backs him up." London suggests that at least some of the dogs see themselves part of a team that includes the humans When in the traces, "[the dogs) were alert and av anxious that the work should go well, and fiercely irritable with whatever rarded that work." The theme of loyalty gains importance, as Buck begins to understand the satisfaction that comes from having a job and doing it well Buck

is not hired by human goals - he does not see his rations as pay for his work This loyalty dot the weak quality of civilization, where men must receive incentives for their Megience This is the loyalty of savages, men and dogs bound together by their desire to survive London calls the rules governing this society the "law of club and fang." Stripped of the niceties of civilization, the only rufe that governs, a rule that supersedes any loyalty, is the rule of power Curly dies because she has no understanding of her place in the power structure She accidentally asserts a dominance she cannot back up Leaders such as Spitz keep everyone in check Spic must assert his dominance over new dogs in order to establish their place in the hieraraby Buck must see Curly's death as a lesson, for their is no time to express sympathy Spitz's "laughter" at the terrible scene, and Buck's resultant dislike foreshadows the eventual conflict between the two dogs Though London vidly depicts Buck's confusion, shock and disruption, he also suggests that Back belongs in this world The reader finds him or herself unable to pity Buck, and instead gets

pleasure out of Buck's ability to negotiate this harsh environment His theft marks kim "fit to survive in this place These words clearly allude to Herbert Spencer's theory of survival of the fittest Buck's fitness for the given conditions is proven solely by his survival Spencer argued, and London seems to have believed, that organisms cannot learn to be "fit." Their natural and instinctual knowledge either makes them suited for the conditions of their environment, or it does not Buck's speedy changes suggest that he was never truly fitted for his previous

environment The instincts of his more wild ancestors were always just under the surface,

waiting for an opportunity to resurface "

THE DAFFODILS

William Wordsworth

1 The first stanza Before describing the picture of nature, the author expresses his emotion he was lonely by himself walking alone He was tiny in comparison with the Huge nature

surrounded ONG I wandered lonely as cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, I-single pronoun- showed his loneliness He compared himself as a cloud floating in the sky, he was walking aimlesy and showed no emotion He seemed to be mood without any direction lonely in

a huge land with vales and hills winding up and down Except for the poet there was no one else there The author must be very said, lonely Hinnor world seemed to be separated from physical body He didn't know where he wad coming to and what he was coming for Suddenly, his loneliness was interrupted by the appearance of a huge belt of daffodil along the shore of the lake

A wonderful picture of them was produced by the author's imagination, giving him as well as reader new emotion and feeling The beauty of the daffodils was expressed firstly through the author's glance When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; A midle thing happened to both the author and reader It's" a host, of golden daffodils A crowd, a host was in contrast to "T" that showed the loneliness of the author The daffodils didn't appear silently but they were in high spirit took part in a merry play "fluttering and dancing" with the support of a little breeze Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze

It seemed that they had their own feeling at that time and they were dancing and fluttering with full happiness and excitement The breeze was an outside impact to the daffodils It conveyed something gentle and spring like The golden color of the daffodils was a bright color that made the picture warmer and more likely in deep contrast with the feeling of the author The author created a contrast between the loneliness of the traveler and cheerful and exciting of the gay flowers

2 The second stanza "continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line" The author compare the flowers with stars on the milky way but

he seemed not satisfied with this comparison He compared them with the endless line because in fact the milky way still had an god "Continuous" was used to describe the number of the

daffodils They were uncountable and there must be much more than 10000 as the author saw at the glance They "twinkle on the milky way" because as the breeze from the lake blew it made the flowers bend that turn the color of the animated picture into green And after that the color stood up yellow In addition, must be a beautiful day full of sunlight that twinkle the golden daffodils They were uttering and dancing like children playing hide and seek game They didn't seem to pay any attention to the intruder There were a change in the darodil sarend In the first stanza, they dance mechanical influence of the breeze, me in the second stanza, they danced personally and joyfully "tossing their heads in sprightly dance" The daffodils seemed to have a

soul like man They shoed their feeling sprightly All verbs express the happiness and the charm

as well as likeliness of the flowers The author personalized the flowers they made the lonely poet feel happy among good friends They brought him a good mood Although the poet was very sad, he could realize the beauty and joy of the nature he seemed to be waken up from the emotion And the more attention he paid, the more flowers he saw

3 The third stanza The beauty of the daffodils became more vivid when it was compared to the waves "the waves beside them danced; but they fish Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: iss a A poet could not but be gay," The waves also experienced the same mood The flowers were not the only species to be in the merry mood but the waves in the lake also enjoy themselves They seemed to be involved in the competition with ch other but they were competed in glee joy and happiness they brought a harmony atmosphere In the sun, the waves were sparkling like siver which brighten the picture The stretch of flowers was beautiful and peaceful They interweave to make the whole significant scenery Seeing such merriness and cheerfulness of the flowers as well as the waves beside them, the author couldn't borbe happy too " a poet could not but be gay" He couldn't control his feeling, and in this romance, his sadness and loneliness seem to go away The flowers seemed to invite him to enjoy them to be part of their company They caught

as attention completely He couldn't turn his eye from the scene and he began to experience some positive feeling- the feeling of peace and happiness He felt that he could have mutual

understanding with nature the great power of nature was over the man's mind For the author, the nature also has a soul like man and its soul couldn't be corrupted by civilization "in such found company: I gazed and gazed- but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought:" Therefore, the best way for man was to enter into communication with nature's soul It would let him out of himself, bring him happiness, help him to escape from sadness So he had little thought just join in merriness of nature "what wealth the show to me had brought" The author use an exclamation sentence to shoe his emotion The word "wealth" was not to show the

material property but emotional

and spiritual value It was the joy that the author could get from nature, which money and

property could never bring to him and he couldn't measure it That's the achievement of

interaction between man and nature

4 The last stanza The beauty of the daffodils left a deep impression on the author's mind and he couldn't forget it" they flash upon that inward eye" With the passing of time and during the moment of solitude, the dancing flower recalled the thor memory without his willing They rose out of his memory like a flash grade The found that he was not just gazing as he had been in the past The age of the beautiful daffodils began to shine brightly in his mind, which clear Is

emptiness, loneliness and made him absorbed in his thought It blog heto his gloomy situation

He became part of nature

5 Conclusion

To W Wordsworth, nature is the man's nor tophere intellectualizes nature and nature also has a soul like man In order to protect himself and his soul, man should give his soul into a close contact with nature, and the soul of man, the soul of nature would be intermingle in single harmony By contrasting nature and man, W Wordsworth want to move the idea that nature can

be protector-the safe guard of man's happiness and peace And that only in closed contact with nature- man can reach happiness

THE MAN OF PROPERTY

"The Forsyte Saga" is a series of three novels and two interludes which was written by John Galsworthy It is the story of a wealthy London family stretching from the eighteen-eighties until the nineteen-twenties "The Man of Property" is the first book in the saga The 'man of property

of the title is Soames Forsyte, a partner in the family law firm He uned to frene but the marriage

is not happy and during the book she falls in love with another man

1 The house and Soames's attitude to physical appear

His house: IG describes all the concerned feature describe like the size, inner decoration

"commodious", but "there wared things made of silver were posit words to describe color

of chooses only some standing one to The size of the house is said to be Books

resembling bird's nests, and little è eggs" The author always use a number of Boxes and even tiles The house was huge commodious but the ty decorabo was in contrast with the vast size of the house The house was the modern an luxury one and it was very catchy The flower was expensive one: ach huxury ink hydrangeas The color of the tiles along with peacock- feeling that they was vividly colorful which have review the house but strangely enough there was no sound to be heard It was od and cold to people Physic appearance accounted most and less attention was paid to the contents It's typical the Forsyte Soames who was particular about the appearance of things Obviously, he

appeared to lack of artistic taste For him, the house was simply a mean to show off his property rather than an artistic construction though it was very luxurious

• His appearance: He supposed to be superior than others "He would not have gone without a bath for worlds" It let people know that he is ridiculous and snobbery He never appeared

➡ All of this made him feel he's better than ppl of his class More than that, he belonged

to the higher class than he actually was Obviously, the realy value doesn't lie in appearance It lies in blood The sense of competiveness of Soams Forsyte is clearly shown For Soams,

physical appearance accounts most

2 The husband and wife

The contrast

The husband was fashionable with expensive clothes fashion Because he was so

conscious of the ncacas Even the book that he like considered to gain h wanted to show that he was trendy man, because many upper-middle man in London did the the same thing The wife was a very simple person csidered as a nymph whose fair body She was dainty in beauty which tist with her husband She never ask for any comfort of life She did need be surrounded by mordern and luxury She was very simple, she like a

nymph,ooking at Irene, we feel something fresh and pure To the husband grew stronger and characteristic competition was important His sense of competiveness onger on him The husband and wife are different in lifestyle, They're confilict The wife had gone to the wall Their relation was ironical described the struggle between Saxon and Celt They are indeep hateness relation the house, Irene was dominated by her husband Though she was his wife, sh was not treated as though They always seemed to have a war in the house The woman was like a stranger in her house She has to follow the Forsyte

tradition and have to bear everything imposed on her We even have a feeling that she could enjoy no freedom at all "She was ever silent, passive, gracefully averse" In

appearance, nothing is individual in this house because it looks like hundred of other happy and rich families However, it's not an original one The house might be charming

in appearance but infact it was not Cause the wife and the husband didn't

get on well with each other "That very charming little house of the Soames Forsytes, quite individual, my dear- really elegant" They was like 2 strangers under the same roof with a lot of diffrences This exclamation can be treated as a mockery May be it was boasted by Soames But just the appearance that disguise people

The weekend dinner

They always had hot dinner on Sunday It was expected to be in a cozy, friendly and warm atmosphere But in the house, the atmosphere was cold and silent Having hot dinner on Sunday didn't bring any changes There was no revelation can be seen at all Soames tried to improve their relation But infact, his effort was in vain The wife was always inferior to her husband Her position was realized by the servants They offer their share and some protection to her because weak position in comparision to her husband It made Soames annoyed cause his servants was not devoted to him-the master- but to Irene- the inferior The couple couldn't be a happy pair as the v in the silent "The happy pair were seated, not opposite each other, but rectangularly They seated in an odd way in which they avoided looking at each other They were much like strangers

or even rival trying to keep their defensive sta They had nothing in common to share with each other The hot dinner they were having was in odd contrast with the cold atmosphere that they created The far distance between them seemed to cool down the hot dinner It became a stuffy one For everyone, every family weekend dinner is the trend for an intimate talk But this was not

in this family There was only coldness between the husband and wife It's a very common scene

in this family Soames like talking about his business in Irene's silent The silent of her shows her boredom and discomfort to it But Soames stull went on He didn't bother about her silent becue she did it everyday He seem to talk only to himself This situation took place very often in this family But Soames took it as a matter of fact

⚫ Soames's property to his wife Soames was the one who decided everything in his family, and he never asked his wife for advice But this evening, there're some changes because

he shares with his wife a very important decision It was about their future house It would affect her for she would leave there and she should prepare for that However, he felt annoyed and discomfortable for that Morever, he felt nervous, irritated because she has never experienced this thing before He thought that that woman of no property must be

→ Soames showed no gratitude to Irene at all, for he considered to get her by his wealth and money Looking at Irene he felt no love but superiority of having such a beautiful wife There's nothing romance in him While the woman was born to love and to be loved Soames's sense of possession was clearly showed both in his thinking, attitude as well as behaviour to Irene In his mind, she was exactly a piece of his property She was a perfect object compared to other piece

of furniture and like any other furniture She was owned by her husband She was he a rose with sharp thorn that Soames didn't dare to touch in fear of it would hur him She was like a rose with fragrance but so wild and strange to him She was like wine flower that grew within the head of his garden whose color and fance was wild to him She was so fragile, so weak like a ruby color- glass rub color stone that he must handle with care Even a smallest carelessness of his would break her and Soames didn't understand her as well as her wishes because he refused to give him that chance There seem to be an invisible wall standing between them The wall which

foundation was based on his sensef possession and his sense of property Soames equiped his furniture the same as measure his wife: "Could a man own anything prettier than this dining table with its deep tints, the starry, soft-petalled roses, the ruby-coloured glass, and quaint se

furnishing; could a man own anything prettier than the woman who sat at it?" He thought of his both of them at them same time and just thought of his wife value rather than her attitude

consideration He considered his wife as one of his property "Out of his other property, out of all the things he had collected, his silver, his pictures, his houses, his investments, he got a secret and timeling; out of her he got none" Here the author used up to 5 word hit emphasize the obsession of property in Soames's mine It's his favourite word, his possessive feeling His property was sth that he could share thought and feelings They were like living being He got intimate feeling out of his property Normally, a person has this feeling with a human being but here Soames has this feeling with his furniture, not his wife The last sentence "the writing said

be never would" shows that he never own her completely He only owned his wife's body not her soul He wanted to isolate Irene from all Forsyte men, eventhough acquaintances, because he always envy to pay attention to his wife He wanted to win her love and the owned her soul, but

he did all things to sastify himself only He know that between them

there is no love but always tried to make so see that they love together He was really optimistic that his family is very happy like other fimilies He always believe that in the end when one partner died, the another will be depressed about this situation

After leaving the room

Irene was a warm-hearted, receptive and impressionable woman She didn't want Soares to understand her She always understand that she could change nothing so she could just obey

THE MOON AND SIXPENCE CHAPTER XII

"The Moon and Sixpence" was written by William Somerset Maugham to reveal the unhappy life and the revolt against the set social order It's a short story of the confict between the artist and the conventional society

1 The title "The Moon and Sixpence" The moon sympolizes the art and beauty The six pence represents the real life Though they're similar in shapes and color, they'red + The moon is pure, beautiful and inspring A imagination It also looks nobbled compared tid sixpence The grandeur was in constrast with the sixpence + The sixpence, on the other hand, represent a real life It refers to the meanness as well as pretty calculation of life It loomin comparision with the bright moon

The setting

It's in the street of the poor quater of Paris Strickland lived in this place as a settlement His hotekoks shabbier than any other house in the neighbour "I began to be more

puzzled than before It was true that his hotel pointed to the most straitened

bircumstances." This place surprise his friend To Strickland, living in a luxurious hotel

or a shabby one made no difference He's the one who is in different problem comfort and life convenience He frankly showed his financial

• The apprearance

He looks untidy, shabby, unpleasant to look at His facial features as a aggressive nose, little eyes, large mouth, heavy and sensual lips create an unfavorable image of an artist

So, to Strickland, the appearance is of no importance There appears a respectable soul- the soul of a passionate artist who lives for art and dies with art Few ppl in the society could do as he did Few man could give up their happiness, good job, comfort and

prosperity like he did He was full of sacrifice for art Though it was only for for self-satisfaction

• As an ordinary man:

Strickland is so bad He's both hardness husband and irresponsible father He anticipated this meeting He was well concious of what he had done would make his family suffered a lot But he

had no intention of self-correction: "I thought sb would come along sooner or later" He

determine to gain his goal to become an artist He wanted to escape completely, didn't care about them any more When he chose that way, he never thought of coming back home

> His friend chose to mention to Strickland's wife first bantalking about the miserable and unhappy circumstances of her His friend hoped to get some sympathy from Strickland It's a good way to start However, reply was brief, and nude which reviewed his unwillingness to new this conversation Strickland didn't really care for what his friend was saying He wanted to get rid of this There were sth else more significant to hiH mono-syllabic answer implied his

boredom with his wife and his family He didn't pity his wife who had to be in this position to bring up his own kid And he didn't care the hardship difficulty his family has to face with without him His answer "not a bit" put an end to the conversation To his friend's effort, there is

no change in Strickland attitude Talking to him like to a brickwalk

> When his friend found useless talking about his wife, he mentioned to his children Howoger, his effort called for no sorry from Strickland Family was a burden on him He idn't ashamed when he suggested his wife to remarried and didn't fell sorry for children even when they had to beg for their food

In many ways, he was an unfulfilled father "They've had a good many years of Comfort's much more than the majority of children have Besides, somebody will look after them When it comes

to the point, the MacAndrews will pay for schooling." His reply was quite unexpected

Obviously, his friend had mad do preparation for such behavior He answered as if he was a strange who was not affected by the tragedy at his family It was unthinkable that after 17 years

of marriage life with everything, he had the heart to leave them behind without a penny He used

to be very good for he had supported his wife and his children for 17 years before he left them But now they had no one to depend on Despite the fact that he needed time for his own interest,

he must think how they were going to live in that situation Never did it occur to his mind that one could not leave a woman without a job

>A part from being Strickland was a selfish man as well So Strickland even didn't mind ppl thinking of him as a perfect swine His selfishness was so great that he ignored everything ppl might talk about him He was satisfied as long as he could keep on with his passion To sum up,

as an ordinary man, Strickland was so bad, so irresponsible, so hardness and selfish

• As an artist:

Strickland appeared to have all his necessary qualities of a devoted artist During the talk with the young man, Strickland strongly emphasized that he had to paint It's apparent that painting is

as important to Spockland as the air ppl breathe everyday He seemed unable to live without his passion of painting right from the early age of his childhood

Strickland cherished the dream of becoming a painter with the hope of recreating the beauty of his daily life not for far, not for money But his father was against So he couldn't go to art classe grew up to become a stockbroker due to his father's choice However, the passion for art was so strong that it could never leave him but became stronger and stronger was like a flame that was still burning silently in his heart

It was so powerful that it could dominate him and force him to make a clear- cut choice

Strickland only kept his passion to himself He secretly accumulated knowledge of painting by attending evening classes He still waited for trend to put an end to current meaningless life and

to begin a new one It's undoubtedly that he was so devoted and brave as he made up his mind start printing He couldn't delay it any more even though he knew that painting would bring him