While the most obvious transformation that takes place in Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” is the physical change of Gregor Samsa, the reality is that physical transformation is where the change in Gregor begins and ends. Despite the fact that Gregor actually does wake up one day to discover that he...

Cima and her father live in a deserted valley far from where Hig and his compatriot Bangley live. It happens that on one of his usual trolls over the land, Hig flies above the valley where Cima and her father reside, and he can see the signs of life in...

In her essay, “How It Feels to be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston explains her identity and self pride as a black woman. She describes life in various Florida towns with a series of scenes and metaphors. In the essay, she ruminates on the concepts of racial identity, social dynamics,...

In the “Battle Royal,” Ralph Ellison uses a female stripper to symbolize corruption and perversion in the society to which his narrator belongs. The stripper appears as the narrator and his school fellows prepare to fight and she stands “in the center” of the room into which the narrator is...

Question: How did Joy ' Hulga' end up where she did? Hulga Hopewell’s character is unique in “Good Country People”. She is a female intellectual who is a cripple, and has no meaningful relationship with anyone. Her own mother does not approve of her Ph.D. degree, and neither does she...