A true story of beauty and obsession, "The Orchid Thief," by Susan Orlean, weaves an intriguing tale of power, passion, and the search for fulfillment. The fixation that sparks fire in the hearts of so many people is the orchid. We see that interestingly enough, there's a commonality among the orchid lovers: their desire to be extraordinary and unique. As the story progresses it's evident that this intense passion is not driven by the simplistically intricate flower, but by much more selfish motives. .
The main focus and inspiration for this story is Mr. John Laroche; a man that "strikes many people as eccentric" but has always "been exceptionally passionate and driven" (3). Like so many other passionate people, when Laroche is interested in something, he puts his whole heart and soul into it. However, Laroche sometimes goes a tad bit overboard and his latest escapades are the very thing that intrigued Orlean enough to base almost an entire book off of him. His passion of the month is orchids, thus launching Orlean and her readers into the enticing world of orchid stalkers. One of the most interesting things about Laroche is that he sometimes contradicts himself. It is abundantly clear that he is empathetic and has real sentiments towards his passions, especially the orchids. He believes that "[orchids have] some purpose, everything has some purpose" (94). He says, on at least two separate occasions, that he believes in botany imagination and that he tries to put himself in the plants' point of view in order to understand their essence. Nevertheless, regardless of his almost sensitive thoughts about the orchids, he still makes a point of saying that when you're making orchid hybrids, "you are God" (94). Creating the new species of orchids gives him a sense of power and ironically, gives him a purpose. Although Laroche cares deeply and is extremely moved by the beautiful plants, it seems as though what really gives him the fire is the omnipotence that comes along with making his own living organisms.
Chapter Two: White Tigers Summary The first section of "White Tigers" is Kingston's childhood fantasy of living the life of Fa Mu Lan, the woman warrior "a story that derives from one of Brave Orchid's talk-stories. ...
The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio De Sica is a movie that breaks the Hollywood aesthetic of beautiful people, fancy homes, and extensive wealth that only thrives in fantasy and sometimes-unconquerable dreams. ... The Bicycle Thief conveyed to me; that times may become rough and sometimes it is hard to see through the smoke of a blazing fire, love endures and is the only thing that will survive disaster. ... "The Bicycle Thief is a searing allegory of the human condition, a caustic narrative of despair and hope, loss and redemption, poignantly told in subtle actions and spare words" (Acquarello, ...
When Brave Orchid's sister, Moon Orchid, comes to live with the family in California, Brave orchid insists on Moon Orchid going in search of her husband. Moon Orchid is scared and does not want to bother him with his new wife. Brave Orchid and various other women of the community tell her about her rights as first wife to go to the new wife and claim their sons and take over the house, forcing the husband to build another house for the second wife. ... Moon Orchid, although appearing weaker than her overbearing sister, takes a very Americanized approach at the situation. ... However,...
Immortality The night is closing in like something alive, its warm dampness imbuing the house with an oppressive atmosphere that seems somehow threatening to me. I"m sitting at my desk thinking about immortality. ... The mere concept of immortality scares the hell out of me. ... The feeling floods my body, I"m not seeing myself fighting for my immortality with a sword but oddly I"m imagining myself in another dimension from where I can observe carelessly the destruction and the emptiness of the people around me. ... Who knows maybe one day Immortality? ...
The Bicycle Thief is about a poor family in which Ricci, the father, is looking for a job. ... An example of this can be seen in The Bicycle Thief. ... In The Bicycle Thief there were many great examples of this. For instance, when Ricci got his bicycle stolen and is chasing the thief throughout town, there is a shot where Ricci is holding onto a car following after the thief into a tunnel. ... The Bicycle Thief is an excellent example of this. ...
Ozymandias Ozymandias to express to us that possessions do not mean immortality. ... This poem is written to express to us that possessions don't mean immortality, the king who seemed to think that his kingdom would remain under his statue's haughty gaze forever, ironically teaches us this through his epitaph. ... From this you can imagine a very conceited, arrogant pharaoh, commanding his people building this great vast statue hoping his power would be immortality. ... All Ozymandias wanted was immortality, which everyone in this world, even today, would die for. ...
Each of these take a different approach to mans constant search for immortality. ... This is one way to attempt a type of immortality, by passing on genes to future generation. ... This means that currently this type of Hormone replacement therapy is not helping in the quest for immortality, except for delaying the onset of certain deadly diseases. ... Each of these takes a different approach to mans constant search for immortality. At this point in time none of these are advanced enough to actually produce immortality. ...
The book opens with an oral history, given by the author's mother (Brave Orchid), of a nameless aunt in Old China who committed adultery. ... Such is the case for Moon Orchid, Brave Orchid's sister, who she comes to America infuriated over her husband's decades long abandonment of her. ... Brave Orchid incessantly ridicules Kingston, telling her how messy, how unattractive, and how uncouth her daughter is. ... Brave Orchid best exemplifies a greater cultural resistance of first generation Chinese in the San Francisco community toward assimilation into American culture. ... ...
In The War of the Worlds the narrator spots an old shriveled guy who is carrying a box full of flower pots that contained orchids from his garden. ... You may not know why he had taken the flowers with him and not something that could possibly protect him like a gun or such but those orchids probably meant something a lot to him. The orchids could possibly be the only thing he had left from his wife who could've past away or just not be with him anymore. ... The orchids could possibly be the only thing he had left from or of his wife and he could've loved her dearly and just never wa...