Mark Helprin's 'Il Colore Ritrovato' And 'Monday' - Themes

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5 pages in length. Mark Helprin has a special way of reaching inside each one of his protagonists and drawing forth the most complex yet fundamental qualities of human nature. His themes stretch from one end of the spectrum to the other, focusing upon the characteristics that comprise what should be - but is not always - a compassionate, altruistic and honest species. Il Colore Ritrovato and Monday each partake of a particular human trait that by the end of the story readers are looking within themselves to evaluate what it would take for them to be that person. Giving up other lucrative jobs so he can renovate the home of a September 11th widow, a contractor demonstrates the lengths to which one will go to honor the life of another. In a different vein, the aspects of intervention and prevention play a thematic role in whether or not an entertainment promoter should interfere with a talented woman's future. Together, however, they share a bigger theme that illustrates the responsibility man as a species has toward his own and the extent to which a single decision by one can completely turn around another's life for better or worse. Bibliography lists 5 sources.