The Unknown Soliders: Black American Troops by Barbeau,Authur and Genri Florette - Essay Example

‘Room with a View, by E.M. Forster’ Introduction This paper aims to analyze the novel ‘Room with a view’, written by E.M. Forster. We shall, therefore, strive to provide a through critique and analysis of the major components of the novel. This includes aspects such as the themes used in the novel as well as describing the main story line or plot of the novel. In respect to this, the main objectives of this paper are; i. Clearly depicting the plot of the novel. ii. Identifying the themes in the novel. iii. Provide a thorough critique of the novel. iv. Provide a summary of the entire discussion. This essay will, therefore, provide a better understanding of the novel through the analysis and criticism that we shall be indulging in. Main body It is a 1908 novel written by Englishman E. M. Forester. The book tells a story about a young woman born during the Edwardian era in the country of England. The author of the book strives to bring out romanceat the same time criticizes the English society that existed during the twentieth century. The book is set in both England and Italy. It is divided into two parts; Part One and Part Two. Part one. It is set in the town of Florence in Italy. It is in this part that the author introduces and describes a young woman of English decent. The woman in question confuses her feelings with another English man staying next to her in their booked hotel in the town of Pensione Bertolini. Lucy Honey church, the lady in question, is on a tour in Italy together with her beloved cousin Charllotte Barlett. They arrive at the hotel and immediately start lamenting about the services of the hotel they are booked in. their main worry about the hotel is that they had been short changed in the nature of the rooms they had booked (Forster, pg. 12, 2009) They were given rooms overlooking a courtyard instead of one overlooking River Amo. In the midst of all this argument, one Mr. Emerson offers to switch rooms since his was overlooking River Amo. Instead of accepting the offer, Lucy’s cousin Bartlett refuses the offer as she views that act as being impolite. She believes that by accepting the offer, they would be bound to oblige to Mr. Emerson requests. However, they are convinced to accept the offer by an Anglican clergyman, Mr. Beebe, who was also a guest at the same hotel. He reiterated that Mr. Emerson meant no harm but was just being generous. Later on, Lucy decides to tour the town of Florence together with Miss Eleanor, another guest at the same hotel. Eleanor guides her through the city streets where they later on bump into Emerson again. They exchange a few awkward gestures that seem socially unwelcome by guests, but Lucy enjoys their company and continues to bump into them in Florence. One fateful evening, Lucy happens to witness a murder taking place. The sight of such misgivings makes her faint. Luckily, Emerson manages to catch her as he happened to be nearby the crime scene. She then asks Emerson to retrieve some of her photographs that were taken at the crime scene. He obliges and through them into River Amo out of confusion since they were filled with traces of her blood. The two then indulge in an intimate dialogue as they headed back to their hotel (Forster, pgs. 32, 2009) Afterwards, Lucy attempts to avoid Emerson for a number of reasons. One, she is confused about the feeling she had on him and two, because she did not want to disappoint her cousin, Bartlett who disliked Emerson, more so after she heard from a different clergy that Emerson had murdered his woman. Later on they headed to Fiesole in the company of other friends and guests on carriages. The driver of the carriage then kisses a woman the box carriage after he invited her claiming that she was his sister. When one of the guests (Eager) on the carriage saw this, he quickly forced the lady out of the carriage. Emerson then laments on how it was defeatist to separate two people who are in love. Lucy later on meets with Emerson in the fields as she sought to find Beebe. The two kiss but are interrupted by Lucy’s cousin who feels disappointed by her. Both Lucy and her cousin Bartlett leave for Rome the following day without biding goodbye to Emerson. From the above narrative, we can deduce that the author clearly brought out the theme of romance and love. This is evident at how Lucy grew fond of one of the guests (Emerson) despite the disturbing allegations made about him killing his wife. Despite her numerous attempts to avoid him, (Emerson), Lucy finds herself bumping into him unintentionally. The author, therefore, implies that one cannot run away from love once they are bound by it. The author also portrays the theme of hatred through the character Bartlett who is Lucy’s cousin. She immediately portrays hate once introduce in the picture when she declined an offer to exchange rooms by Emerson. She hates him even before she gets to know him better. She further portrays her hate towards her cousin Lucy when she saw her kiss Emerson. The author also portrayed hate when Mr. Eager, one of the guests at the hotel, threw out a lady from their carriage when she kissed the driver (Forster, pg. 60, 2009). However, the author failed to show his critique of the European culture that he so wished to portray in his book. As we have seen from the plot of the novel in part one, the European culture has not been portrayed negatively at any one instance. In any case, the author failed to explicitly mention which particular aspects in the novel showed European culture in its totality. This leaves the reader to guess which aspects are parts of the culture or not. Part two This section is a continuation of part one. It shows continuity and the events that happened soon after Lucy and her cousin Bartlett left for Rome. Here, we get learn that Lucy spends most her time with her long-time friend Cecil whom she knew while in England. She rejects his proposals twice while in Italy. She then returns back to England to her family in windy Corner. Here, Cecil proposes again but she accepts his proposal. From this excerpt, the author brings out the theme of persistence and determination. This is shown through Cecil’s persistence in marrying Lucy through his numerous attempts to propose to her. Despite her turning down his proposals, Cecil does not give up and continuous doing so until she finally agree to his proposals. Meanwhile, Mr. Beebe informs them that the local cottages have been hired by new visitors. Coincidentally, these new visitors happen to be the Emerson’s. As fate would have it, Freddy (Lucy’s brother), extends an invitation to Emerson to bath at a nearby river. The two get well acquainted then Freddy invites him for dinner at their place. This move puts Lucy in a dilemma since she could hardly face both Cecil and Emerson in the same venue and time. She is then placed at an awkward position when Cecil narrated and excerpt from a novel that resemble her kissing Emerson. She is then met by Emerson alone in the garden then they kiss again. At this point, the author emphasizes the theme of true love. Despite accepting Cecil’s proposal, Lucy kisses Emerson again at their backyard (Forster, pg. 120, 2009). She latter learns that the novel Cecil read aloud was written by her friend Charlotte. Furiously, she sends Emerson away though he emphasizes that Cecil would not love her the way he does. This words touch her but she remains steadfast her decision. However, she decides to part ways with Cecil and breaks their engagement. Following her decision she heads for Greece but on her way bumps into Emerson. She is forced to confess her love for him and the two elope to Italy without approval from her parents. Here, the author still emphasizes the theme of true love. Despite all the events surrounding the two (Lucy and Emerson), they end up marrying each other. The challenges the two have undergone in their relationships also shows perseverance the two have shown in their quest for true love. SUMMARY This novel revolves around the theme of love and determination. From the onset, the author talks about one main character, Lucy, and her personal life. He explicitly explains how her love life came to be and this he does by introducing two characters, Emerson and Cecil. Emerson is her true love while Cecil is the desperate love. The novel goes on and shows how difficult it has been for Lucy to embrace her true love. Though it has not been easy for his other love too, but their seemed likely given the turn of events in the novel. However, at the end of the novel, the two genuine lovers (Lucy and Emerson) ended up being together despite the odds and turn of events. However, this does not mean that other themes have not prevailed in the novel. These include hatred, religious ties and European culture. They have been notable in the novel but have not been emphasized the way the theme of love has been. Reference Forster, E M. A Room with a View.Waiheke Island: The Floating Press, 2009. Internet resource. Read More