In "By the Waters of Babylon," under the leadership of John, what do you think the Hill People will do with their society?

The best place to look for evidence in regards to what John's plans are for his people is the final paragraphs of the story. John has returned from New York City, and he has returned with knowledge of what the former gods really are. John discovered that the Place of the Gods was actually inhabited by normal men and women. Those men and women wound up destroying themselves in some kind of nuclear event. John...

The best place to look for evidence in regards to what John's plans are for his people is the final paragraphs of the story. John has returned from New York City, and he has returned with knowledge of what the former gods really are. John discovered that the Place of the Gods was actually inhabited by normal men and women. Those men and women wound up destroying themselves in some kind of nuclear event. John is amazed by everything he sees, and he realizes the people had amazing knowledge and technology. Unfortunately, they were unable to control it all, and ended up destroying themselves.  

At the end of the story, John vows to begin reintroducing that lost knowledge to his own people. He has to wait until he is the head priest, but his plan is to help bring in a rebirth of learning. It's very Renaissance in concept. 

Nevertheless, we make a beginning. It is not for the metal alone we go to the Dead Places now — there are the books and the writings. They are hard to learn. And the magic tools are broken—but we can look at them and wonder. At least, we make a beginning. And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go to the Place of the Gods — the place newyork — not one man but a company. . . They were men who were here before us. We must build again.

How are the themes of warfare, search for identity, and jealousy used in A Separate Peace by John Knowles?

When the action of the book starts, Gene is a high school student faced with an identity crisis, and he is filled with fear. He writes of that time, "We were in shaky transit that summer from the groveling status of Lower Middlers to the near-respectability of Upper Middlers." Even Gene's status in the school, caught between the youngest kids and the oldest, is unclear. Gene, an intellectual, is unsure of his identity, and he...

When the action of the book starts, Gene is a high school student faced with an identity crisis, and he is filled with fear. He writes of that time, "We were in shaky transit that summer from the groveling status of Lower Middlers to the near-respectability of Upper Middlers." Even Gene's status in the school, caught between the youngest kids and the oldest, is unclear. Gene, an intellectual, is unsure of his identity, and he befriends Finny, a popular boy, in part to cover up for his own insecurities and to feel less afraid. 

Part of Gene's fear has to do with the war, as the book's action starts in 1942, during World War II. He says:

"The class above, seniors, draft-bait, practically soldiers, rushed ahead of us toward the war. They were caught up in accelerated courses and first-aid programs and a physical hardening regimen."

While Gene and his classmates are still "numbly reading Virgil," students just a bit older than them are preparing to enter the war and to leap into the unknown, worsening Gene's fears. 

While Gene admires Finny, he is also jealous of his friend's ability to get away with behavior none of the other boys would dare exhibit. For example, when Finny wears a bright pink shirt, the teachers only find it funny, not punishable. Gene thinks:

"I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend a little."

Gene's insecurity and confused identity, worsened by the coming war, makes him more and more jealous of Finny until he decides to deliberately shake the branch of the tree on which Finny is climbing. 

How does blood travel through the body?

Blood flows in our bodies through an intricate system of blood vessels known as the circulatory system. The movement is facilitated by the pumping of the heart and with every heart beat blood is pushed through the different blood vessels that go through every part of the body. There are three distinct types of blood vessels that perform different roles:

Arteries- These are blood vessels that carry blood rich in oxygen away from the heart....

Blood flows in our bodies through an intricate system of blood vessels known as the circulatory system. The movement is facilitated by the pumping of the heart and with every heart beat blood is pushed through the different blood vessels that go through every part of the body. There are three distinct types of blood vessels that perform different roles:

Arteries- These are blood vessels that carry blood rich in oxygen away from the heart. They comprise of arteries such as the pulmonary artery and the aorta. They also play a role in maintaining the consistency of the blood pressure. The arteries branch into smaller arterioles as they move further away from the heart.

Veins- These are blood vessels that carry blood poor in oxygen back to the heart. They have narrower walls compared to the arteries. They are flexible and expand to accommodate the different amounts of blood that go through them.

Capillaries- These are blood vessels that connect the arteries and the veins. They feature very thin walls to allow for oxygen and nutrients to pass through and reach the body tissues. They are also responsible for the movement of wastes from the tissues back to the blood and released through organs such as the lungs.

Blood deficient in oxygen arriving from the veins is pumped from the heart to the lungs while, blood rich in oxygen moves from the lungs to the heart through the pulmonary veins and then to the rest of the body.

During the course of the play Macbeth, the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are reversed. Do you agree?

This question references one of the most powerful aspects of the story arc of Macbeth. In the first act, Lady Macbeth is ruthless, strong, and cunning. Indeed, she resolves to "unsex" herself in order to push her husband, who is "too full of the milk of human kindness" to murder Duncan. Macbeth, on the other hand, is ambitious, to be sure, but has serious reservations about killing the King. He has resolved not to...

This question references one of the most powerful aspects of the story arc of Macbeth. In the first act, Lady Macbeth is ruthless, strong, and cunning. Indeed, she resolves to "unsex" herself in order to push her husband, who is "too full of the milk of human kindness" to murder Duncan. Macbeth, on the other hand, is ambitious, to be sure, but has serious reservations about killing the King. He has resolved not to do it, in fact, when Lady Macbeth goads him into the murder by questioning his honor and his masculinity.

After the murder of Duncan, Lady Macbeth is still a strong and ruthless character, but it turns out that her husband no longer needs her influence to persuade him to carry out murders. He has Banquo, his close friend, killed: the last act for which he shows any guilt at all. After this point, Lady Macbeth fades from the play until we encounter her again in the first scene in act 5. She is sleepwalking, frantically trying to scrub imaginary blood from her hands. It is clear that she is emotionally shattered from the guilt of the murders. Macbeth, on the other hand, has become a cruel tyrant. By the time Lady Macbeth kills herself in act 5, scene 5, the tragic transformation is complete. They have, in many ways, swapped roles, a process that eventually consumes them both.

What did Mrs. Granger send Nick when he was in college?

When Nick is a student in college, he finds a package on the doorstep of his apartment.  He opens it and discovers that it is from his former fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Granger.  Nick finds three things inside the package.  There is a dictionary, a handwritten note, and an envelope.  He first reads the note, which directs him to turn to a certain page in the dictionary, which is a new edition.  He finds a...

When Nick is a student in college, he finds a package on the doorstep of his apartment.  He opens it and discovers that it is from his former fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Granger.  Nick finds three things inside the package.  There is a dictionary, a handwritten note, and an envelope.  He first reads the note, which directs him to turn to a certain page in the dictionary, which is a new edition.  He finds a definition for the word he created, frindle, on the page.  Mrs. Granger explains that she will tell her future students about his word.  She also tells him that their battle is over so he can open the envelope.  Inside is a letter Mrs. Granger wrote to him ten years before.  Inside this letter, Mrs. Granger writes that much has changed since she started teaching.  She writes that words are important.  Predicting the future, she also writes that Nick's word is in the dictionary and expresses her feelings about the frindle battle.  This letter shows Nick that Mrs. Granger was not against him, as he had thought.

What kind of protagonist is Emily?

William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” falls very much into the genre of macabre literature. The tale of a woman from a once-prosperous family who was isolated from society by an overprotective father and who essentially kidnaps the one man to whom she gives herself, keeping his dead body in her bed for eternity, involves a category of protagonist that departs from the conventional wisdom regarding character classification. “Protagonist,” as opposed to “antagonist,”...

William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” falls very much into the genre of macabre literature. The tale of a woman from a once-prosperous family who was isolated from society by an overprotective father and who essentially kidnaps the one man to whom she gives herself, keeping his dead body in her bed for eternity, involves a category of protagonist that departs from the conventional wisdom regarding character classification. “Protagonist,” as opposed to “antagonist,” suggests positive features in a character, while “antagonist” would seem to imply a villainous character. At minimum, an antagonist is a character determined to prevent the protagonist from succeeding at a presumably positive endeavor. Emily, however, is not a positive character; on the contrary, she is far from admirable in any way, existing as a reclusive figure who, in Faulkner’s day, would have been referred to as a spinster known as much for her failure to pay her taxes as for her “failure” to wed.

Miss Emily Grierson is the protagonist of Faulkner’s story. She is the kind of protagonist, though, who embodies no particular traits for which to commend her. She is the protagonist simply because she is the central character in Faulkner’s story, and the figure whose actions propel the narrative. Emily is the kind of protagonist who is featured in stories about sociopaths and psychopaths—hardly the definition of protagonist that one would ordinarily expect.

What are some level 2 questions for "The Earth Men" in The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury ?

I assume that you are talking about Arthur Costa's levels of questioning, as discussed in works like Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking (see third link below).

According to Costa's ideas, a level one question asks students to retrieve facts or details from a text. The student doesn't have to interpret anything. The student is merely asked to find the desired information. Here are examples of a level one question:

• "What does Mrs....

I assume that you are talking about Arthur Costa's levels of questioning, as discussed in works like Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking (see third link below).

According to Costa's ideas, a level one question asks students to retrieve facts or details from a text. The student doesn't have to interpret anything. The student is merely asked to find the desired information. Here are examples of a level one question:

• "What does Mrs. Ttt say the name of her planet is?"


• "Who kills the captain?"

Level two questions ask students to make sense of the information that they gather from the text. These questions often include words like why or how. They might ask the reader to analyze, compare, contrast, infer, or explain. 

They differ from level three questions in that they don't ask students to make generalizations, judgments, or evaluations that force them to go beyond the text. They don't ask the reader to speculate, hypothesize, or predict (as would a level three question like: "How might the story have ended if Mr. Xxx had been accompanied by another Martian? Would it still have ended in murder and suicide? Explain your reasoning...").

So you're looking for questions that ask students to make inferences about what's said or depicted, but stop short of requiring them to apply the information to new or hypothetical situations.

Here are some examples of such level two questions:

• "How does Mrs. Ttt's reaction to the astronauts differ from what the captain believes is appropriate?"


• "The captain infers that he and his men are in an insane asylum. What lines of evidence lead him to conclude this?"


• "Why isn't Mr. Xxx's visit to the ship enough to convince him that it is real?"

Provide a summary to help explain the concepts in "Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter" by Chen Rong.

"Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter" is a short story by author Chen Rong that examines the impact of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The story takes place at the peak of Mao's power and focuses on the various ways in which the post-revolutionary population of China both resisted and assimilated to the ideology of Mao's regime. The author explores how many people during this time fought quietly against Maoist ideals and offers an often scathing critique of communism and its impractical applications.

In this story, the long-solved problem of keeping piglets from freezing during the winter is turned into a metaphor for the unnecessary interventions of communism. While the elderly pig farmer Mammy Guo has always known exactly what steps to take in order to keep her newborn piglets warm and healthy throughout the winter, Secretary Zhang Dingfan takes it upon himself to issue a national edict on the matter. In this sense, the manufactured problem of freezing piglets is used as an example of what the author views as the inefficiency of the communist system of government. In an attempt to maintain a sense of importance at each level of government, officials place unnecessary restrictions on citizens who are already managing their affairs well on their own. Meanwhile, problems that could be effectively mediated by the government are overlooked or ignored entirely.

As the story progresses, Dingfan's mandate to protect newborn piglets trickles down to all levels of the communist government. The author explores the dysfunction of this system at each level, from Dingfan himself to Xu Quan and his other local-level subordinates. The story also delves into Dingfan's personal life and his distant relationship with his own granddaughter, Babe. While Dingfan insists on intervening in the affairs of private citizens, he is hypocritically disconnected from the concerns of his own family. However, he is shown at one point trying to shelter Babe from Maoist propaganda on television. The story comes to a somewhat melancholic end when Dingfan remarks, "When the time comes, I’ll make up words to suit whatever tune the authority picks." This comment shows that Dingfan has abandoned his passive resistance to communist ideals and will likely continue to perpetuate them.

U.S. History How did the United States emerge as a world power in the early 1900's?

There were a number of factors that contributed to the United States emerging as a world power in the early 1900's.  Industrialism and manufacturing are very important to American international prestige and power. The United States had a vast variety and quantity of natural resources that allowed successful industry to take root in the Northeast.  Due to a relaxed immigration policy, the fulfilling the labor needs of a growing industrial and urban economy was not...

There were a number of factors that contributed to the United States emerging as a world power in the early 1900's.  Industrialism and manufacturing are very important to American international prestige and power. The United States had a vast variety and quantity of natural resources that allowed successful industry to take root in the Northeast.  Due to a relaxed immigration policy, the fulfilling the labor needs of a growing industrial and urban economy was not an issue.  Industrialism created wealth and allowed for the establishment of a technologically sound military instrument. 

The United States was also establishing itself as a world power because of its expansion.  Having reached the West coast through expansion, America looked outside of the continental United States to exert its power and utilize resources of foreign peoples.  The victory in the Spanish-American War, and later in the Philippine-American War allowed the United States to expand into the Pacific and the Caribbean.  This was achieved through a powerful military and a strong desire to use that powerful military.  

In "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," what is the writer's main purpose?

Jonathan Edwards’s main goal in writing and delivering his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was to persuade people to love God and give their hearts to him.  If they do this, Edwards believes they can be saved.

Before the Great Awakening (of which Edwards was a part), many religious Americans believed in predestination. They believed God had already decided whether they were going to Heaven or Hell and that there was...

Jonathan Edwards’s main goal in writing and delivering his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” was to persuade people to love God and give their hearts to him.  If they do this, Edwards believes they can be saved.

Before the Great Awakening (of which Edwards was a part), many religious Americans believed in predestination. They believed God had already decided whether they were going to Heaven or Hell and that there was nothing they could do to change their fate. Preachers of the Great Awakening disagreed. They believed people deserved to be damned but could save themselves by accepting God’s love and loving God in return. 

The main purpose of Edwards’s sermon is to convince the people who are listening that this is true. He warns them about how they are in danger of going to Hell, and claims they would completely deserve that fate. He says, there is an opportunity for them, though; they can accept God and improve their chances for salvation. Edwards tells his listeners that God has given them

an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has flung the door of mercy wide open, and stands in the door calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners.

He tells them that many other people have already accepted God’s love and that their

hearts [are] filled with love to him that has loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

He urges them to do the same so they might be saved as well and be able to live with God in Heaven. His main goal in this sermon is to get people to accept God’s love and to love him back so they can be saved from damnation.

Why does Gordimer mention that her house is located above a mine?

In "Once Upon A Time," Gordimer notes that her house is built on "undermined ground." Underneath the foundations, she explains, are the remnants of a gold mine which causes the structure of her house to shift slightly.

The reason that Gordimer mentions this fact is because she wants to make clear that her house is creaking not because of an intruder but because of the hollow ground beneath it.

Note in the paragraph above, for...

In "Once Upon A Time," Gordimer notes that her house is built on "undermined ground." Underneath the foundations, she explains, are the remnants of a gold mine which causes the structure of her house to shift slightly.

The reason that Gordimer mentions this fact is because she wants to make clear that her house is creaking not because of an intruder but because of the hollow ground beneath it.

Note in the paragraph above, for example, how Gordimer notes that two people have been murdered in her neighborhood in the past year. When she wakes up suddenly in the middle of the night, her mind immediately recalls these incidents and she becomes afraid. But she quickly realizes that she is not about to become another victim: the noises she can hear are nothing more than the natural movements of her house.

By mentioning this, Gordimer encourages the reader to stop and think before jumping to conclusions. This is significant given the story that she is about to tell, a story in which a family becomes so obsessed with personal security that their son is ripped apart by the barbed wire that they have recently installed.

In what way does the storm inspire Huck? Why is he not afraid of the storm?

In asking this question, I'll assume you're referring to the storm that occurs in Chapter 9 ("The House of Death Floats By"). When the storm begins in this chapter, Huck and Jim are sitting in the shelter of a cave, watching the tumultuous spectacle. However, as intense as the storm is, Huck seems to be primarily inspired by the raw, wild beauty of the weather and nature. Take, for instance, the following passage:

It was...

In asking this question, I'll assume you're referring to the storm that occurs in Chapter 9 ("The House of Death Floats By"). When the storm begins in this chapter, Huck and Jim are sitting in the shelter of a cave, watching the tumultuous spectacle. However, as intense as the storm is, Huck seems to be primarily inspired by the raw, wild beauty of the weather and nature. Take, for instance, the following passage:

It was one of these regular summer storms. It would get so dark that it looked all blue-black outside, and lovely;... and next, when it was just about the bluest and blackest---fst! it was bright as glory, and you'd have a little glimpse of tree-tops a-plunging about away off yonder in the storm, hundreds of yards further than you could see before... (55)

From this passage, we can see that Huck is inspired by the wild beauty of the storm that he's witnessing. There's a kind of freedom out there in the natural world, it would seem, that is exemplified by the chaotic power of the storm. Moreover, it seems that Huck is not afraid of said storm because he recognizes the free nature of its beauty. By including this section, Mark Twain introduces us to an important theme in the novel: the freedom of the natural world. Though it is at times dangerous and unpredictable, the natural world becomes a haven for both Huck and Jim, offering them a break from the petty disputes and corrupt ways of civilization. 

What are some elements of a dystopian society present in "The Pedestrian"?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the following definition for "dystopia."  

An imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives.

That definition is fairly narrow in my opinion and does not nearly encompass many of the dystopian novels that exist today.  Take The Giver as an example.  Most literary scholars would certainly classify that society as dystopian; however, the characters in the novel do not lead fearful lives.  They cannot.  That emotion has been eliminated....

The Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the following definition for "dystopia."  

An imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives.

That definition is fairly narrow in my opinion and does not nearly encompass many of the dystopian novels that exist today.  Take The Giver as an example.  Most literary scholars would certainly classify that society as dystopian; however, the characters in the novel do not lead fearful lives.  They cannot.  That emotion has been eliminated.  

"The Pedestrian" is similar.  The people that are in their homes watching TV are not being forced their by government, nor are they acting out of fear for their lives, and I do not think the story strongly supports the idea of a dehumanized population; therefore, I think we should expand our working definition of "dystopia" to include a few more characteristics.  Let us use the following characteristics of a dystopian society in order to analyze "The Pedestrian."

1. Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.


2. Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.


3. A figurehead or concept is worshiped by the citizens of the society.


4. Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance.


5. Citizens have a fear of the outside world.


6. Citizens live in a dehumanized state.


7. The natural world is banished and distrusted.


8. Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent are bad.


9. The society is an illusion of a perfect Utopian world.

From that list of characteristics, readers can see that "The Pedestrian" fits several quite well.  I definitely see elements of the third criterion in the story.  While there is not a particular person that is being worshiped, it is clear that the general population worships and reveres their "viewing screens."  Nobody comes outside anymore.  Socialization in person just does not happen.  I believe that Leonard's society worships entertainment and that worship functions as a form of control. 

"What is it now?" he asked the houses, noticing his wrist watch. "Eight-thirty P.M.? Time for a dozen assorted murders? A quiz? A revue? A comedian falling off the stage?"

Elements of the fifth criterion are also seen in the story.  Leonard seems to be the only person that goes outside anymore. We are told that he is practically alone in the world.  It appears that people never leave their homes. 

He was alone in this world of A.D. 2053, or as good as alone.

Perhaps the people are simply that addicted to entertainment, or they are fearful of leaving their homes.  We are not told this explicitly, but to the people of 2053, the outside world does not offer anything good. The seventh characteristic  would apply here as well.  Leonard is the only person left that seems to consider time outside beneficial. He is such an anomaly in this regard that he is picked up by a police car and taken to a mental hospital. This is also characteristic eight.  Leonard is punished for being an individual.  He is not breaking any law; however, he is acting so far outside of the norm that he is not allowed to continue walking around his neighborhood.  He is taken to a psychiatric center presumably to be studied and fixed.

How is the theme of suicide explored in Macbeth?

I'm not sure there's really enough discussion of suicide in the play to convey a theme in regards to it. However, Malcolm, the late King Duncan's heir, announces at the very end of the play that they believe Lady Macbeth to have, "by self and violent hands, / Took off her life" (5.8.83-84). In other words, they think that she killed herself.

We need not look too hard for answers why: at the beginning of...

I'm not sure there's really enough discussion of suicide in the play to convey a theme in regards to it. However, Malcolm, the late King Duncan's heir, announces at the very end of the play that they believe Lady Macbeth to have, "by self and violent hands, / Took off her life" (5.8.83-84). In other words, they think that she killed herself.

We need not look too hard for answers why: at the beginning of act 5, Lady Macbeth exhibits some major guilt for the wrongs she and her husband have committed. For example, she says, "Here's the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" (5.1.53-54). She imagines that she can still see and smell Duncan's blood on her hands, and this seems to signify the terrible guilt that she lives with as a result of her part in his murder. Lady Macbeth also mentions Macduff's wife, lamenting, "The Thane of Fife had a wife. Where is she now? What, will these hands ne'er be clean?" (5.1.44-45)

She seems to know, then, that Macbeth ordered the murders of this innocent woman and her children, and she feels guilty about those deaths too. It is likely that the combination of her guilty conscience, inability to sleep, and emotional distance from everyone in her life including Macbeth, led to her suicide.

How is Crooks's statement about "wanting rights" ironic in Of Mice and Men?

An example of Crooks, the African-American stable buck, earnestly defending his rights is found in Chapter 4 of the novel Of Mice and Men. 

There is a lot of irony about Crooks "wanting rights" in this chapter. 

The location of Crooks bunk is quite telling of his status when it comes to rights. The man is sent to live out in the stables next to the horses and other animals. The telling aspect of this is that, not only is Crooks considered a lesser human by being shut away from the barracks, he is likened to an animal since this is why he is sent to live. This is the first of many ironies surrounding his "wanting rights": his most basic human needs (sleep, shelter, companionship) are being violated even while he demands rights.

Crooks keeps medicine in a wooden apple box. These medicines are for both the horses and himself. Again, this symbolically likens Crooks to an animal as it seems that he takes care of himself with what he has for the horses. Ironically, it was a horse that kicked Crooks so fiercely that he was left crooked.

Crooks keeps to himself in hopes that people will reciprocate by leaving him alone. Being black and disabled, he has received a rare chance by being allowed to keep a job and home at the farm. However, that does not set him free from the prejudices and violation of his rights others. By keeping to himself, he expects that his right to be left alone will be respected. 

When Lennie busts in Crooks's room, a few statements make it quite obvious that Crooks is demanding "rights." Crooks says: 

"You got no right to come in my room. This here's my room. Nobody got any right in here but me."

Given the location of his stable room and the time and place of the setting (when his rights have been won but not yet lawfully supported), this demand for his rights is ironic--and quite saddening to the modern reader--because, while demanding and "wanting rights," he has no rights.

When Lennie says he was just following the light in Crooks's room, the latter says: 

"Well, I got a right to have a light. You go on get outa my room. I ain't wanted in the bunkhouse, and you ain't wanted in my room."

This is all ironic. Not only is this an assertion of his own rights, but he also takes the initiative to say which rights the others do not get to have when it comes to him. In order for him to be respected, Crooks has to defend himself because no system and no cultural norm has yet acknowledged his full humanity (this is true even though Abraham Lincoln and the Union Army dedicated the victory of the Civil War to the freedom, liberty and equality of men like Crooks). 

How does Jack Ryan grow up?

I think it is possible that this question is meant to ask how Jack Ryan changes over the course of the novel.  A character that displays change is called a dynamic character.  Despite the fact that Jack Ryan is featured in many books, Clancy is still able to make Ryan a dynamic character in The Hunt for Red October.When readers first meet Ryan, he is a quiet and intelligent analyst.  He isn't portrayed as...

I think it is possible that this question is meant to ask how Jack Ryan changes over the course of the novel.  A character that displays change is called a dynamic character.  Despite the fact that Jack Ryan is featured in many books, Clancy is still able to make Ryan a dynamic character in The Hunt for Red October. When readers first meet Ryan, he is a quiet and intelligent analyst.  He isn't portrayed as hero material.  He's afraid of flying and quite content to sit behind a desk and analyze intelligence reports.  However, as the novel progresses, readers see Ryan become cooler under pressure.  He is willing to take risks that often put his own life on the line.  In other words, Ryan displays courage and bravery worthy of heroes.  The final line of the novel nicely shows readers that Ryan has at least in some way changed because of the events of the novel.  

Ryan missed the dawn. He boarded a TWA 747 that left Dulles on time, at 7:05 A.M. The sky was overcast, and when the aircraft burst through the cloud layer into sunlight, Ryan did something he had never done before. For the first time in his life, Jack Ryan fell asleep on an airplane.

Meaning of "We passed a barrier of dark trees, and then the facade of Fifty-ninth Street, a block of delicate pale light, beamed down into the...

This quote is spoken by Nick Carraway, and he seems to be contrasting his own relationship with Jordan to Tom's and Gatsby's relationships with and romantic notions of Daisy Buchanan.

The main idea seems to be that Nick does not harbor any romantic illusions about Jordan. She is different from Daisy in this scene because she is physical and present. She is real and she is with him; therefore, Nick decides to take advantage of...

This quote is spoken by Nick Carraway, and he seems to be contrasting his own relationship with Jordan to Tom's and Gatsby's relationships with and romantic notions of Daisy Buchanan.

The main idea seems to be that Nick does not harbor any romantic illusions about Jordan. She is different from Daisy in this scene because she is physical and present. She is real and she is with him; therefore, Nick decides to take advantage of these facts and kiss Jordan.

The implication, though, is that what Nick has with Jordan is lesser in some way than what Tom and Gatsby have with Daisy. This is because Nick's action follows his comment that, unlike the other men, he "had no girl whose disembodied face floated along the dark cornices and blinding signs." Daisy is almost more of an idea than a person to both Tom and Gatsby. She stands as a symbol; she is disembodied because she is more like an abstract concept to them than a flesh and blood human being.

To Tom, Daisy is sort of a trophy wife. He can be the powerful man whose masculinity and power are confirmed by Daisy's inferior status. She is also beautiful, which reflects well on himself. For Gatsby, of course, Daisy is the symbol of upward mobility, of achieving what one desires and works for. Gatsby could not be with Daisy when he wasn't a wealthy man, so he spends his adult life trying to become suitable for her. They have no interaction during that time, and he is out of touch with who she is as a person, so she becomes more of a symbol or an idea.

In some ways, it seems like Nick wishes he has what Tom and Gatsby have, but since he doesn't, he must settle for what he does have: Jordan, who is next to him in the scene.