Lucas' 20th Century Lit Blog

The goal of Mrs. Dalloway, at least from my perspective,  is to capture real human, thought, interaction and character within one day in 1923. In order to achieve this, Woolf displays a variety of techniques and strategies. Instead of focusing on the overall arc and message of the work she is creating, she meticulously constructs individuals and the interactions they share with one another.  Clarissa herself is not a person who I would find compelling in real life. However, Woolf puts her up to a magnifying glass in a way that would make any character compelling. Human sociality, thought and emotionality are inherently interesting. So, when Woolf takes a closer look at an upper-class socialite, it appears not humdrum, but like an exciting window of opportunity into a previously unseen life. Similarly with the other characters, an in-depth introduction to any person that is not ourselves can prove enlightening and entertaining.  I suppose the author's final goal is to help...

  The Mezzanine is a novel which reminds us to stop and smell the roses. As busy individuals it is easy to finds oneself caught up in large problems and obstacles, when the most beautiful and enjoyable part of life might be in the details. Baker expertly conveys this throughout this book. His character is as relatable as he is unique and as compelling as he is pedestrian.  It is easy to be drawn to Howie as he is able to articulate a large part of the human thought process in ways that we ourselves might not be capable of. In my mind at least, I find myself often engaging in the speculation and h y pothesization that Howie so clearly maps out throughout the pages of his work. I find it extremely attention-grabbing, therefore, that an author was able to put my thoughts to paper in some respect.  Overall we can take a lot of inspiration from Howie. While he is lucky in that his life is unobstructed by obstacles, he has also managed to achieve a level of contentment that mos...

 This will be a 20th century literature blog. 

Introduction Ok, so if you know me, you know that my main obsession in life is pop culture. So, when given the opportunity to write a short story about anything of a historical nature I immediately jumped at the Beatles. A lot of my initial ideas I ended up scrapping, but I finished something that I quite like. Even though it’s not what I originally intended. For historical reference, before the Beatles were internationally famous they went to Hamburg in Germany for a residency in clubs there. I tried to use this setting to create this anecdote. Enjoy! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LLhh7pil-0e_URGaZAKbakuXcnUdxXcgf0iHXvYWo9A/edit?usp=sharing

In  Kindred, our main character Dana is subject to horrors that we find unimaginable and frankly even impossible. It is obvious that over the course of her journey these events begin to take a psychological toll on both her and her husband Kevin. She notices it in Kevin, that his time as a white "slave-owner" pre-civil war, has changed his mannerisms and even speech ever so slightly. She also notices herself slipping in the mentality of a slave. When Kevin wants to go out for fireworks she stays home because she feels that she is still entrapped by the past she keeps returning to. She is always on edge awaiting a return to a horrible nightmare. This nightmare even leaves physical marks on both of them, Kevin acquiring an unknown scar and Dana eventually losing her arm. In this novel we are introduced to a level of trauma that we can't comprehend ourselves. In doing this, Butler shows us the true damage of slavery and the effect it had on people then as well as now. In...

One would have to say, that Slaughterhouse 5  is a novel about Billy Pilgrim. Billy is Vonnegut's vehicle in which he shares his experience over the firebombing of Dresden. However, Billy himself doesn't do a lot of thinking or, really anything. He could best be described as apathetic and disinterested. This begs the question: is he a compelling and effective main character? I personally believe that this can only be decided individually by each reader. Personally, I do not like Billy as a main character. The leads in novels which I find most interesting are much more introspective, and charismatic, and just overall compelling. I know the whole point is that Billy is supposed to be kind of a clown, but he's a little bit boring, and while his struggles are profoundly sad and he has obviously been through a lot, as a character he is not someone that ropes me in. I don't find myself being interested in him, because he seems sort of like a blank slate. Also, the time tra...

Recently while attending an Illinois basketball game, I was seated in front of an older white couple, probably in their 60's or late 50's. Throughout they game they launched a barrage of attacks on the completely black Illinois players after every little mistake or play they deemed unacceptable. I found these white people's relentless criticism of the extremely talented black athletes uncomfortable at best, and downright bigoted at worst. Besides calling the ref a "communist" on multiple occasions, and criticizing him by saying "he probably voted for Bernie Sanders," they displayed beliefs that were definitively Atonist. Anytime, an Illinois player tried anything flamboyant or flashy, they immediately let out cries of "keep it simple," or "that's just reckless." I couldn't help but draw connections between this and the clash between Atonism and Jes Grew in Mumbo Jumbo. A distaste for fun or creativity, and a strict complianc...