Western Humanities Modernism

Modernism

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present” (Alice Morse Earle). With each one of these “presents” comes an opportunity for civilization to advance as a whole. This progression constitutes many things, some of which include; the changing of one’s values, development of better technology, power shifts in both authority and gender, and even new methods of thinking being introduced. As these changes occurred throughout the world, numerous contemporary authors managed to capture these modern concepts in their novels. Mary Flannery O’ Conner’s, A Good Man is Hard to Find, is a prime example of a modernistic story. O’ Conner includes the use of new technology subtly throughout the tale, as well as the power shift in authority. However, the main theme portrayed in this work pertains to the idea of individuals changing their values or already possessing values that would have been considered to be abnormal in an earlier time, such as the Enlightenment era. Similarly to O’Conner’s novel, A Street Car Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams contained many of these same modern characteristics. Williams’ play incorporated the use of power switching in both gender and authority senses, and made use of the technological advancements of that time. Nevertheless, this theatrical performance contained many old ideas, but the way these ideas were brought to light was an entirely different approach than the standard ways of the past. The old saying, “out with old, and in with the new,” is what this whole modernism movement is related to, despite the fact that some of the ideas presented may have not have been, “brand new”.

The short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, in a nutshell, is about an average 1950s family going on vacation to Florida. Their trip turns fatal when the family gets into an automobile accident, and is gunned downed by an escaped convict that just so happened to be behind then at the time of...