Characters in American novels of the 20th century

Grapes of Wrath is a classic American novel written by John Steinbeck in 1939. It narrates the lives of American families, specifically the Joads, as they migrate from their homes in the Midwestern US to find work in California. Steinbeck discusses many social issues such as poverty, greed, abuse of power, social pressures, and gender roles, in a naturalist style throughout the novel. This paper will briefly and specifically analyze Steinbeck's commentary in the novel on gender roles and social…

one of the finest American novels in the 20th century because it was able the capture the mood and characteristics of the Roaring Twenties. One of the ways Fitzgerald was able to capture this time period so successfully was because of his use of color as symbolism, which helped to portray common characteristics of people in this time period. Using color as symbolism helps the reader to analyze the characters in the novel, and too see them at more than face value. Throughout the novel, the color…

Crime and Punishment in the 1800’s In the novel Frankenstein written by Mary W. Shelley many of the characters are accused and tried for many different crimes. In the 1800’s many crimes were considered punishable by death; even petty ones. In this research paper will be information on theories as to why crime was at such a high rate at the beginning of the nineteenth century, as well as different crimes, the sentences for such crimes, and whether they may, or may not, have been humane/inhumane…

The 20th century was dominated by World War I, World War II, nationalism, decolonization, the cold war, post-cold war. Although this century has witnessed many wars and invasions but it also witnessed developments on so many levels, in transportation, communications, technology, world population. One of the major issues in the 20th century that this research will examine is racism and ethnic relationships. IT is commonly assumed that racism is as old as human society itself. Since the Beginning…

Through Men’s Eyes The hard-boiled detective story is an American classic, featuring men who speak curtly and without shame, a mystery that often involves danger, and alluding women. Since its publication in 1929, Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon has been used throughout English classes in grade schools and universities as a way to explore the theme of greed and deception. Despite this, The Maltese Falcon can also be studied in other branches of academic discipline. A student taking a…

According to Hunt, new types of individual experiences of empathy were created, during the eighteenth century; consequently, making the invention of human rights possible. Many of the advances in the founding of human rights that were made in the late 18th century were undone in the 19th and 20th century. As illustrated in the book, there was a new wave of racism, sexism, xenophobic and nationalist discrimination. The rights of humans in society are one of the most important distinctions that…

The Quiet American by Graham Greene Graham Greene’s fascinating novel The Quiet American is about two men who fall in love with the same women in Vietnam during the French and Indochina War. The protagonist, Thomas Fowler, and another English journalist, Alden Pyle, both shared a love for Phuong. The author of this novel, Graham Greene, wrote many stories that dealt with American and English involvement in foreign wars. Being born in Berkhamsted Hertfordshire, England, Graham suffered from…

their creation. However many of these stories contained one-dimensional, stereotypical characters with simple, almost predictable, plots. This was how many fairy tales were told until 1900 when L Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz. L Frank Baum thought differently of these stories and wanted The Wizard of Oz to be a modernized fairytale. The term modernized, in the context of Baum, pertains to the 20th century, the era in which the books were written. It is important to understand Baum’s book was…

and European characters, Giovanni’s Room is, punctuated with deeply American attitudes and issues. By choosing an American for the protagonist and narrator, David, James Baldwin crafts a novel that is as much about the difficult relationship between Europe and the USA as it is about the difficult relationship between David and Giovanni. Through analysis of the biased, first-person narration of the novel, as well as the dynamics between characters of French, Italian, Belgian and American…

Fairuza: The Symbols within the novel, The Bluest Eye The definition of beauty is as indistinguishable as the definition of ugliness. However this has not stopped the human race from searching for the true meaning of both, and moreover obtain this beauty for the purpose of social standards. The same can be said within the characters of the following novel. The novel, The Bluest Eye by author Toni Morrison uses symbols to capture the emotional trauma within the African American community,…