Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
American literature after world war II
Impact of World War 1 and 2 on literature
Social effects of World War 2
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: American literature after world war II
“Call me the instant he does, or says, anything at all funny--you know what I mean” (Salinger 1). This is a line from “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” one of the nine best selling stories written by J.D Salinger. It shows Muriel and her mother in a phone conversation, discussing Muriel’s apparant mentally ill husband.In this short story, the consequences of war is shown through the husband’s actions and feelings. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the many mental illnesses that the husband faces, and subsequently, leads to his death. Salinger writes of a post World War II time where a mentally disturbed man and a young girl converse together about seemingly ordinary things. Salinger, being a World War II veteran, was greatly affected by the war and a “characteristic that began to manifest itself at this time was a desire for isolation” (Blackstone, Pilon). Salinger characterizes the man as being mentally ill because he wants to show the great impacts of war. In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish,” the economy is struggling because of the effects of World War II. The husband of Muriel feels lonely and confides his feelings with a nine year old girl. They are so close in their relationship that they have daily conversations and become trustworthy to each other. J.D Salinger himself was lonely and miserable because of the war. He wanted to be noticed by people and turn the effects of wars. His views show that wars can dramatically change your personality, physical appearance, and mindset. Salinger develops his theme that innocence and youth are limited in his short story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” through the use of irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism. To begin with, Salinger shows the theme youth and innocence are limit... ... middle of paper ... ...at many of his adult characters lack” (Galens). Sybil can see more into Seymour’s life than he can himself. She acts as a communicator for Seymour, understanding his experiences and thoughts. Essentially, she relates to Seymour in such a way that she can help him cope with his troubles. ‘"See more glass,’ said Sybil Carpenter, who was staying at the hotel with her mother. 'Did you see more glass?"’ This shows Sybil asking her mother if she “sees more glass.” In other words, she is asking her mother if she can understand her, or simply if she saw Seymour around. Her mother responds as if she is babbling on about an irrelevant thing. Ironically, Sybil is the only one who can actually understand the feelings of Seymour. She practically ‘sees’ into his life. Salinger shows that youth and innocence are limited through his use of irony in “A Perfect Day for Bananafish.”
Save the Whales, Screw the Shrimp is an essay written by Joy Williams, about the overwhelming complacency that todays culture shows towards nature.Williams argues in a very satirical way, that todays culture has all but completely lost touch with what nature really is, and that unless we as a nation change our morals regarding the role that nature plays in human existence, we may very well be witnessing the dawn of our own destruction.
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition, similar to an anxiety disorder, that is triggered by trauma and other extremely stressful circumstances. Throughout the book, Junger talks about PTSD in a wide range:from PTSD rates in natural disaster victims to PTSD rates in veterans. The latter is explained on a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was:
...onal confusion comes his inability to accept his brother Allie’s premature death. Through characterization, symbolism, and internal and external conflict, Salinger uses the baseball mitt, the red hunting hat, and the carousel to explore the protagonist struggle to resolve his grief.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, commonly known as PTSD, affects many individuals throughout the world. PTSD is a mental health disorder that is brought on by experiencing a traumatizing event. People experience PTSD in many different ways and some of these people, like Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye, have difficulty getting through their daily activities and can experience depression and loneliness which may require treatment. Referencing websites for the Mayo Clinic, Department of Veteran Affairs, National Institute of Mental Health and the novel Catcher in the Rye one can see that suffering from PTSD can change someone’s life forever.
Ambiguity in literature after World War II reflects and explores issues of self and society. These two ideas often work against each other instead of coexisting to form a struggle-free existence. J. D. Salinger, Sylvia Plath, and Richard Heller illustrate this struggle with their works. These authors explore ambiguity through different characters that experience the world in different ways. Identity, while it is an easy concept, can be difficult to attain. These authors seek out ambiguity with the human experience, coming to different conclusions. Ambiguity becomes a vehicle through which we can attempt to define humanity. J. D. Salinger’s novel, Catcher in the Rye, Sylvia Plath’s novel, The Ball Jar, and Richard Heller’s novel, Catch 22 explore ambiguity experienced through an attempt to find self. Each experience is unique, incapable of fitting a generic mold created by society.
Anyone with genuine interest in literature, has heard about the recent leakage of Three Stories, a collection of three short stories written by famous American writer, J. D. Salinger. While I do not support the fact, that those are now known to general public despite author’s wishes for the stories not to be published until 50 years after his death, I cannot say, that I wasn’t thrilled when I heard they leaked. I will only focus on one of the three stories here, namely The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls, precursor to the famed The Catcher in the Rye, taking place on the day of Allie’s death. More specifically I will be dealing with the meaning and symbolism behind the phrase “bowling ball” in the text.
Salerno, Shane, dir. Salinger. American Masters. PBS, 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
Its theme is far more complex than a simple love story. It tells about the corruption of the American dream, the broken promise of “equality for all” and the fact that you can’t be “whatever you want”. The novel is concerned with Jay Gatsby’s life, who is the protagonist of the story and perhaps American’s literature most powerful character.Gatsby lives a luxurious life in west Egg, we learn about his glamorous parties full of drinks and people from everywhere! But all this is just a facade that hides what Gatsby really is- a simple man in love. It seems that years ago Gatsby had fallen in love with a golden-haired girl named daisy. However, he wasn’t always rich and wealthy there was a time when he was poor and had nothing. This was the reason he lost the love of his life, and now does everything only to gain it back.
In many novels written by J.D. Salinger, there is a recurring theme of love that
Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that develops when an individual experiences or lives through a life-threatening event. (NIH 2010) These individuals react with intense fear, helplessness, or horror. On a daily basis, the Troops overseas live through life-threatening events. These events are why 12-30% of warfighters develop combat-related PTSD. Troops are prepared for duty but are unprepared for psychological effects of war. We can witness the effects of PTSD in American Literature. One unusual example of these impacts could be shown in the novel, The Great Gatsby. Jay Gatsby is a symbol of combat-related PTSD, which he inquires during World War One(WWI) while stationed with the 17th Infantry. Throughout the novel, Gatsby is described to have many symptoms and risk factors of PTSD. Jay Gatsby’s
J.D. Salinger recently pasted away at the age of 91. With his passing, several people speculate he left behind a treasure of completed novels and short stories involving their beloved characters. A person with a gift of writing that Salinger processed would not give up writing even though he stop publishing his stories. Salinger used writing as a way of expressing his ideas and feelings. Also he took his life experiences and inserted them into his stories making them entertaining for the readers but at at the same time provided a glimpse into what he experienced. Possibly with the discovery of new stories , Salinger's fans can get a greater understanding of his life because as he stated in a interview, “It's all in the books, all you have to do is read them.”
"J. D. Salinger." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Research in Context, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=MSIC&sw=w&u=avlr&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CK1631005792&asid=9d7e04ba37c8259de38b906c482330b4. Accessed 5 Nov. 2017.
... immensity of its horror finally makes him drop the pretense of knowing detachment he has held for so long. As he drunkenly sobs, “What’s funny? What’s so goddamned funny? I don’t get it” (Ch. 2, 23) his lurking humanity becomes evident. The subtly of interplay between The Comedian’s persona, his humanity, and even his hypocrisy strongly support his status as a living person alongside Dr. Manhattan.
“The months pass by. The summer of 1918 is the most bloody and most terrible. The days stand like angels in blue and gold, incomprehensible, above the ring of annihilation.” (Remarque 230). This quote is an example of an event that a soldier would probably re-play in their mind causing Post -traumatic stress disorder. PTSD is a disorder caused by experiencing a traumatic or very stressful experience, such as war. This can cause emotional problems for people like Paul and his friends in All Quiet on the Western Front.
This is shown by the stigmatization that men where cowards if they didn’t fight in the war, and the representation of soldiers who where expected to be voiceless like the women of the time. With the little understanding of mental illness Pat Barker represents how the phycologists and society struggled to comprehend what these young men went through. Through this incredibly deep form of literature Barker establishes that there is a fine line between sanity and