Movements - Civil rights - Great migration - Due to the outbreak of WW2 the black migration rate increased as the northern industries were in need for laborers. So most of the African American were in the north. - Racism between African American and white and segregating schools - Cold war - School programs - Korean war - Vietnam war - US trying to spread democracy - Women gaining power
Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a troubled boy in the 50's. After flunking out, once again, from a boarding school, he decides to go home a few days earlier than his parents are expecting. Holden, the main character, does not care much for school. His bigger interests include drugs, alcohol, and sex. After he spends his extra days in New York, Holden comes to the conclusion that he wants to be a "catcher in the rye", meaning he wants to catch little kids before they fall off a cliff. Throughout the book Holden sings "if a body catch a body, coming through the rye". These are the wrong lyrics to the song he is thinking of. The correct words are "if a body meet a body", which Holden's little sister reminds him of after he sneaks back home. The song is actually about two people asking if it is wrong to meet in a field when it is not out of love. The whole theme of The Catcher in the Rye is children growing up. When Holden sings "if a body catch a body", the under meaning is that he wants to save children from becoming corrupt by entering the grown up world like he has.
The significance of The Catcher and the Rye and its time period is that it’s post-World War II. Holden talks about the war (and the effect it's had on his brother D.B.) with a slightly sad attitude. He mentions the Atomic bomb, which the U.S. brought out in August of 1945, four to five years earlier than Holden's narration. The dropping of the bomb is a sort of a nation-wide "loss of innocence".
Invisible Man
Invisible Man was written during the 1950s by Ralph Ellison. It is about a young black man whose name is never mentioned in the book. He is from the south. He always used to disregard his grandfather’s dream in which he shows his anger towards the whites. And thought that the best way to be successful is to obey the white’s. He first realizes about the racism in society when he went to local men’s club in which he read his speech that he had wrote during his graduation. In which he got humiliated by the white men in the club. But he was rewarded scholarship to a black men college and a brief case. After a few days in college he was rusticated. And told to work in Harlem, New York. In Harlem he got a job in a communist party called Brother hood as a speaker. Due to that he got caught in racial politics and betrayal. He got caught in a riot and fell in a Man Hole. In an all white’s building he lived in the basement. He runs into Mr. Norton in subway and decides not to obey to white people’s expectations of him. Instead maintain who you are.
Invisible man shows historical context, by showing the migration of African Americans from south to north. Due to the need of products during the World War II, the need for workers increased in northern industries. In the south most of the African Americans were working as field hands or tenant farmers. The farmers wanted to get rid of their old lives and wanted to work in new factories as factory workers. As the protagonist in Invisible Man, migrates from south to north in order to collect money for his college tuition. In the north he goes to Harlem. He finds out racial politics going on in Harlem. Racial politics meant, the distinguish between the African Americans and whites. The whites were considered more prosperous than African Americans. The whites were the upper class and the African Americans were in the lower class. The African Americans were always in the second place and were ignored in the society.
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea, was written in the early 1950's by Ernest Hemingway. The story opens in a small fishing village in Cuba, where the main character, Santiago, is introduced. He is an old man who does not have the best luck when it comes to catching fish. Santiago has a young boy named Manolin to assist him in hisescapades. He tought Manolin key fishing techniques from the young age of 5. Santiago is a very poor man who has had bad luck in cathcing fish recently. He has not caught a fish in 84 days and is growing weary in pessimism. On the 85th day Santiago decides to take a trip way out, past where everyone else is scared to go. He takes Manolin out with him, and they begin fishing. They hook a Huge 18 foot marlin and instead of bringing it in, the marlin begins to pull the boat around the sea. He quickly thinks to secure a line, but then realized that the huge fish would snap the taut line, Santiago takes the strain with his shoulders, hands, and back. The fish pulled the boat all through the day, night, next day, and through the next night. The whole time Santiago is supporting the fish with his body, causing personal pain to himself throughout the whole event. On the third day, the fish finally tires, and Santiago is able to kill it. On the return trip he ties the marlin to the skiff and tows it home, along the way the sharks of the warm Cuban waters attack the fish the whole trip home. Santiago fends them off as much as he could, but the sharks had taken their toll and the multi-thousand pound monster was now only a bloody skeleton, head, and tail of the fish.
The old man, Santiago, is symbolic, comparing him to Jesus Christ. His references throughout the story are extensive. for one when he returns from the long battle with the sharks, he is so tired he climbs the hill to his shack with the skiff's mast on his shoulders, obviously referencing Jesus' struggle to carry the cross he was to be crucified on. When his hands are brutally wounded from the heavy fish on the line, it symbolizes Jesus' hand wounds from being nailed to a cross.
Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman centers around a failing salesman named Willy. Willy is not in touch with reality. Willy has lived his entire life in failure. As the play progresses and he begins to slip further from reality he starts to relive the past trying to find where he went wrong. Death of a Salesman depicts how in a life which requires a man to sell products truly ending with him having to sell himself. When Biff, one of Willy’s sons, discovers that Willy has been trying to kill himself using a tube to suck in carbon dioxide from the gas heating system he demands that Linda, Willy’s wife, remove the tube yet she refuses. She refuses on the basis that she couldn’t take the shame of him knowing that she knew. When Willy finally ends up dying in a car accident we find out that the reason he had been trying to kill himself was so his family could collect the insurance. Unfortunately the insurance adds up to nothing. Also throughout the play Willy speaks of how when he dies thousands will come to his funeral when in truth only his wife and sons are there.
The American dream is the idea that any American can make a name for themselves with a little money and some ambition. As in the play, Willy is trying to make a name for him by being a salesman. During the early 1920s would have been the best time for someone to do this because, being a salesman didn’t require much training or skill, all you had to do was slap a price tag on an item and your job was done. During the 1950s, after the depression, when the book was set, this profession required a lot more education and skill. Willy, however, did not have those skillsets and was left in the dark. After the great depression the economy started to grow and regain its strength. Credit value increased from 8.5 billion to 45 billion dollars from during the time of the depression to the early 50s. In the play, Willy did most of his spending on credit and after realizing that spending credit was deceivingly expensive it was too late and he already was in debt. This happened to a lot of Americans in this time, the economy was getting stronger, and people went and bought what they wanted and said they would pay it off later. The stronger economy was a sign of a recovering nation, but individually it would weaken citizens and families.
Works Cited
Death of a Salesman: Bloom,Harold. Arthur Miller. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987 Moss, Joyce & Wilson, George. Literature and Its Times. 1997. Print. Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Random House, Inc.: 1952. Print.
How Do Literature and History Interact?
WWII/Post WWII:
Movements- Civil rights
- Great migration
- Due to the outbreak of WW2 the black migration rate increased as the northern industries were in need for laborers. So most of the African American were in the north.
- Racism between African American and white and segregating schools
- Cold war
- School programs
- Korean war
- Vietnam war
- US trying to spread democracy
- Women gaining power
Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye is a story about a troubled boy in the 50's. After flunking out, once again, from a boarding school, he decides to go home a few days earlier than his parents are expecting. Holden, the main character, does not care much for school. His bigger interests include drugs, alcohol, and sex. After he spends his extra days in New York, Holden comes to the conclusion that he wants to be a "catcher in the rye", meaning he wants to catch little kids before they fall off a cliff. Throughout the book Holden sings "if a body catch a body, coming through the rye". These are the wrong lyrics to the song he is thinking of. The correct words are "if a body meet a body", which Holden's little sister reminds him of after he sneaks back home. The song is actually about two people asking if it is wrong to meet in a field when it is not out of love. The whole theme of The Catcher in the Rye is children growing up. When Holden sings "if a body catch a body", the under meaning is that he wants to save children from becoming corrupt by entering the grown up world like he has.
The significance of The Catcher and the Rye and its time period is that it’s post-World War II. Holden talks about the war (and the effect it's had on his brother D.B.) with a slightly sad attitude. He mentions the Atomic bomb, which the U.S. brought out in August of 1945, four to five years earlier than Holden's narration. The dropping of the bomb is a sort of a nation-wide "loss of innocence".
Invisible Man
Invisible Man was written during the 1950s by Ralph Ellison. It is about a young black man whose name is never mentioned in the book. He is from the south. He always used to disregard his grandfather’s dream in which he shows his anger towards the whites. And thought that the best way to be successful is to obey the white’s. He first realizes about the racism in society when he went to local men’s club in which he read his speech that he had wrote during his graduation. In which he got humiliated by the white men in the club. But he was rewarded scholarship to a black men college and a brief case. After a few days in college he was rusticated. And told to work in Harlem, New York. In Harlem he got a job in a communist party called Brother hood as a speaker. Due to that he got caught in racial politics and betrayal. He got caught in a riot and fell in a Man Hole. In an all white’s building he lived in the basement. He runs into Mr. Norton in subway and decides not to obey to white people’s expectations of him. Instead maintain who you are.
Invisible man shows historical context, by showing the migration of African Americans from south to north. Due to the need of products during the World War II, the need for workers increased in northern industries. In the south most of the African Americans were working as field hands or tenant farmers. The farmers wanted to get rid of their old lives and wanted to work in new factories as factory workers. As the protagonist in Invisible Man, migrates from south to north in order to collect money for his college tuition. In the north he goes to Harlem. He finds out racial politics going on in Harlem. Racial politics meant, the distinguish between the African Americans and whites. The whites were considered more prosperous than African Americans. The whites were the upper class and the African Americans were in the lower class. The African Americans were always in the second place and were ignored in the society.
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea, was written in the early 1950's by Ernest Hemingway. The story opens in a small fishing village in Cuba, where the main character, Santiago, is introduced. He is an old man who does not have the best luck when it comes to catching fish. Santiago has a young boy named Manolin to assist him in hisescapades. He tought Manolin key fishing techniques from the young age of 5. Santiago is a very poor man who has had bad luck in cathcing fish recently. He has not caught a fish in 84 days and is growing weary in pessimism. On the 85th day Santiago decides to take a trip way out, past where everyone else is scared to go. He takes Manolin out with him, and they begin fishing. They hook a Huge 18 foot marlin and instead of bringing it in, the marlin begins to pull the boat around the sea. He quickly thinks to secure a line, but then realized that the huge fish would snap the taut line, Santiago takes the strain with his shoulders, hands, and back. The fish pulled the boat all through the day, night, next day, and through the next night. The whole time Santiago is supporting the fish with his body, causing personal pain to himself throughout the whole event. On the third day, the fish finally tires, and Santiago is able to kill it. On the return trip he ties the marlin to the skiff and tows it home, along the way the sharks of the warm Cuban waters attack the fish the whole trip home. Santiago fends them off as much as he could, but the sharks had taken their toll and the multi-thousand pound monster was now only a bloody skeleton, head, and tail of the fish.The old man, Santiago, is symbolic, comparing him to Jesus Christ. His references throughout the story are extensive. for one when he returns from the long battle with the sharks, he is so tired he climbs the hill to his shack with the skiff's mast on his shoulders, obviously referencing Jesus' struggle to carry the cross he was to be crucified on. When his hands are brutally wounded from the heavy fish on the line, it symbolizes Jesus' hand wounds from being nailed to a cross.
Death of a Salesman
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman centers around a failing salesman named Willy. Willy is not in touch with reality. Willy has lived his entire life in failure. As the play progresses and he begins to slip further from reality he starts to relive the past trying to find where he went wrong. Death of a Salesman depicts how in a life which requires a man to sell products truly ending with him having to sell himself. When Biff, one of Willy’s sons, discovers that Willy has been trying to kill himself using a tube to suck in carbon dioxide from the gas heating system he demands that Linda, Willy’s wife, remove the tube yet she refuses. She refuses on the basis that she couldn’t take the shame of him knowing that she knew. When Willy finally ends up dying in a car accident we find out that the reason he had been trying to kill himself was so his family could collect the insurance. Unfortunately the insurance adds up to nothing. Also throughout the play Willy speaks of how when he dies thousands will come to his funeral when in truth only his wife and sons are there.The American dream is the idea that any American can make a name for themselves with a little money and some ambition. As in the play, Willy is trying to make a name for him by being a salesman. During the early 1920s would have been the best time for someone to do this because, being a salesman didn’t require much training or skill, all you had to do was slap a price tag on an item and your job was done. During the 1950s, after the depression, when the book was set, this profession required a lot more education and skill. Willy, however, did not have those skillsets and was left in the dark. After the great depression the economy started to grow and regain its strength. Credit value increased from 8.5 billion to 45 billion dollars from during the time of the depression to the early 50s. In the play, Willy did most of his spending on credit and after realizing that spending credit was deceivingly expensive it was too late and he already was in debt. This happened to a lot of Americans in this time, the economy was getting stronger, and people went and bought what they wanted and said they would pay it off later. The stronger economy was a sign of a recovering nation, but individually it would weaken citizens and families.
Works Cited
Death of a Salesman: Bloom,Harold. Arthur Miller. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987Moss, Joyce & Wilson, George. Literature and Its Times. 1997. Print.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Random House, Inc.: 1952. Print.