scholarly journals The Childhood Betrayal and Hope Regained in Stephen King’s The Institute

2021 ◽  
pp. 21-27
Author(s):  
Anas P M ◽  
Dr. A.J Manju

Childhood is a time worth remembering in everyone’s life. We all cherish the beautiful memories and fun we had in our childhood once we’re old. We never know the real value of a moment until it becomes a memory. Even now we are happy to go back to those places where we have spent our childhood. Thinking about it fills our heart with nostalgic feelings. But have you ever thought about children who never had such a beautiful childhood as yours? This novel takes us to those children who are being kidnapped from their parents and sent into a frightening government facility called ‘The Institute’ for gifted children! The Institute (2019) is a science fiction horror novel written by Stephen King. It is one of his terrifying novels yet. Many of his works are transformed into movies and television series. The main focus of this novel is on the childhood betrayal done by the authorities running the Institute, and the survival of the children. The story is written by taking the ideas of a fictional child abusing institution where gifted children from all over the country are taken in and they are being forced to undergo dreadful medical experiments. Most of the children have super powers of Telepathy or Telekinesis. The officials running the Institute want the children to get control over their powers and to master them, so that they can be used in wars. They can be used as weapons against terrorists, and as mind readers. The doctors don’t treat them like humans. To them they are merely test subjects. The government kills any test subjects it can’t control because only then it can keep the country safe. There is no hope of escape for the children, yet they are all finally escaped by the brave efforts of Luke Ellis, the main character in the novel and his friends.

2021 ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
Dr. A.J Manju ◽  
Anas P M

We all face Hardships and difficult situations in our life. It’s all about the ups and downs in our day to day life. During these times we may be feeling exhausted and worried. But all that matters is that what we have learned from that tough situation. Resilience is defined as how we bounce back quickly from a difficult situation. The power of resilience arises when we face situational problems, major life problem and day to day problems. Friends are a major element in comforting us during our difficult times. Friends bring more happiness to our lives than virtually anything else. Friendships have a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. Good friends relieve stress, provide comfort and joy, and prevent loneliness and isolation. The Institute (2019) is a science fiction horror novel written by Stephen king. It is one of his terrifying novels yet. Many of his works are transformed into movies and television series. The main focus of this novel is on the power of resilience and friendship among the children who are being kidnapped from their homes and being held captive under a sinister establishment called The Institute. The story is written by taking the ideas of a fictitious child abusing institution where gifted children from all over the country are taken in and they are being forced to undergo atrocious medical experiments. Most of the children have super powers of Telepathy or Telekinesis. That’s the reason they are all here in the Institute. The authorities in the Institute want the children to master their powers so that they can be used in wars. There is no hope of escape for the children, yet they are all finally escaped by the power of resilience and friendship shown by Luke Ellis, the main character in the novel and his friends.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (45) ◽  
pp. 111-121
Author(s):  
Svetozar Poštič

This paper analyses the concept of thrownness and the related notions of immediacy and actuality in a 1961 short science fiction story “Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night” by Algis Budrys. It first defines the concept of thrownness (Geworfenheit), created and coined by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger in his classic book Being and Time, and it explains how this notion can be employed in literary analysis in general and applied to this work in particular. The article then analyses how certain stylistic devices in the short story, namely similes, change of pace and the presentation of an inner conflict in the main character, contribute to the feeling of authenticity. In other words, it attempts to exhibit the means used in a prose work to make it seem more realistic and immediate. Finally, the work also argues that science fiction is in many ways more real than other fictional works. Although it belongs to the genre that has traditionally been denied serious literary merit, the novel view and interpretation of this story aims to disclose new horizons of artistic expression that illuminate human mental and physical frailty and stimulate a valuable inquiry into the meaning of life.


Author(s):  
Rimma Gurevich

The theme of Kant’s autobiographical novel «The Stay» (Der Aufenthalt, 1976) is the spiritual rebirth of German prisoner of war, a soldier of the Hitlerite ar-my. The article reveals the interaction of two components found in the novel: the fic-tional and the real ones in depicting this complex psychological process. The analysis of the chapters (X, XV, VI) shows various forms of artistic –aesthetic processing of authentic autobiographical material. In Chapter X the author «collects» his own emotional impressions, experienced by him in different periods of his life (such as cold, loneliness, hunger) and «ties» them to the situation of the main character sitting in a lonely cell in a prison. In Chapter XV he «adds» to real autobiographical facts an important artistic detail –a school pencil case of a Jewish girl killed by Nazis. In Chapter VI Kant makes a masterful use of temporal and narrative distance: the hero estimates the decisive episode of his youth –a conversation with a Russian woman-doctor from the viewpoint of a mature person recalling his life.


2019 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2019-055196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Berthet Valdois ◽  
Corne Van Walbeek ◽  
Hana Ross ◽  
Hema Soondram ◽  
Bhavish Jugurnath ◽  
...  

BackgroundIn response to high smoking rates, especially among men, Mauritius launched a National Action Plan on Tobacco Control in 2008. It changed its tax system from a mixed system to a uniform specific system. Despite these interventions, cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence in Mauritius decreased only marginally in the subsequent decade.MethodUsing publicly available data, we decompose the retail price of cigarettes into tax and net-of-tax components, between 2011 and 2017. We cover premium, popular and economy cigarettes.ResultsSince its introduction in 2008, the nominal excise tax was increased six times. Between 2011 and 2017, the real value of the excise tax increased by 47%. Meanwhile, British American Tobacco (BAT) increased the real net-of-tax price of premium cigarettes by 61.8% and of popular cigarettes by 47.2%, thus overshifting the tax increase. On economy cigarettes, BAT decreased the real net-of-tax price by 14.7%, thus undershifting the excise tax increase.ConclusionThrough its pricing strategy, BAT has greatly undermined Mauritius’s tobacco control policy. However, BAT cannot continue undershifting the excise tax on economy brands, since the net-of-tax proportion of the retail price is very low already. BAT would have little choice but to increase the retail price on economy brands in response to future excise tax increases. The government of Mauritius is encouraged to keep the specific excise tax structure but to increase the rate at which it is levied.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-46
Author(s):  
Arie Lila Utomo ◽  
U’um Qomariyah ◽  
Sumartini Sumartini

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mendeskripsikan fenomea konflik yang dialami tokoh utama dalam novel Re:karya Maman Suherman. Mengetahui bentuk konflik dan upaya penyelesaian konflik yang dialami tokoh utama dalam novel Re:karya Maman Suherman.Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah psikologi sastra Karen Horney yang menitikberatkan sastra sebagai cerminan masyarakat. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalahmengetahui fenomena konflik yang terdapat dalam novel yang kemudian dikorelasikan dengan kehidupan nyata. Korelasi konflik dalam novel dengan kehidupan nyata dapat dilihat dari adanya persamaan konflik yang terdapat dalam novel Re: karya Maman Suherman dengan kehidupan nyata.   The purpose of this research is describe life phenomenon of conflict which is experiencedthe main character in the novel titled Re: by Maman Suherman. Understandingform of conflict and conflict resolution efforts experienced by the main characterthe novel Re: by Maman Suherman. Approach used in this research is psychology literature of Karen Horney which is focusing literature as society reflection. The result of this research is was to knowthe phenomenon of conflict disclosures contained in the novel and then corelating with the real life of society. The corelation between conflict in the novel with real life can be seen from the equation of the conflict contained in the novel Re: by Maman Suherman and in the real life is able to be found from similarity of conflictwhich is existed in the novel and existed in the real life.The approach in this study is the psychology of literature Karen Horney, Results froms this study is the disclosure of conflict present in the novel then correlated with in real life. Correlation of conflict in the novel with of real life can be seen from equation of conflict in the novel Re: by Maman Suherman with real life.


Author(s):  
Jesús Fernández Caro

This article approaches Sirius (1944), by Olaf Stapledon, from a perspective that brings together literary animal studies and ecocriticism. The eponymous main character of this science fiction novel is a genetically-modified dog who struggles between the human and the animal realms, being unable to belong to either urban or natural spaces. I argue this work of fiction carries out an exercise of blurring boundaries, thus proposing alternatives for harmful binaries such as human-animal, city-nature, or divine-mundane. Each of these binaries is explored in three trips of the many this character experiences throughout the novel. This allows the main character to reflect on his peculiar, unique species as the singularity he is. Sirius claims it is only empathy that can help in such a task; both human and nonhuman animals are then able to rejoice in biological, cultural, and spiritual differences. Sirius’s trips are analyzed in order to look closely at (1) the dog’s reflections on humankind while being in London, (2) his becoming a wolf, dog, and human at the same time in the woods, and (3) music as the ideal tool to articulate one’s spirituality based on a reconnection with an almost lost biodiversity.


2022 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hashim Talib Hashim ◽  
Ahed El Abed El Rassoul ◽  
John Bchara ◽  
Attaullah Ahmadi ◽  
Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno

AbstractCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in late 2019, with the first case identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, on 12 December 2019. In order to perceive the comprehensive impact of this pandemic, we have to know that misinformation and denials about COVID-19 have surely exacerbated its diffusion and hindered the response against it. Turkmenistan remains one of the very few countries in the world that lacks reports about emerging cases of the novel coronavirus. Turkmen authorities claim that they have adopted all attainable measures required in order to combat the virus, asserting that COVID-19 has yet to reach their country. Despite the government’s reported absence of COVID-19 in the country, rumors, media reports and independent sources suggest the spread of the pandemic in Turkmenistan. By mid-June 2020, the outbreak was referred to as being serious with patients suffering extreme health risks, and following its state of disrepair and unethical practices, many of those anticipated to be COVID-19 infected tend to suffer at home, discouraging any interaction with the healthcare system. The civil society in Turkmenistan, for the time being, takes full part of the government’s duty in the process of informing and educating the public regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and endeavors to keep the government and WHO accountable for behaving in such repressive ways that could lead to rather preventable loss of human life in Turkmenistan. Yet, efforts hang fire before unveiling the real situation, and Turkmenistan’s government owning up to the negations and roaming speculations, not only regarding the coronavirus crisis, but every public-related issue itself.


2020 ◽  
pp. 123-145
Author(s):  
Maximiliano Jiménez

This article proposes a reading of Hamid’s novel Exit West (2017) that pays attention to the tropes and formulas of fantasy and science fiction used to frame an account of the so-called refugee crisis. Although the novel portrays situations rooted in the global concern regarding migrants, Hamid structures his story through associations with non-mimetic genres employing the trope of magical doors that provide escape to those desperate to flee their surroundings. I argue that replacing the hardships of travel with such a magical means of transport helps to relativize our perception of the situation in terms of science-fictional and fantasy scenarios. At the same time, the “unrealistic” depiction of the real sociopolitical problem leads to thematic reflections that are not grounded in the pity raised by the excessive attention paid to the dangers of migration, but that rather invite to a critical, positive engagement with the concept of hybridity, dramatized by Hamid in both the form and the content of his novel. Since what provides SF its generic cohesion is its use of ideology rather than specific structures or themes (Moreno, 2014), and since fantasy can be read underlying the political potential of its affective dimension (Clúa, 2017), the critical consideration of these two genres gives Exit West easy passage into a committed discussion about its context.


Author(s):  
Alireza Farahbakhsh ◽  
Soulmaz Kakaee

With the intention to study the implications and their affinity with and deviation from reality, the present study will analyze Number9Dream (2001) in terms of its narrative style, ontological qualities, and certain conventions which lead to the particular genre of dystopian science fiction. It tends to settle the following questions: are the implications and contributions of categorizing Number9Dream as a dystopian science fiction significant in any way? What is the role and ontological significance of setting in the novel? Narratological approach and genre criticism are applied to the novel to analyze it from the perspective of its critical engagement with dystopia. It traces science fictional elements and then continues to examine their utopian or dystopian nature and the different functions of those elements. It also refers to the connection between the given ontologies and reality. The present article shows that the novel provides a range of multiple possible worlds through two layers of internal and external ontology which are the representations of the real world. Dystopian narrative and science fiction conventions are exploited to address today's world issues. Through a detached view toward the present societies, Mitchell gives the opportunity to criticize what is not otherwise visible. The novel warns about human's isolation, alienation, and dehumanization and calls people to action accordingly. It briefly refers to the reconciliation of past/ present and nature/ science as a solution.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Fernanda Luísa Feneja

The article aims to reflect on the role of the myth in science fiction narrative, namely on the specific forms it may take in utopian/dystopian fiction, such as Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury. The personal development of the main character, Guy Montag, constitutes the focus of this analysis, by which we aim to shed some light on the relation between the meaning of the novel and the Promethean features he evinces in the context of a dystropian novel. The symbolic power of fire and of books is also of core relevance to this study, not only because the highlight the hero's inheritance of the Promethean myth, but also because the provide a deeper insight into exegetic possibilities of dystopsian fiction


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