Modernist Novel

struggle of finding one 's place in society, and finding someone who will reciprocate love, are classic struggles that nearly all adolescents face at one point or another, and in Catcher in the Rye, Holden is no exception. In J.D. Salinger 's classic novel, Holden struggles with loneliness and a longing for a past that he has internally glorified, despite the fact that the past is imperfect, and his view is warped by nostalgia. He also harbors a disdain for society with a will to flee to the…

“I chose one of the TV cameras and stared into it. I said, ‘Egads, I’m on television” (Everett 265). The mirroring of his own text symbolizes that Stagg R. Leigh is the surviving ego here; Monk has given up himself for his parody. In both of these novels, the parody ends up victorious over the…

Let us begin with delving into the first novel ever published by Jane Austen; Sense and Sensibility. Within the title lie the ideas of the plot of the entire book, a contrast between the possession of sense and of sensibility. In this book, sensibility is portrayed in characters…

actualizations impart guidance and externalize the innate channels that connect human psyches through a mirrored version of life. In the novel, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, the ubiquitous river is a lucid encapsulation of the spiritual progression of the eponymous character, Siddhartha, while simultaneously providing a framework for the circularly constructed novel. The unintentional insight that is emanated from the tangible interpretation pervades aspects of the protagonist’s life, acting as…

how Chopin’s life influenced Désirée’s Baby was through her experiences with the Creole population. It’s well known that the French Creole population wasn’t completely accepting of outsiders, it’s evident in this story but also very apparent in her novel The Awakening. In all, the short story Désirée’s Baby was influenced by Kate Chopin’s experiences with the Creole population and her time in the…

Cold Blood we see many characters come and go. Some live and some die but who is the center of all the action in the novel? In my own opinion Perry is the protagonist of the book. A protagonist is the leading character, one of the most prominent figures in a real situation and a major character to a book and isn 't always a good guy or a hero that is exactly what Perry is in this novel the protagonist. This book zeros in on Perry and his past life more than anybody else in the book. We find out…

In terms of the past part of the novel, I believe Mda presents a nonbiased account of both parties’ views, showing that he does not favor one side over the other. However, it is important to note the fact that Mda was exiled, spent years in Lesotho and America, and The Heart of Redness is the first novel he wrote after returning to South Africa (“Zanemvua…”). This fact could be a sign that Mda may have more of a personal connection to the Believers in terms of their culture and tradition,…

The Catcher in the Rye is a social commentary that criticizes the superficialness of adulthood, through the eyes of the rebellious protagonist: Holden Caulfield. Holden is an academic failure who carelessly flunked out of his preparatory school, Pencey Prep, due to intolerable grades in each of his courses except English. Holden, following his academic liberation, continues his life, traveling around, criticizing the world around him in a cynical tone, attacking the phoniness and unbearable…

When rewriting classic novels, authors generally have specific agendas. Sometimes their purpose is to correct or clarify certain aspects of the original texts; another motivating factor could be to emphasize particular elements. A common literary technique authors often employ is the continuation of major themes from classic works to the rewrites. A prevalent theme in eighteenth and nineteenth-century literature is examining the effects of British presence in foreign countries from a variety of…

Since Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow was first published in 1973, the rainbow in the world of literature has not yet come; there is still much debate about how to assess this novel. While some people keep their faith in the text alone, and hence treat a novel as an independent existence, especially a novel as comprehensive as Gravity’s Rainbow, sometimes it is helpful to consider a literary work in the context of the writer’s other works. The evolutionary pattern of a writer’s career may shed light…