Foster writes, "violence is one of the most personal and even intimate acts between human beings, but it can also be cultural and societal in its implications. It can be symbolic, thematic, biblical, Shakespearean, Romantic, allegorical, transcendent" (88).
Se the poem "Out, Out-" by Robert Frost that Foster mentions in the chapter. Foster says, "the literal violence encodes a broader point about the essentially hostile or at least uncaring relationship we have with the universe" (88).
There are two categories of violence in literature: the specific injury that authors cause to visit on one another or on themselves, and the narrative violence that causes characters harm in general.
Work of literature
Violence
Category of Violence
Possible Symbolism
Added meaning to the work as a whole
1984, George Orwell
Winston Smith is brutally tortured (electrocuted, beatings, being forced into a cage of hungry rats, etc.) for his rebellion against Big Brother
The specific injury that authors cause to visit on one another or on themselves
Electrocution--destructive power and influence; Beatings--physical incapacitation, destruction of will and strength; Rat cage--being trapped (cage), pestilence and disease (rats)
The vicious torture scenes are a result of Winston's rebellion against Big Brother. The Party tortures Winston until he wholeheartedly believes in Big Brother again. The torture essentially nullifies all of Winston's rebellious actions, suggesting that, no matter how many rebellions occur under Big Brother's regime, he will always be able to stomp them out. It's a bleak and dour ending, essentially saying "resistance is futile."
Se the poem "Out, Out-" by Robert Frost that Foster mentions in the chapter. Foster says, "the literal violence encodes a broader point about the essentially hostile or at least uncaring relationship we have with the universe" (88).
There are two categories of violence in literature: the specific injury that authors cause to visit on one another or on themselves, and the narrative violence that causes characters harm in general.