Martin Schmalz
Dr. Dorsey
Modernity in Literature
October 1, 2014
Young Lonigan
Mount St. Mary's University wants their graduates to be able to have the freedom to challenge or embrace cultural forces. In the novel Young Lonigan, an Irish-American boy by the name of Studs Lonigan who is growing up on the streets of Chicago experiences similar cultural forces. These cultural forces fall into two categories, positive and negative. Studs ultimately is pressured, not forced, in a direction dictated by the negative forces because he is not given the tools to be able to have the freedom to challenge or embrace the forces acting upon him. However this is not to say that he is not to blame for the path his life takes, he is just not entirely at fault. …show more content…
Lucy brings out the soft side of Studs and helps him to forget for a little while the image he is working so hard to present to the world. While Lucy and Studs are spending a day together in the park, Studs has the thought that the “wind was like the hand of a pretty girl”, which is an odd thought for someone “like Studs Lonigan to have” (112). Unfortunately, Studs sees this artistic thought as conflicting with how he is supposed to be, and this makes him embarrassed in front of Lucy. There is a constant theme of Studs having thought and then repressing them in order to maintain his tough guy image and unfortunately this tough guy image does eventually lead to the end of his relationship with Lucy. What began as a positive force, being interested in girls, eventually becomes a negative force in Studs’ life as it merges with his obsession with being a macho …show more content…
However, it is soon after he begins to seek sexual conquests that he pushes away some of the good influences in his life, specifically Helen and Lucy. After Studs begins hanging out with the older men he finds that he is unable to speak with Helen as freely as he used to and instead is trying to hook up with her. Then, Studs and his new gang have a group sexual experience with the local floozy Iris. When Lucy find out about this, she begins to shun him completely. And so, having lost two of the positive influences in his life, the balance of positive and negative cultural forces pressuring Studs has changed so drastically that he is trapped in his rather sad
Dr. Dorsey
Modernity in Literature
October 1, 2014
Young Lonigan
Mount St. Mary's University wants their graduates to be able to have the freedom to challenge or embrace cultural forces. In the novel Young Lonigan, an Irish-American boy by the name of Studs Lonigan who is growing up on the streets of Chicago experiences similar cultural forces. These cultural forces fall into two categories, positive and negative. Studs ultimately is pressured, not forced, in a direction dictated by the negative forces because he is not given the tools to be able to have the freedom to challenge or embrace the forces acting upon him. However this is not to say that he is not to blame for the path his life takes, he is just not entirely at fault. …show more content…
Lucy brings out the soft side of Studs and helps him to forget for a little while the image he is working so hard to present to the world. While Lucy and Studs are spending a day together in the park, Studs has the thought that the “wind was like the hand of a pretty girl”, which is an odd thought for someone “like Studs Lonigan to have” (112). Unfortunately, Studs sees this artistic thought as conflicting with how he is supposed to be, and this makes him embarrassed in front of Lucy. There is a constant theme of Studs having thought and then repressing them in order to maintain his tough guy image and unfortunately this tough guy image does eventually lead to the end of his relationship with Lucy. What began as a positive force, being interested in girls, eventually becomes a negative force in Studs’ life as it merges with his obsession with being a macho …show more content…
However, it is soon after he begins to seek sexual conquests that he pushes away some of the good influences in his life, specifically Helen and Lucy. After Studs begins hanging out with the older men he finds that he is unable to speak with Helen as freely as he used to and instead is trying to hook up with her. Then, Studs and his new gang have a group sexual experience with the local floozy Iris. When Lucy find out about this, she begins to shun him completely. And so, having lost two of the positive influences in his life, the balance of positive and negative cultural forces pressuring Studs has changed so drastically that he is trapped in his rather sad