Blog Assignment #2: Modernist Literature

Modernist Literature

1. Which two readings did you complete from the readings list provided?

I read The Big Sleep and The Quiet American.

2. Based on these readings compare and contrast with 3 examples with the themes ppt presentation in class from the modernist culture and literature.

The big sleep
The big sleep shows the Cynicism and corruption in the war, The Big Sleep takes place in a big city in America during the 1930s the period of the Great Depression when America was, as a whole, disillusioned and cynical about its prospects for the future.

Chandler mentions money throughout the novel as an ideal, a goal for the seedy crime ring that lives within the novel. Many of the characters kill and bribe for money. The opening page of the novel claims that Marlowe is "dressed up" because he is about to enter a house that is worth millions. Money, in short, is something that is coveted, enjoyed, and respected.

This makes perfect sense given that the economy of the 1930s in America was in serious turmoil. Also, many of the characters find themselves in troublesome situations, such as Agnes Lozelle and Harry Jones, therefore mirroring the desperation in which Americans found themselves throughout the period about which Chandler is writing.

The Corruption of American Society Branching out of the cynicism of the Great Depression, Chandler chooses not only to represent a world of money-hungry people, but also chooses to make this world dark and corrupt.

The Quiet American
It shows the excessive Idealism to put it simply, an idealist is one who imagines that the world can be a much better place than it is.

Obsessed with the way things could be, he remains mired in dissatisfaction and bitterness about the way things actually are. Although the wish to help the poor is a noble sentiment, dreams of starting over, erasing history, and wiping out all religious belief are simply not realizable.

Moreover, being unable to bring about the impossible leads the lieutenant to feelings of frustration and anger, an even more keen awareness of how imperfect the world is, and hatred for those people whom he views as obstacles to the realization of his dream. Moreover, his conviction that he knows what is best for the people is itself a form of arrogance.

3. Do you feel the works you read are very good or excellent representations of modernist literature? why? why not?

I feel the works are good representations of modernist literature, because they show things that accurate in this time such as idealism, cynicism and corruption.

4.Would you recommend the readings to friends or family? why? why not?

I would like to recommend these stories people who want to know about what happened in the past about idealism, cynicism and corruption in the war.