“What is the city over the mountains/Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air/Falling towers/Jerusalem Athens Alexandria/Vienna London/Unreal.” Images such as this are prominent throughout T.S. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land. These images depict, quite literally, the wasteland that society has become, and displays the fear that the author has for the future. Images of wastelands-desolation, isolation, destruction, ruin, the fall of nature- are dominate theme within modernist literature and can be found in novels such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. This depiction of Western Civilization greatly contrasts that of the pre-war era of literature, which focuses heavily on the beauty and simplicity of nature, which is a salient theme
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However, upon peeling back the layers of this novel, one can determine that it is a bold statement concerning society and the direction it is taking: one toward the wasteland image as shown in The Waste Land, of desolation and ruin, which was a central theme in modernist literature.
The setting alone is the central identifier of this theme: 1920’s New York. This was a time of industrialization and modernization for most of the country; there were now factories and big cities and a swelling of economic prosperity. The people of this society were long overdue for a change; people were more free-thinking, gender roles were being broken, and the entire culture was taking shifting rapidly. With the glitz and glamour, however, came a disconnect with our very core. There was no longer a deep and meaningful …show more content…
Prior to this move toward industrialization, nature was an apparent part of everyday living; re-war literature is absolute evidence of this claim. People immigrating to “The New World” saw America as a sort of Eden or paradise, a land of hope and wonder and beauty and opportunity. However, at the turn of the century, the fall of this paradise began to set in, and this fall is depicted soundlessly throughout this novel. In the beginning of the novel, there are all sorts of references to ripe fruits and flowers and, on the surface, everyone seems happy. Even Daisy’s name is an indicator of this theme. As the story progresses, the truth behind the façade is revealed when the reader is told of Gatsby’s background and the superficiality of Daisy and his relationship. Eden has fallen, and there are now images of “these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves” and “its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” The fall is complete when Daisy finally leaves Gatsby for good; she was the last remaining symbol of innocence and closeness to nature, however purely because of her name; Daisy’s character was nearly the antithesis of innocence of nature. Ultimately, the lifestyles that the characters of this novel lived were self-damaging and
However, upon peeling back the layers of this novel, one can determine that it is a bold statement concerning society and the direction it is taking: one toward the wasteland image as shown in The Waste Land, of desolation and ruin, which was a central theme in modernist literature.
The setting alone is the central identifier of this theme: 1920’s New York. This was a time of industrialization and modernization for most of the country; there were now factories and big cities and a swelling of economic prosperity. The people of this society were long overdue for a change; people were more free-thinking, gender roles were being broken, and the entire culture was taking shifting rapidly. With the glitz and glamour, however, came a disconnect with our very core. There was no longer a deep and meaningful …show more content…
Prior to this move toward industrialization, nature was an apparent part of everyday living; re-war literature is absolute evidence of this claim. People immigrating to “The New World” saw America as a sort of Eden or paradise, a land of hope and wonder and beauty and opportunity. However, at the turn of the century, the fall of this paradise began to set in, and this fall is depicted soundlessly throughout this novel. In the beginning of the novel, there are all sorts of references to ripe fruits and flowers and, on the surface, everyone seems happy. Even Daisy’s name is an indicator of this theme. As the story progresses, the truth behind the façade is revealed when the reader is told of Gatsby’s background and the superficiality of Daisy and his relationship. Eden has fallen, and there are now images of “these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves” and “its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” The fall is complete when Daisy finally leaves Gatsby for good; she was the last remaining symbol of innocence and closeness to nature, however purely because of her name; Daisy’s character was nearly the antithesis of innocence of nature. Ultimately, the lifestyles that the characters of this novel lived were self-damaging and