StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Contrary to the Victorian period’s intellectuals convincing natives they were capable of attaining their life’s goals, modernists proved otherwise. The latter portrayed utter pessimism evident in the world’s mechanisms meant to drag people from attaining their…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.5% of users find it useful
Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors"

Ideas, values, and themes of modernist Contrary to the Victorian period’s intellectuals convincing natives theywere capable of attaining their life’s goals, modernists proved otherwise. The latter portrayed utter pessimism evident in the world’s mechanisms meant to drag people from attaining their accomplishments, hence being in an extreme disarray and despair. Mainly, modernists utilized fiction and America as their works’ setting despite the then flourishing economy; to reveal its worst side in drowning numerous youths’ goals.

This is apparent in Scott Fitzgerald’s works (like The Great Gatsby) whose main characteristic theme comprised of youths’ goals dissolving in failure and disappointments (Fitzgerald 4). Since, the then period’s pleasure-hungry behavior among the youths, yielded to the increase of moral decadence, hence hindering them to see their dreams’ actualization. Fitzgerald’s work comprised of satirizing the then ideas, for instance, the “American Dream” besides showing the state’s inconsequential efforts meant to enable its natives to attain their accomplishments.

Similarly, William Faulkner in his works highlights evidence of the old slave-holding norm in the present world besides people witnessing the shattering of their lives’ dreams. Hence, satirizing regime’s mechanisms and ideas regarding equal opportunities availed the natives to actualize their “Dreams”. This is because the 1920s blossoming economy only favored the affluent whereas erecting bars such that the poor could not rise beyond the middle class. This is noticeable in his Absalom, Absalom!

Work where the protagonist is working hard work, though he eventually relapses to wallow in poverty (Faulkner 5). Correspondingly, Willa Cather though differing with the latter two, she persisted with former stylistic approaches. Her message encompassed fruitless struggles especially by Americans despite their varied talents, which is evident in her “ours of ours” (Middleton 84). Willa works reveal utter desperation and struggles from a small town to recognition in a state that has ironically availed mechanisms meant for its natives to thrive.

Work CitedFaulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom! Canada: HarperCollins, 2013. Print. Fitzgerald, F S. The Great Gatsby. London: Urban Romantics, 2012. Print.Middleton, Jo A. Willa Cathers Modernism: A Study of Style and Technique. Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson, 1990. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors Essay”, n.d.)
Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors Essay. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1612468-ideas-values-and-themes-of-modernist-authors
(Ideas, Values, and Themes of Modernist Authors Essay)
Ideas, Values, and Themes of Modernist Authors Essay. https://studentshare.org/literature/1612468-ideas-values-and-themes-of-modernist-authors.
“Ideas, Values, and Themes of Modernist Authors Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1612468-ideas-values-and-themes-of-modernist-authors.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Ideas, values, and themes of modernist authors

How Modernism is Reflected in Short Stories

It has actually promoted positive change from traditional values to modern values that enhance fairness, human dignity, and respect for people's rights.... The essay examines how modernism is reflected in short stories.... A critical analysis of the short stories, Dry September by William Faulkner, The New Constitution by Sadat Hassan Manto, and The Bet by Anton Chekhov, shows that modernism has played a key role in contemporary world....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Analyze western conception of an enlightenment individual

Enlightenment in the context of this poem meant embracing the modernism and using the new values associated with new aspects of life in the age of innovation and discovery.... Name: Instructor: Course: Date: Western Conceptions of the “Enlightened Individual” Enlightenment refers to an actual experience that an individual goes through whether knowingly or unknowingly that changes their perceptions and perspectives with regards to various aspects in life....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Distinction Between Modernism and Post-Modernism

The ideas are similar to the intellectual history of the twentieth century, as described in the “Art Since… In this book, the authors bring forth the concepts of marxism, psychoanalysis, critical theory, structuralism, formalism, post-structuralism, and postmodernism.... In this book, the authors bring forth the concepts of marxism, psychoanalysis, critical theory, structuralism, formalism, post-structuralism, and postmodernism.... This form of Art is described as "a social sign entangled with other signs in systems productive of value, power and prestige" (Foster 1066)This critique of Modernity often takes the form of a challenge to the norms and values of western culture as a whole....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

The Basic Theme of Living at the Crossroads

The biblical story has the backing of religion and church to guide the human beings while the modernist story has the backing of science to validate its views.... However, the modernist theory has been evolved through the past few years which seem to make the religion go into backdrop....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

The Political Atmosphere in Middle East

Away from the traditional Arab poetry of simple language and forms, the poem revolves in the themes of politics, love, culture, and philosophy.... In both poetry and prose, authors In prose, western short story version, drama and novel versions replaced Arabian styles....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Ornament Use as a Right, Not a Crime

The selected authors are critical to the evaluation and understanding of ornament utility (ornamentation), concerning architecture and design.... These select authors include James Trilling, Pevsner, Read and Worringer, amongst others.... Although the prevailing modernist emphasis, on the unadorned art form, pushed art ornamentation to the very margins of the West's taste and preference during the 20th Century, a revival of the same is underway....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Norton Anthology of World Literature

There are authors whose work is purely based on issues concerning the world and, on the other… As such, life is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from non-living organisms.... To understand the perceptions that surround the world, authors Frank Kafka and Gabriel Garcia and a poet Andre Breton gave their analogy of life but in both the reality and a magical perspective (Zamora & Faris, 2005).... However, magical realism could not be avoided by some literature authors....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Status of Literature in the Modern Society

This essay "The Status of Literature in the Modern Society" elaborates on how allusions to various classical works are referred to in a seemingly fragmentary form that lends significance to the meaning of the poem.... hellip; However, while Williams pays attention to the significance of 'Structure of Feeling' in the public in a specific age, 'something' can exist in everyone and in every age, as well as in differing ages, although because experiences, symbols, and other contexts are not shared, neither does the meaning, emotion or energy remain the same when the work transfers from one culture to another geographically or chronologically....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us