Nick And J Alfred Prufrock

921 Words2 Pages

Levi C. Higdon
Dr. Batya Weinbaum
LITR221
January 3, 2016
Nick and J.Alfred Prufrock In the early 1900’s T.S. Eliot and Ernest Hemingway created two of great American Literature pieces of the time. Ernest Hemingway wrote “Big Two-Hearted River”, and T.S. Eliot wrote “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. Nick Adams, the main character from “Big Two-Hearted River”, and J. Alfred Prufrock, from “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, can in several ways be characterized as similar, different, and a representative of the “Modern” man. Modernism was a cultural movement with roots in late nineteenth-century aestheticism and symbolism, prominent in Europe and the US, but with practitioners and theorists around the globe (Ryan, Castle, Eaglestone, and Booker).
Throughout the two pieces of literature both authors use symbolism to describe characteristics about the two main characters. Nick Adams seeks a return to simplicity after his harrowing experience in World War I and that Hemingway’s prose replicates the veteran’s internal quest for manageable simplicity (Cirino 115). This story describes Nick’s journey through a town he once knew, that is now burnt down and along a river. Throughout the story Nick seems very confident and precise when it comes to setting up his camp, making decisions, and has great knowledge of his natural surroundings. Nick is the only character throughout the story. There is mention of some friends Nick had in the past. …show more content…

"Hemingway's "big two-hearted river": nick's psychology of mental control."Papers on language & literature 47.2 (2011): 115. APUS Library. Web. 28 Dec. 2015.
Hemingway, Ernest. "Big Two-Hearted River Part I & II." Bookshelf Online. Scribner, a Division of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group, 1925. Web. 28 Dec. 2015. .
Ryan, Michael, Gregory Castle, Robert Eaglestone, and M K. Booker. "Modernism." The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. Web.

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