Comparative analysis Modernism

Modernism was an artistic and cultural movement in the United States starting at the turn of the 20th century with its core period between World War I and World War II and continuing into the 21st century. During this time, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Gertrude Stein, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings, Robert Frost represent the movement. One of the best is Hemingway with his story of The Old Man and The Sea and Soldier’s home and John Steinbeck with his story of Mice and Men. In the story of The Old Man and The Sea we can see clearly some of the modernist characteristics like the alienation of the individual and the value of the individual. While he was referred as the most unfortunate man and other fishermen disregarded him, Hemingway does a great job in recovering his “image” by his extravagant agitation with the large marlin. The author uses simplistic sentences creating a vivid imagery on our heads making it look like if the old man is a hero appraising the old man. This story can relate to the story of Soldier’s home also by Ernest Hemingway and to the story of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.

In the book of the Soldier’s Home is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Our first impression, having read the title only, is that this story will be about a old soldier living out the remainder of his life in an institution where veterans go to die. We soon find out that the story has nothing to do with the elderly, or institutions; rather, it tells the story of a young man, Harold Krebs, only recently returned from World War I, who has moved back into his parents' house while he figures out what he wants to do with the rest of his life. And yet our first impression lingers, and with good reason; despite the act that his parents' comfortable, middle-class lifestyle used to feel like home to Harold Krebs, it no longer does. Harold is not home; he has no home at all. In this story we can see the alienation of the individual just like we did with the story of The Old Man and The Sea.

In the book of Mice and Men is a novella about George and Lennie, who obtain a dream of having their own farm one day. Lennie is mentally disabled, but a physically strong man who travels with George, his best and maybe only friend, who cares about him. Until they have the money to buy their own land, they work on a little farm, with Curley, as the son of the boss. Curly has maybe got an inferiority complex and doesn´t like Lennie. He is very aggressive, and so he attacks Lennie once. After George tells Lennie to defend himself, he crashes Curley's hand. George is small and weak. He doesn´t present to give too much of him, but he easily sees coming problems. His primary purpose is helping Lennie and look for a job. Lennie is very fascinated by soft things, but he can´t control his strength, so he kills some mice, the puppy, and in the end Curley's wife. Curley's wife is very lonely and wants to chat with everybody. Lennie isn´t allowed to talk to her, but he doesn´t always obey George's instructions, and so he isn´t able to avoid any problems any more. He can´t cope with the feelings of the others, and also doesn´t see the consequences of his actions. So he kills Curleys´ wife and flees to the place agreed on and hides himself. When the murder comes out, Curley wants revenge and rides out to find him. George knows that his friend gets tortured when he will be found, and so he runs to the hidden place and kills him with a gun, while he is telling him about their dream, which he loses now. After Lennie is dead, George has lost his physical protection and will maybe end up like all the other guys. On this scene story we can see that Lennie was isolated from the society he lived in because he was mentally incapacitated and we can see that the individuals always felt loneliness. 

Modernism, then, had a great effect on literature. The influence for all the writers great writers like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Gertrude Stein, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings, Robert Frost was undeniable.