Influences on Steinbeck from the Modern Literary Period
John Steinbeck was not greatly influenced by the modern literary time period as he wrote Of Mice and
Men in 1937 which was rounding out the end of the modernism age. There were two things though that did influence Steinbeck which were sexism, realism and racism. Steinbeck makes it clear in the beginning of the book that a women is not equal with a man, yet in the end shows the audience equality of man and women as Curley’s wife opens up to Lennie and Lennie acknowledges her as an equal. This is an affect of modernism. Racism is prevalent in the book as the N-word is used on more than one occasion yet there is a time when the white and black race seem equal. The equality in races did not come into modernism until the very end; however that is when Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men. The only other influence from modernism in Of Mice and Men was the simple, blunt sentence structure with underliying meanings. Steinbeck does not express on paper what George or Lennie are feeling, but gets it across through the situation and their subtle actions. This allows the reader to discover the characters emotions and feel more for the character as the character has not expressed every emotion like in the romantic period. Steinbeck also uses the realism of modernism through George as he has to give uo the fantasy and kill Lennie as the weak do not succeed in reality.
Men in 1937 which was rounding out the end of the modernism age. There were two things though that did influence Steinbeck which were sexism, realism and racism. Steinbeck makes it clear in the beginning of the book that a women is not equal with a man, yet in the end shows the audience equality of man and women as Curley’s wife opens up to Lennie and Lennie acknowledges her as an equal. This is an affect of modernism. Racism is prevalent in the book as the N-word is used on more than one occasion yet there is a time when the white and black race seem equal. The equality in races did not come into modernism until the very end; however that is when Steinbeck wrote Of Mice and Men. The only other influence from modernism in Of Mice and Men was the simple, blunt sentence structure with underliying meanings. Steinbeck does not express on paper what George or Lennie are feeling, but gets it across through the situation and their subtle actions. This allows the reader to discover the characters emotions and feel more for the character as the character has not expressed every emotion like in the romantic period. Steinbeck also uses the realism of modernism through George as he has to give uo the fantasy and kill Lennie as the weak do not succeed in reality.
Modernism
The period of modernism is known for it's break from Victorian tradition of having certain religious, political and social views. The writers were writing with confidence as the thought was, the world is how the person perceives it. Modernism boycotts truth and produces the idea that nothing is complete truth, but close or far from the truth. Modern literature is not defined by places and/or the history used, but by the characters journey. Modernism however, is not as individual as Romanticism, though it does have some individual aspects. These aspects are the celebration of the inner self and the success of the individual. Modernism also brough realism into play as writes wrote realistic characters and had realistic themes. This literary time period allows writers to look at the sub-conscious as well, and demonstrates a new unordered life. This time period stretches from 1890 to 1940(ish).
Styles of ModernismThe use of satire and irony were used so writers could critique and make fun of what they were writing about.
The use of first person for the point of view Different plot lines Using differnt fonts and colours in the text |
Norms of ModernismHaving realists as characters and realistic situations
Having dark themes Having personal opinoins on everything from social to religous norms Having anger toward war |