themes in lost horizon Essay - 769 Words

What is Paradise? Throughout history man has sought to create, find, or at least image a paradise on earth, a place where there is peace, harmony, and a surcease from the pain that plagues our lives. On the eve of World War II, James Hilton imagined such a place in his best-selling novel, Lost Horizon. The story itself begins when an evacuation of Westerners is ordered in the midst of revolution in Baksul, India. A plane containing four passengers is hi-jacked and flown far away into the Keun-Lun Mountains of Tibet. The plane crashes and the passengers are welcomed to the valley of the Blue Moon, and the lamasery of Shangri-la. Here they see an isolated monastery shrouded in mystery, which combines Christianity and Buddhism with a focus†¦show more content†¦Almost immediately Conway feels he is ideally suited to their way of life. He meets other lamas who have been at Shangri-la for a long time, including Lo-Tsen, with whom he quietly falls in love with. All the newcomers desire to stay, except for Mallinson. He and Lo-Tsen fall in love with one another and makes plans to leave. Conway warns Mallinson not to take Lo-Tsen back with him, knowing her extreme old age will cause her to die immediately. Mallinson doubts Conway’s knowledge of Shangri-la, which in turn lead s Conway himself to doubt and eventually consent to leave. After their departure from Shangri-la, the story is unresolved. We are lead to believe that there was truth to the story and that Lo-Tsen rapidly ages then dies, we are never definitively told the fates of the her, Conway and Mallinson following their departure from Shangri-la. A theme found in Lost Horizon is the desire to leave and apparent utopia in favor of a former home, however flawed. This is comparable to Odysseus who wanted to leave the utopian island of Kalypso to return home to Ithaca and his wife. The British youth Mallinson is similar to Odysseus in this respect. While Conway, Barnard and Miss Brinklow find Shangri-la a satisfying place to live, Mallinson intensely desires to leave and return home to his family, friends, and country. The other characters’ lack of connections to the outside world causes the difference in their attitudesShow MoreRelatedVenice: A Lagoon City1208 Words   |  5 Pagesimpending death. As he approaches Venice, he mentions that the â€Å"Sky was grey, wind was damp.† This clearly foreshadows Aschenbach’s impending death as he nears Venice. We also see that the weather plays a very important role in the setting and the theme of death in the novella. The entire novella is shadowed by a tangible gloom and a foreboding, and this is partially influenced by the writer’s description of the weather as soon as the protagonist arrives in Venice, â€Å"sky and sea remained leaden, withRead MoreA Womens Search for Identity in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God729 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hurston 192). The theme of identity can be seen throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, of a story of a women’s journey for self-identification. Through symbolic imagery, such as the pear tree, Janie’s hair, and the horizon, Hurston ultimately shows a women’s quest for her identity. As a young teenager, Janie becomes infatuated with the idea of an idealistic romance: â€Å"She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into theRead MoreAnalysis of Anzia Yezierskas The Lost Beautifulness825 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Q1. 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