Commentary on Dorothy Parker’s Essay

Mr. Durant is a prose about a man, who he had promised his children they could keep a dog how eer appears to no greater want to do so. He promised so bandage on their back he is trying to shudder the dog out of the house. He does is on their back because he wants to remain the power visualise of the house who does nonhing wrong. On the other hand, to his married woman he endues nitwitted reasons like tout ensemble the males in the propinquity will be running aft(prenominal) her and number 1 thing you know, shed be having puppies. Mrs. Durant is non very(prenominal) educated and in like manner very ingnues and so blindly trusts and considers some(prenominal) her economise tells her. She idolizes him because she does non read and is non very educated and whence her husbands knowledge readiness chance on her a lot. The family relationships where the father is the dominant compute remain the same through with(predicate) the undivided release.2. Chronology/ m easure Dorothy Parker has written this passage in such a way, tending to give actions 1 by wizard, making so the prepare more than intriguing and interesting. However, she very much goes backwards and forwards when describing Mr. Durants lair and character to give us a deeper fellow feeling or certainty of his character. However, time in either case is pregnant but not essential and does not affect directly the themes of this passage.3. Themes Some themes implied through the passage atomic number 18 Authority is one of the main themes in this passage and Mr. Durant conveys this office very easily. His wifes lets him do so, because she thinks that he is very educated and in consequence his actions and devise is of all time right. This lay downs some other theme, the ingenuity of Mrs. Durant who blindly believes everything her husband tells her. The relationships between these two characters seem very cold and unpleasant, not wholly because there is no agreeme nt and understanding between this couples there is no shew of affection as well. Dishonesty is another important theme is this passage, which Mr. Durant is clearly characterized by because brutally beguiles his children on their back. Sexual perversions4. How literary features convey/enlarge the themes The prose has many adjectives which are very useful in sanction the meaning of the themes since the prose is very descriptive. For example, the two adjectives unsatisfied reader and indefatigable collector show that although he wanted to seem as tireless reader, he is very stunned because is easily manipulated by the advertisements. A resemblance in this piece is young muliebrity with wings like a lamia bat which is very significant because in my opinion this is another hint of Mr. Durants sexual problems.5. Point of view/ fortify The passage is told from the third someone transmit of view and that is the cashier, Dorothy Parker. She is more in cultivateing earlier than evaluating because she tends to rely more on the facts deviation so up to us to experience them in our own way. Because the automated teller is not humorous at all, this shows the seriousness of the narrators attitudes towards her subject. She presents the main character, Mr. Durant as a very cold, distant and selfish person. The belief of the passage is very serious and desperate (fruitless) because the main character, Mr. Durant has all the power and his rule book for the others (his wife and children) seems to be a rule. This is shown when afterwards he asks his daughter if he had ever broke a promise, she replies No Father but conviction was not hers whish shows that even she wasnt convinced, she was compel to reply so because of fear that he might set off angry or react. Parker obviously doesnt grow a high regard for Mr. Durant at all, barely using irony she enjoys mocking his attitudes of favorable position and of the one who is so full of himself that wants others to believe that he he has neer gloomy a promise yet.6. Structure The passage falls into many short and long paragraphs. Usually, the short paragraphs are made of dialogues slice the long ones are primarily descriptive which might signify the greater enormousness of the descriptions. The two longest paragraphs are mainly about two subjects Mr. Durants lair and books. This shows that he is the main character since everything is mainly about him and also because he is always the one who gets the word. The short paragraphs in the first page have but troika lines. They are short maybe because the piece is carefully described and avoids telling everything at once to let the reader get the themes one by one, making it more interesting. However, the dialogues although short, are very significant in understanding the personalities of the characters.7. Lexis (language) The language apply is evening gown and this is because the issue that is being discussed is serious o r at least thats how the atmosphere is conveyed to us. This formal language has a springitative affect on the piece because it is take into account with the message that the author is trying to transmit, that of pronouncement and stereotypes. The language is also classifyicularly descriptive and therefore the author tends to give the themes by hints in the description. The language used by Parker in written in an humourous form towards this character, which although she doesnt seem to love at all, she enjoys mocking his attitudes of superior and of the one who is so full of himself that wants others to believe that he never breaks a promise. Parker uses satire which is a form of exposing of foolishness within a society through ridiculing them and that is what she does with the character of Mr. Durant.8. limited Images Mr. Durant is clearly shown as the authority figure in this piece. An image that indicates this is he jerked his address backwards which shows that his o rder is not only an obligation to his wife but he does not even need to give voice it. Mr. Durant might not even be as knowledgeable as he wants to seem. There are two reasons wherefore I think this. Firstly, the fact that his books were lie up behind the glass of the bookcase might show that they were not even used and were there as decorations. Secondly, as we pick up in the passage, he seems very zealous and narrow minded because does not forego others to have their word yelling good-tempered to his daughter while he interrupts his wife who for once was about to protest against her husband, grammatical construction Now you just leave all that to me.This shows disrespect and impatience to listen to others and therefore might not even have the same patience to read a book. I personally, from this piece got the feeling that Mr. Durant is not a very sane person because there are many controversies on his character, like he tries to be the sinless father in his children eyes who has never broken a promise, while on their backs beguiles them being very ambidextrous.9. cadence The rhythm in this passage is very irregular for the reason that it is continually pathetic from crescendo to decrescendo form, creating so perplexity and tension to the readers. There is a high tension in the beginning of the passage because the author starts this passage with the word softly which strait away gives a material body of conflict and makes the atmosphere very dramatic. Then, the author jumps into descriptions, going into a decrescendo form for a while. On the third part of the passage, again we have a crescendo in rhythm because the tension increases, in particular when Mrs. Durant says But the children, Theyll be just just now which in my opinion is an initial and detailed bit of revolt against her husbands opinion.