Barrington Bunny

I think Barrington Bunny is a great way to explain the story of the bible in a different manner than the traditional teaching. It uses great examples of imagery throughout the story and it is easy to follow the bunny on it's journey through the woods as he visits each of his friends. However, the main literary tool used in this story is obviously symbolism. Almost every character and action can be linked to a part of the Bible or a lesson that it tries to teach.

Jefferson's Diary

In Jefferson's first few entries in his diary, he explains everything in a very plain manner. He does not understand why he is doing it, so he merely writes down what he sees at that moment and ends the entry there. A few entries later he improves to writing about what happened that day and who he saw. However, this does not satisfy Grant, and he says he still cannot give him a "B" for his work. Jefferson then begins to include his feelings and deeper thoughts and questions about love and God. This earns him a B+ from Grant and shows that this is the writing that Grant has wanted from Jefferson this whole time. Grant is not only educating him through academics, but also in a kind of spiritual way. Towards the end of his entries, they become shorter and shorter. I think this is because he wants to write anything he can in the tablet during his last few hours. In his last entry he tells Grant that he is strong and that he will die a man. Just by writing this in such a plain manner and accepting his fate, it is obvious that he truly is brave and he is facing this terrible ending as a man.

Repent Harlequin

In this reading, one theme that I recognized was individualism. I think that individualism was referenced by the Harlequin when he tried to show the people of the city that it was alright to relax and not always be on time. When he dumped the jelly beans on the moving sidewalks, I believe that was a way of him saying that everyone should slow down and enjoy the little things. Another point is brought about by the time period in which the piece was written. At this time there was a very tense relation between the American government and anti-war protesters. The extended quote at the beginning of the story can be summarized by saying that all men in a society are merely small pieces of a much larger, more complex machine, run by the government. At the end of the story the Harlequin is caught, and the Ticktockman demands that he just conform and follow the rules. I believe this is a reference to the government/protesters relationship. Also, Ellison mentions that it is "patriotic" the way the Ticktock man has total control over the citizens, and how he can punish them for not conforming to the ways of society. I believe this also has a direct connection to the times that it was written in. At that time, the government had labeled the protesters as non-conformists and unpatriotic. Therefore, the most patriotic thing to do was to shut down these protests and punish the ones who were responsible for the unpatriotic acts.

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