The Chilled Coffee--A characteristic analysis on
One image that can best sum up the sentiment of the heroine in °Theft± occurs in the last paragraph, that is, °the cup of chilled coffee±. Chilled coffee tastes bitter and cold, and has a strong aftertaste for you to to think about what you have drunk, just like the psychological state the heroine of °Theft± was in. In the story, the heroine suffered a strong sense of loss that made her life gloomy and cold, and she was haunted by a sentiment of being spiritually isolated from and materially impoverished by the environment in which she lived. Where does this frame of mind of hers come from? Obviously, the heroine of °Theft± has always lived in economic straits. Throughout the story, we can feel the great pressure caused by the economic problems on her. When she wanted to take the Elevated, she °naturally± looked into her purse to make certain she had the fare, and °was pleased± to find forty cents in the coin envelope. During her conversation with Bill, she kept thinking °about her empty purse and that she could not possibly expect a check for her latest review for another three days, and her arrangement with the basement restaurant could not last much longer if she did not pay something on account.± From this we can see clearly t
The sense of frustration in love prevails in the whole story. This is another important cause of the heroine¯s gloomy and desolate frame of mind. From the fragments of the letter which implied the premature end of the heroine¯ love, °Why were you so anxious to destroy-even if I could see you now I would not-not worth all this abominable-the end-± we can see that it was the heroine who destroyed the relationship between her and the addresser of the letter. The man obviously loved her deeply, but was also deeply hurt by her rejection of this love, so he in hurt feelings sent her the letter, trying to cause great pain in her with many acid words in return. Her escapism in life is here once again felt in dealing with love. The seemingly casual record of two pieces of conversations taking place among three boys and two girls and the heroine¯s conversation with Roger also involves the false or failed love affairs, thus providing a foil for the heroine¯s strangled love and along with hers cast a gloomy shade on the heroine¯s desolate frame of mind. Her feelings having lost the heat and steam, were just like a cup of chilled coffee, and her passive attitude in love directly causes the failure of her love and reflects in some degree her indifference and fatigue in life. This naturally results in a sense of impoverishment and isolation. Throughout the story, the heroine lived in a state of economic straits, affected friendship (a
Some common words found in the essay are:
, cup chilled, chilled coffee, cup chilled coffee, frame mind, heroine °theft±, economic straits, strong sense loss, lived economic straits, sense loss life, desolate frame mind, throughout story, strong sense, lived economic, story heroine, loss life,
Approximate Word count = 965
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
