Changes in American Society and Culture 1865-1929: Growing Disillusionment as Reflected in Literature (JS)
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"When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloom'd" by Walt Whitman Published
Whitman was born in New York City. As an adult, he spent time in the Western frontier. During the Civil War, Whitman worked in Washington, D.C. His work captures the spirit of the frontier as well as an understanding of the growing U.S. cities. The poem, an elegy to Lincoln, captures the reaction of the country to the upheaval caused by Lincoln's assassination.
Currier and Ives, The Assassination of President Lincoln, 1865. -
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The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same
As the Western frontier was settled, Americans were disillusioned by the reality that life in a new place was not any better than life back home. -
"Luck of Roaring Camp" by Bret Harte Published
Harte was born in New York and grew up in New York City. As an adult, he moved to California, where he was living when he wrote “Luck of Roaring Camp.” The story is set in a mining camp in California during the gold rush. Central to the story is the newness of American life in the mining camps. Unlike in “Lilacs,” there is no sense of connection or permanence. The hope of a new, better life disappears.
The Overland Monthly, 1869 The Cooper Collections of U.S. History. -
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Published
Mark Twain was raised in Missouri but traveled the United States and abroad. The book is set on the Mississippi River in Missouri, Illinois, and Arkansas. Twain writes about rural America as a native but with the experience of a world traveler. Written after the Civil War, the novel satirizes how little has changed in Southern society.
E.W. Kemble, “Out of Bondage,” illustration in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain (New York: Charles L. Webster and Company, 1884). -
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City Life?
As Industrialization reshaped the country, Americans were disillusioned by the reality of life in the modern cities. -
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane is Published
Crane was living outside New York City when he wrote the novel which is set on an unnamed battlefield during the Civil War. An important element of the book is isolation from the outside world. The battlefield and their physical environment are the only things that exist for the characters. The greater world loses significance in their struggle to survive. The war has been stripped of any sentimentality.
Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage (D. Appleton & Company, 1895). -
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Published
Upton Sinclair spent his teenage years in New York City and lived in Chicago while writing The Jungle, which is set in Chicago. His familiarity with cities is pivotal in his portrayal of the horrors of U.S. cities in his time. Despite the focus on city life, the main character, Jurgis Rudkus, also travels to the rural United States, to demonstrate that life in country is no better for the working poor.
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1906 (Courier Corporation, 2012). -
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American Dream?
Americans were disillusioned by modern life and the American Dream itself. -
The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot Published
Eliot wrote this poem as an ex-patriate living in London. His rejection of the American dream was absolute. The poem has no fixed setting but jumps from one setting to another in disconnected bursts. This is a commentary on Eliot’s view of the world as fragmented and without meaningful connections. He grew up living the American Dream, yet completely rejects it.
T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land, editor Lawrence Rainey, Yale University Press, 2005. -
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald Published
Fitzgerald was born and spent much of his childhood in St. Paul, Minnesota. After World War I, Fitzgerald lived briefly on Long Island where The Great Gatsby is set.This book shows the reality of what it takes to achieve the American Dream and the consequences of those choices. The American Dream is shown as rotten at its core.
The University of Adelaide Library, South Australia, http://esl-bits.net/Books/The_Great_Gatsby/ accessed June 24, 2017.
