Ambiguity In Literature

He has never told his wife and daughter anything about the time he spent as a grunt with the 25th infantry in Vietnam even though the horrible memories are with him all the time. He loves his wife and daughter and wants them to believe he is a good man even though he doesn’t believe it. He feels that he is two people fighting within himself. On the outside, he appears to live a comfortable life as a physician and

The roaring 20’s was an astounding time in the history of the United States of America. Many authors published novels, poems, and other works of literature to show their readers what it would be like to experience this time frame. Some examples of these works include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. Both of these pieces of literature include literary elements to appeal to the reader’s senses and imagination. A prevalent theme that has been found in works of the roaring 20’s is the wealth that someone may or may not achieve. Literary elements such as figurative language, irony, and symbolism are profound in both The Great Gatsby and “Harlem”, adding depth to both literature works.

Shame is a constant theme in The Things They Carried. Soldiers felt like they had to go to war, but fear of embarrassing themselves, their families, and their towns if they ran. This embarrassment was helped by the guilt of not being "masculine" enough or not being brave, heroic, and patriotic enough. the author reflects how he thought he had a secret reserve of bravery and heroism stored away, waiting for the moment when he would be called into war—if that day ever came—in chapter 4, and how in reality no such reserve existed.

Over the past 75 years, the American people, while reading either short stories, novels, or longer publications, have been indoctrinated with the idea of modernism. This idea, has been pushed forwards be authors in all ages, and in all forms of publication. Modernism can be described, as looking at society and culture through a lens to find criticisms and critiques of the way that we perceive it. One of the best example of modernism that has been published in the past 75 years was by Flannery O’Conner, during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and her story “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” Flannery O’Connor throughout her short story, uses character’s and phrases to demonstrate the presence of evil in society as well as in each and every one of us.

The returning of a dramatic event disables a soldier to adapt accordingly to everyday life. Ones conscious of reality is infringed upon Posttraumatic experiences of warfare, which unleashes an outbreak of inhumane actions directed towards existence and significant others. As the short story progresses after the event of the Vietnam War, the narrator says referring to Henry that:

In the short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates and the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley unique gender/sexual roles and disobedient actions portray through the main characters’ to defy the cultural status quo. Irony, juxtapositions, and foreshadowing are being used in each piece of literature to help the reader comprehend and compare what the author is saying about the characters and their motives now and in the near future. Connie, in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” can compare to Bernard and John in Brave New World, because all are ignoring the rules, whether it is society for Bernard and John or her friends’ parents for Connie. Each character wants to be with the opposite sex and experience life, even if they are being told otherwise. The authors each make these protagonist main characters appealing to the reader because we feel as if we can connect to them and perceive their desire to oppose what the rules are and how they want to be divergent from what their controlling forces are telling them to do, whether it is parents or society.

Analyse how Nineteen Eighty Four and Pleasantville imaginatively portray individuals who challenge the established values of their time.

The 1920’s was the era of not only mass consumerism, social changes, and profound cultural conflicts but that of the Lost Generation and the effects of World War I during this time period. World War I had a significant impact on the lives and the writing styles of the Lost Generation, changing their perspectives on both the government and their lives.

Krebs learned to lie about his experiences and added details into them that most formal soldiers thought as common knowledge of a soldier; however, it was not easy for him. The small town in this story and society in general is the antagonist in this story for not welcoming him home as they had the other returning men. “Krebs found to be listened to at all he had to lie and after he had done this twice he, too had a reaction against the war and against talking about it” (185), and withdrew from society more because of the distaste of war and the lies he had to tell. The town folk thought of his stories as unimportant. Krebs withdrew from society.

Following his rape, he starts to do what he feels is right, and in one case, goes directly against direct orders to stand for what he believes in, as well as to reconcile everything he’s been through as a soldier; the violence, the pain, and everything that has emotionally and physically scarred him.

These exaggerations and lies about how he acted as a hero leave him feeling very uncomfortable and nauseated. As it follows, it becomes impossible for him to talk about his experiences of the war because no one wants to listen to the real events and he cannot lie because he is uncomfortable with it. With time, he becomes notably silent and withdrawn. He often spends his time practicing the clarinet,

“Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” This quote was expressed by the renowned novelist, Ernest Hemingway. Speaking of Hemingway, despite being an exceptionally successful novelist he was a very depressed man and often turned to alcohol to dwindle his feelings of depression. In collaboration with alcohol, the novelist, who established his literary dominance during the 1920’s, wrote amazing pieces of american literature. Hemingway was joined with many American icons including: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone, Babe Ruth, Albert Einstein, Langston Hughes, and many more famous men and women. With the amount of huge influences listed, the 1920s were undoubtedly a huge contributor in shaping American culture.

“A Tale Intended to be After the Fact…” is how Stephan Crane introduced his harrowing story, “The Open Boat,” but this statement also shows that history influences American Literature. Throughout history, there has been a connection among literary works from different periods. The connection is that History, current events, and social events have influenced American Literature. Authors, their literary works, and the specific writing styles; are affected and influenced by the world around them. Authors have long used experiences they have lived through and/or taken out of history to help shape and express in their works. Writing styles are also affected by the current trends and opinions of the period they represent. By reading American

In the 1920s many Americans were disillusioned by the massive destruction and carnage of the Great War and were questioning the meaning of life. It was a time of prosperity for many and a time when many of the countries talented young writers had fled to Europe. These books speak of a period that marked the end of the Victorian age and the rejection of what was accepted to be proper decorum. Both novels have characters that drink excessively, are sexually promiscuous, and fail to establish any meaningful relationships through marriage. They are searching for meaning in a world where there may not be any to be found.

Moral power held by literature or art has often smashed against some form of material power and censorship. For instance, books against the ideas of the Nazi regime such as Marx’s “The Communist Manifesto” were burnt in the Nazi’s book burning of 1933 and The Bible is currently banned from North Korea. Authors have therefore been pressured into finding a method to avoid the strict restrictions forced by material power. In this paper, I will argue that Philip K. Dick was able to criticize the government and the situation of America in the 1960s, without suffering consequences, thanks to the generation of a time shift in his novel and the construction of a parallel between story and history hence manipulating the line between fiction and reality.