ELA 30-1 Blog: The Glass Roses Analysis Questions.
Alden Nowlan’s short story, “The Glass Roses” explores this through the protagonist, Stephen. Stephen’s personal desire to feel accepted conflicts with his feeling of having to become like the pulp cutters because he is not mentally or physically ready to fit in with grown men. This results in Chris finding a way to become his own person.In this story, “The Glass Roses”, the main character, Stephen, is faced with the issue regarding his father, “a real man”. When faced with his father telling him how to live and what to believe. Stephen is a young man working with his father and several other men as pulp-cutters.The short story “The Glass Roses” by Alden Nowlan suggests throughout an individual’s pursuit of self-fulfillment, one may discover hardship, confusion and doubt; however it is a journey one must take in finding and accepting one’s true self.
Motifs and Symbols The Glass Roses- The glass roses are a symbol of innocence and being fragile. The glass roses were destroyed when the bombs fell. Stephen is being crushed by the thoughts and feelings that he is a weakling and not a man.The Short Story The Glass Roses by Alden Nowlan portrays the general social pressures related to finding your identity (specifically masculinity) through relationships with others.
Identify and compare two symbols found in two different short stories presented on in class. The glass rose in The Glass Roses by Alden Nowlan and the girl as a symbol from Boys and Girls by Alice Munro symbolize an object and a human that are both fragile and intricate.
