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Critical analysis essay on inherit the wind
THE INherit the wind essay
Darwin's theory
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Throughout the 1920s Fundamentalism and Modernism clashed. Inherit the Wind showcases the rift between the two. Modernist beliefs go against what the fundamentalist believed. Fundamentalists believed in the literal interpretation of the bible while modernists believed in evolution. Modernists accepted change and even embraced; they accepted evolution. Some modernists still believed in God but they also accepted evolution. The fundamentalists in Inherit the Wind feared modernism because it challenged the social order and posed a threat to those at the top of the social order. The fundamentalists were quite narrow-minded and rejected Darwin’s theory of evolution.
A perspective molds the opinions and beliefs of an individual, but an individual has the power and influence to change society’s perspective. In the play, Inherit the Wind, a young man known as Bertram Cates was put on trial for teaching evolutionism in school. Cate’s defense attorney, Drummond, was able to change the perspectives of many people. Everyone has a great amount of power to change society’s perspective by taking action.
...lues. As the camera physically turns towards Drummond, Kramer leans towards evolutionism. Not only does this scene confirm Kramer's belief in the theory of evolution; it also expresses reason for Kramer's reservations regarding Christianity. With Drummond's metaphor of the "Golden Dancer, " Kramer enlightens the audience with some of the shortcomings of religion, such as susceptibility to corruption of the church. The porch scene in Inherit the Wind is not completely one sided though. It acknowledges the existence of both theories, resolving that the debate between creationism and evolutionism will continue forever.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
In the early 1920’s, a new movement began, known as the Fundamentalist Revolt. This New movement all started when Protestants started feeling threatened by all of the modernists and new cultures arising. Fundamentalists didn’t like that modernists were completely changing entertainment, sexual rules, and general morals. Fundamentalists believed that people had to start going back to their old ways and the ways things were written the Bible. As this idea got bigger and bigger people started preaching their ideas of how fundamentalism should regain its position in society. Anti-modernist preached about the ideas of alcohol in public and even Darwinism to prove the points of fundamentalism. More specifically the fundamentalist revolt impacted religion, race, and immigration in many ways all across country.
Many people feared the topic or term of evolution because they thought if someone is talking about evolution in a scientific way than it was against their religion. Many people have different views or opinions on evolution, in the 1920’s many people immediately associated the term evolution and automatically related it in biblical terms of evolution. Most people when someone would talk about evolution and relate it to science they would get offended because they believed differently because of their religion. “By the 1930’s most of the urban churches of America had been able to reconcile Darwin's theory with the Bible,but rural preachers preferred a stricter interpretation (The Monkey Trial).” The people who got offended about people talking about evolution in another way than the bible also thought it was against their religion to teach or talk about evolution in a fear that it could affect how their children thought about their religion.”In the years that followed his 1859 declaration America's churches hotly debated whether to accept the findings of modern science continues following the teaching of ancient scripture (The Monkey Trial)”. Many parents feared that if their child or children were taught evolution that then that would influence their religion. Multiple parents were very upset that their children were taught Darwin's theory of evolution. “By 1925, Bryan and his followers had succeeded in getting
Henry Drummond is an acclaimed criminal-defense lawyer and recognized agnostic, so how could a man such as this respect and appreciate the life of the fundamentalist Christian Matthew Harrison Brady? Throughout the play Inherit the Wind Drummond demonstrates that though his opinions are much different than Brady and many of the townspeople of Hillsboro when it comes to religion, he is able and willing to respect these people’s values and beliefs. After being told of Brady’s death, Drummond’s respect for the man only seems to intensify. Despite Drummond and Brady’s evident past concerning both their old friendship and contrasting views on religion, Drummond still has a fair amount of respect for Brady, and though this does not affect the trial, it does affect the play.
89-106. Gilmore, Michael T. "Revolt Against Nature: The Problematic Modernism of The Awakening. " Martin 59-84. Giorcelli, Cristina.
What is real? In a modernist point of view the world shouldn't be called reality. But if the world isn't reality what is it then? What is reality in modernism? Modernism is a rejection of realism, which believed that science will save the world and where notion of science and social determinism is idealized. In modernism, science explains everything, which took away all the power of God, He became useless. In a way, life had lost its mystery, man, not God, could rule the world. Irving Howe, a literary critic, once talked about modernism as an "unyielding rage against the existing order". (Van Dusen, 1998) Nevertheless, modernism is also an era of disappointment; people are preoccupied with the meaning and the purpose of existence. They are in search of new values and in something new. Modernism first took place in the Jazz age and/or the roaring twenties; this period was all about prohibition and intolerance, flappers, gangsters, and crime. In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment made it illegal to manufacture or sell alcohol. This helped to create a network of criminal organization in the trade of illegal alcohol. Moreover, in 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment gave the women the right to vote, which is what probably helped alter the traditional moral and social standards dramatically; women began to assert new freedoms such as going out with no chaperon, wearing less constrictive clothing, and smoking in public. During that time, a circle of writers was formed "The lost generation". They moved to more culturally vibrant cities of Europe, especially Paris, after World War I. "These writers, looking for freedom of thought and action, changed the face of modern writing. Realistic and rebellious, they wrote what they wanted and fought censorship for profanity and sexuality. They incorporated Freudian ideas into their characters and styles." (Whitley, 2002) These authors wrote about what they wanted and talk openly about sexuality. They created a type of literature appropriate to what they thought was the modern life, after World War I. They used new techniques and addressed new subjects in reaction to the changes of the early twentieth century.
In British Literature religion plays a role in a vast majority of works. Even if the role is not explosively apparent, there are a generous amount of small inspirations and distortions in the texts. Some texts are theorized to have even been altered from their original state to reflect an amount of religion in them. Other texts are formatted as a result of religious influence. Religion has an elaborate and intricate influence in a variety of ways in many works throughout the development of British Literature.
... “biology as destiny” and leaves room for imperfection—in the form of political repression, I imagine Gould would say. The dominant paradigm of a culture or society needn’t be definitionally just by virtue of existing or even tending to exist. Even modern interpretations of religious doctrine, on the other hand, are incompatible with such an outlook. Creation “scientists,” for example, by relying on a literal reading of Genesis are obliged to accept, if in slightly modified form, the vision of the world presented there, and it generally precludes the flouting of God’s will in any sense. That both viewpoints coexist in contemporary America is a great source of the tension that is felt, mostly at the local level (Ruse, Darwinism Defended), by proponents of either side. Despite the growth of new rationales and worldviews, the old never actually died in the first place.
Many may argue that the Modernist movement was a completely new and unique movement within British literature. The goal of this paper is to determine whether or not the Modernist Literary Movement was completely unique or not. The similarities found in the works of Modernist authors and poets, such as Joseph Conrad and Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), will be examined against Romanticism themes and authors such as William Wordsworth. What will be found is that Modernism is not a completely unique movement, but one that combines elements from previous literary movements.
...imes via their themes of life and death. It was apparent, with a dark tone that the attitude of the modernist was of melancholy. Faulkner, Eliot and Frost were great authors who included modernism content throughout their works. Today, they stand among the greatest of literary classical authors of all time.
The early twentieth century was a time filled with great anguish. World War I had resulted in a massive death toll, and England’s strict social standards made it nearly impossible for people to grieve without seeming bizarre. This repression fostered a sense of dislocation amongst the citizens, and a rebuttal in the Christian faith. It should come as no surprise, then, that modernism emerged as a way for contemporaries to defy the “prescriptions and limits” (1901) of the Victorian Age. Virginia Woolf and D.H. Lawrence were among the most influential writers of the modernist era – Woolf with her appeal to “look within” (2152) the human consciousness, and Lawrence with his call for expression of the “deep-rooted, [and] elemental… in people and nature” (2481). Together, they created a completely new type of narrative – the modernist “English” narrative.
Many believed that Modernist works were not “art” because they did not always look like real life. But what is “real life”? A new outlook on reality was taken by Modernists. What is true for one person at one time is not true for another person at a different time. Experimentation with perspective and truth was not confined to the canvas; it influenced literary circles as well.
“The term Modernism is widely used to identify new and distinctive features in the subjects, forms, concepts, style of literature and other art in the beginning of the twentieth century.” (M.H. Abrams) The truth on the progressive thought at the end of the nineteenth century had to do with much more than just art though, it involved: science, technology, economics, religion, and politics. Ideas and thoughts that were once accepted fact were now being challenged. The movement was given prestige through the number of greater thinkers whom helped envelop it like Nietzsche, Marx, Darwin, and Freud. The background leading up to the Progressive Movement were a combination of the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions, Marxism, and the introduction of Psychology. The progressive movement could be reflected in the politics of the Classical Liberal Party.