Characters in American novels of the 20th century

of history, the individual has always been the driving force of progress and innovation in any society. As a result, the importance individual became the primary focus of the prominent 20th century author Ayn Rand. Best known for her novel Atlas Shrugged, Rand rose into relevance in the middle of the 20th century as an outspoken critic of communism and the founder of the philosophy of objectivism. Being born during a tumultuous time in Russian history, Rand’s early life experiences are clearly…

Animal Farm that how the Pigs abused their power to be controlling over the other animals. Throughout the book the pigs became used their smarts to manipulate the others to get to the top. This was greatly expressed through the eyes of two major characters, Snowball and Napolean. When Old Major dies, the pigs, seized power as nobles in comparison, and placed every animal on the farm into unfair social classes. Also in the book they follow they’re social class orders according to the Seven…

story but also the old man”(Pimpton80). It was recorded as public knowledge that Capote engulfed his stories with his own life experiences, but it was made incredibly apparent in this particular novel, with his expression and approach. One particular example would be the un-canny similarity of the main character Joel to Capote himself, “…too pretty, too delicate and fair-skinned…and a girlish tenderness softened his eyes…”(Capote4). Another method that Capote used a lot was his talent to…

would have a happy future (Witkowska). Dark Romanticism has been an important figure in changing the way Americans view literature today. Dark Romanticism or Gothic fiction began with Horace Walpole 's “The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story.” The story 's content was similar to nothing that had been written before. Other authors quickly followed this new way of writing, with so many novels written in this form it created the genre of Gothic Romanticism ("The First Wave of Gothic"). The first…

“King Lear”, to a more contemporary Iowan/American-Midwestern setting. A startlingly tragic & insightful story which delved into the lives of families in a small Iowan farming community and dissected the issues of patriarchy, environmentalism, feminism and family dysfunction, her astute observational abilities and her honest representation prompted prestigious dailies such as the New York Times to call her “the Balzac of the late-20th-century American Midwest”. It was so celebrated, it even got…

feelings or other artistic ideas. However, in order to clearly define or discuss the major distinguishing features of realism, it is best to discuss it under different viewpoints so as to get an extensive description of what this theory of realism in American literature is all about. The theory of realism emphasizes on objectivity and being indifferent, along with unemotional social criticism. By critically referring to minute details and being concerned with petty, insignificant issues.…

Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Arthur Laurents, and choreography/concept by Jerome Robbins. The musical is based off of Shakespeare’s play called Romeo and Juliet, with the idea of modernizing the plot to relate to New York in the 20th century (Hoffman 84). The musical was originally set to be called East Side Story; a “religion-oriented” (Hoffman 85) feud between two parties, however, a transformation occurred “between Jerry Robbins’s original idea in 1949 and the Broadway…

Trilling, a leading American critic of the twentieth century, The Great Gatsby “comes inevitably to stand for America itself”. Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the novel describes a poignant love story of Jay Gatsby, who devotes his entire life acquiring wealth and status to win back his lost love, Daisy Buchanan. The Great Gatsby is often considered as a “Great American Novel”, though other opinions are present as well. Some critics despise the book for its deficient character developments,…

In the past few years, Americans have seen an overwhelming amount of blatant racism revolving around not only African Americas but foreign races. Despite the overlying differences in segregation, many are comparing today’s racism problems with those of the Civil Rights Era. Richard Wright is an African-American author from the 20th century who is famously known for his book titled Native Son. In the first few paragraphs in his book we see the effects of a society plagued by fear and hatred for…

United States reflected a loss of faith in traditional values and beliefs such as the American Dream during the modern artistic and cultural movement. Modernism originated in Europe and swept the United States at the turn of the 19th Century, having its core period between World War I and World War II, then continuing into the early 20th Century. During the modernist movement, citizens felt hidden behind the 19th Century Victorian Era history of art and literature in an entirety, causing them to…