Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Compare the elements of fiction from the short story "Araby" and "The Veldt."

When you write "the elements of fiction," I'm led to believe you're talking about these: plot, conflict, characters, setting, and point of view. So I'll give a brief overview of each.


Point-of-View


"Araby" - The unnamed narrator is the primary character in the story.


"The Veldt" - Third-person mostly limited narrator that mostly follows the parents in the story.


Plot (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution)


"Araby" 


- Boy lives at the "blind" end of a street and explains his adventures with his friends. The boy explains his feelings for his friend Mangan's sister and then he pledges to buy something for her at the Araby marketplace. After being delayed by his drunk uncle and then seeing an Irish girl flirt with two British men, the boy realizes that Mangan's sister is just using him and feels ashamed. The boy stands in the marketplace and feels his eyes burning "with anger and vanity."


"The Veldt"


- Parents George and Lydia Hadley are worried that the nursery they purchased for their children is problematic. They call a psychiatrist to look at the nursery, which has begun creating violent images of the African wilderness that they feel are dangerous. They shut down the room, which causes the children—Wendy and Peter—to rebel. They trick their parents into going into the nursery, which, magically, has turned real. The reader is left to believe that the lions in this "veldt" ate George and Lydia.


Characters


"Araby"


- Unnamed narrator who is trying to woo Mangan's sister.


- Mangan, the unnamed narrator's best friend


- Mangan's sister, the object of the narrator's affection


- The narrator's aunt and uncle


"The Veldt"


- George and Lydia Hadley (the parents)


- Peter and Wendy Hadley (the children)


- The psychiatrist who investigates the nursery


Setting


"Araby"


- This story takes place throughout late 19th or early 20th Century Dublin. 


"The Veldt"


- Takes place in some unnamed future. It's a world in which technology rules and runs peoples' lives.


Conflict


"Araby"


Primary: The narrator vs. himself and his feelings for Mangan's sister.


Minor: Narrator vs. Uncle


"The Veldt"


Primary: Parents vs. Children


Minor: Man vs. Technology (the parents vs. the nursery)

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