Modernistism And Modernism - 1401 Words

Following World War I, people who had previously romanticized the ideas of war and perspectives on life were dismayed by the devastating amount of pain and loss that they experienced. Due to the excruciating pains of war, people across the world began to lose faith in humanity, religion and began to change their perspectives on life itself. The Great War caused many people to feel pessimistic towards life and questioning its ultimate purpose. From this overflow of emotion sprang a new form of thinking and expression that is known today as modernism. Modernism is rooted in people’s beliefs that their existent day to day lives were not fitting for the new emerging social, political, and economic changes that were occuring in the world. The†¦show more content†¦Previous forms of literature were very structured, including a full introduction, climax, and conclusion. However, in modernist literature there is never a structured story, but rather a collection of different ev ents and character interactions that represent the issues of society making readers sometimes confused or uneasy. Both J.M. Coetzee and Hemingway present these views in their works Elizabeth Costello and The Sun Also Rises. The most evident of the two works in its modernistic feel is Hemingway’s novel, mostly because of the way Hemingway portrays these modernistic ideals in an enticing story. Beginning with the time period, The Sun Also Rises takes place right after World War I and many of the characters throughout the novel had previously served in the war, or was affected by the war in one way or another. Hemingway excellently portrays, in his story, how people changed during this time and turned into the â€Å"Lost Generation†, displaced from the war, always searching for a purpose, and trying to find happiness in all the wrong places. For example, the main character, Jake, along with most of the other characters takes on the occupation as a writer and consumes the rest of his time drinking and partying with no purpose. Jake is alluded to have suffered from impotency when he first exclaims â€Å"‘I got hurt in the war’† (Hemingway 24), and as a result, cannot be wit h the woman whom he loves. Brett