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Modernism in literature
Modernism in literature thesis
Modernism in literature thesis
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Recommended: Modernism in literature
Jean Toomer’s Cane elucidates the complicated racial plight of early
twentieth century America. His assumably conscientious attempt to consider a
social panacea is belied only by the appearance that the entire work fails to
provide any direct solution to the modern experience. There exists, however,
a referential significance that realigns his project with messages of Sherwood
Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, an earlier work from the modernist canon. A
close reading of Cane’s structure and thematic content suggests that the
importance of sophistication and companionship found in Winesburg, Ohio
epitomize the aspirations of modern maturity that Toomer recognized.
Though Cane’s diverse characters aspire to find love and the
sophisticated, complex truth of life, it is the misunderstanding of these ideas
that connects the stories. In what may be the most obvious formulaic
consistency in the collection of chronicles, each tale, almost by necessity,
concludes with an anti-climax. These occurrences abruptly disrupt the
expected narrative trend, as in the case of each of the six women in the first
demarcation of the book. Karintha endlessly involves herself in relationships
that deny her anything meaningful, Becky dies accidentally without forming
any worldly existence or belonging, Carma is unfaithful and is never made to
acknowledge the consequences, Fern inspires intangible desire in all men
and denies it an outlet, Esther conjures a great love for years that dissolves in
seconds, and Louisa neglects to decide what man can claim her.
Similarly, Winesburg, Ohio avoids the culmination of any great
conclusive narrative energy in almost every section. “Sophistication,” the last
chapter before the main character le...
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...e concept of the grotesque, the
disturbance of an overbearing dedication, Enoch sacrifices his established
family and friends, and by doing so he rejects the sophisticated outlook and is
consumed by the petty insignificance of critique.
Toomer permits the burdens of minutiae and inconsequential desires to
control his characters, with George Willard’s realization in the periphery. Cane
adapts the concept of a grotesque to unite its characters. It explores the
negligible differences between certain characters in order to get at the
overwhelming similarities. “Sophistication” and companionship burden the
modern experience only inasmuch as they are overestimated and become a
preoccupation of desire.
Works Cited
Anderson, Sherwood. Winesburg, Ohio. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996.
Toomer, Jean. Cane. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988.
It solidified the truth unacknowledged to them earlier--their friendships among each other were valued above their less than satisfactory marriages in their minds, something that if uncovered by their husbands would have surely placed them under detrimental suspicion. Throughout the story, after surviving the odds and preserving a dangerously unsteady life, the female characters proved that their devotion to each other could conquer the power struggle against the forced commitments they lived in. Society deemed their marriages to be untouchable and unable to be disputed in any way, but with the sturdy connections among them, wives found a way to tamper with the stereotypes and secure a better future for their fellow struggling
In Song of Solomon, through many different types of love, Ruth's incestuous love, Milkman and Hagar's romantic love, and Guitar's love for his race, Toni Morrison demonstrates not only the readiness with which love will turn into a devastating and destructive force, but also the immediacy with which it will do so. Morrison tackles the amorphous and resilient human emotion of love not to glorify the joyous feelings it can effect but to warn readers of love's volatile nature. Simultaneously, however, she gives the reader a clear sense of what love is not. Morrison explicitly states that true love is not destructive. In essence, she illustrates that if "love" is destructive, it is most likely, a mutation of love, something impure, because love is all that is pure and true.
There are many commonalties between the protagonists in the stories by Flannery O’Connor. First physically, they are all elderly women. All three are mothers of boys. Another likeness is the women and their sheer physical presence. “In Everything Rises Must Converge” Julian’s mother walks on the bus and immediately begins to control the conversation. People seem to feed off her commentaries. These commentaries are usually on the basis of racism. As she states when she notices that there are no black people on the bus, “I see we have the bus to ourselves.”(p.344) Mrs. Turpin is almost the exact same way as Julian’s mother. The only difference between the two is that Mrs. Turpin was waiting in a doctor’s office. She too seems like she is the one who is in command of the conversation. The same holds true for the grandmother in A Good Man is Hard to Find. She continues a conversation with a man that is has murdered her family and threatening t...
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Throughout these stories, young females are portrayed as passive beings in the beginning of the stories but it becomes clear in each that passivity is not celebrated in women.
In Toni Morrison’s Beloved, love proves to be a dangerous and destructive force. Upon learning that Sethe killed her daughter, Beloved, Paul D warns Sethe “Your love is too thick” (193). Morrison proved this statement to be true, as Sethe’s intense passion for her children lead to the loss of her grasp on reality. Each word Morrison chose is deliberate, and each sentence is structured with meaning, which is especially evident in Paul D’s warning to Sethe. Morrison’s use of the phrase “too thick”, along with her short yet powerful sentence structure make this sentence the most prevalent and important in her novel. This sentence supports Paul D’s side on the bitter debate between Sethe and he regarding the theme of love. While Sethe asserts that the only way to love is to do so passionately, Paul D cites the danger in slaves loving too much. Morrison uses a metaphor comparing Paul D’s capacity to love to a tobacco tin rusted shut. This metaphor demonstrates how Paul D views love in a descriptive manner, its imagery allowing the reader to visualize and thus understand Paul D’s point of view. In this debate, Paul D proves to be right in that Sethe’s strong love eventually hurts her, yet Paul D ends up unable to survive alone. Thus, Morrison argues that love is necessary to the human condition, yet it is destructive and consuming in nature. She does so through the powerful diction and short syntax in Paul D’s warning, her use of the theme love, and a metaphor for Paul D’s heart.
In the end of the novel, Esther at last, comes to terms with reality. She has got to stop living her life according to what others expect of her. She needs to start living her life for “her”. After Joan commits suicide, Esther believes that unless she turns her life around, she will also commit suicide. Esther saw so much of herself in Joan, that when Joan ended her life she was frightened that she would follow in her footsteps, due to the fact that she had throughout the entire novel. Once Joan was gone, Esther was truly free. The part of Joan that was reflected in Esther vanished. The “bell jar” that had been suffocating her was finally lifted.
At the end of the novel, Esther finally see’s a light at the end of the tunnel. She finally realizes that there is hope for her to become healthy again. Once Esther realizes that she will not always feel as bad as she does, she also comes to the conclusion that all the negativity and questioning in her life have made her into the person she has become. Esther finally realizes what her true identity is and she is okay with who she has become.
In all, the few times women show up in what is basically a story told in the male sphere, the story is nothing that subverts or calls
The Symposium, The Aeneid, and Confessions help demonstrate how the nature of love can be found in several places, whether it is in the mind, the body or the soul. These texts also provide with eye-opening views of love as they adjust our understanding of what love really is. By giving us reformed spectrum of love, one is able to engage in introspective thinking and determine if the things we love are truly worthy of our sentiment.
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Once Esther returns home to Boston, she becomes an empty shell of a woman, brought down by the outer world’s expectations. People expect her to live the all-American dream by becoming a housewife but the protagonist does not give in to the American prospects, but instead she cuts ties to everyone...
In conclusion, these three ladies in the novel each represent a vastly different class and lifestyle. Sally and Geraldine represent a different way of going about things than Edith does, but both sides of the movement have viewpoints that serve their common movement and the actions of these ladies demonstrate as such. Despite differences in class and social standings, women by coming together in the suffrage movement frequently faced similar problems. At one point both Sally and Geraldine were struggling with the decision between their lifestyle and their cause as what was more important to them.
...es these primitive standards, she becomes melancholy because she does not attune into the gender roles of women, which particularly focus on marriage, maternity, and domesticity. Like other nineteen year old women, Esther has many goals and ambitions in her life. Nevertheless, Esther is disparaged by society’s blunt roles created for women. Although she experiences a tremendous psychological journey, she is able to liberate herself from society’s suffocating constraints. Esther is an excellent inspiration for women who are also currently battling with society’s degrading stereotypes. She is a persistent woman who perseveres to accomplish more than being a stay at home mother. Thus, Esther is a voice for women who are trying to abolish the airless conformism that is prevalent in 1950’s society.