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What Is The Theme Of Alienation In The Corn Planting

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The dawning of the twentieth century and evolution of modernist literature brought new insights on life, death, separation, and man's purpose, often reflecting the devastation and insecurity left by the Great War which swept away the optimism and idealism of previous modes of thinking. Ernest Hemingway and Sherwood Anderson, both gifted and well-known authors of the era, expressed the transition towards a radical change in culture through their literature, often reflecting the discrepancy between past traditions and ideas and those they foresaw in the future. Underlying the texts of both "In Another Country" and "The Corn planting", the authors uniquely utilize the themes of alienation, death, and bewilderment through their differing, first-person …show more content…

For much of the short story, the narrator only passively describes the farming and humble life of both Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, as well as their prestigious son Will. In fact, though he went to school with Will, the rest of his and the reader's knowledge concerning Will's later life comes secondhand from the narrator's own acquaintance, Hal Weyman. Then, when Will is killed in the car accident, the narrator only learns about his death due to the telegraph's accidental drop off at Hal's place. Likewise, when Hal approaches the Hutchinsons house and knocks on the door, the narrator states that he on the other hand, "stayed in the road" (). When the Hutchinsons seek consolation from their bewilderment and loss, they simply revert to what is natural for them- farming and planting corn. With this great change in their lives and having lost their only son, they turn to their familiar and comfortable land, and thus "in the moonlight…they were planting corn" (32). Yet Anderson's narrator again only passively watches from a distance this hauntingly, beautiful scene of mourning. Therefore, he describes the whole scene as "a thing to curl your hair" and questions, "what's the use?" ().There is a sort of chasm for the peripheral narrator in "The Corn Planting", separating and thereby preventing him from understanding …show more content…

As World War I and modern innovations lead the world into unknown territories, both uniquely authors reflect their corresponding sentiments and ideas through both Hemmingway's directly involved narrator Anderson's peripheral narrator. Either text reveals the uncertainty, alienation, bewilderment, and insights toward death, that each author not only deployed within their writing, but also recognized as crucial concepts in their ever-changing, modern

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