Post by chrisr07 on Apr 4, 2008 18:55:04 GMT -5
Chris Rhodes
4/3/08
English III Honors
American Family In Class Writing
It has often been asked if art mirrors the society from which it springs or if it shapes the society that it emerges from. The answer is that both are true. When authors write novel, they very rarely do so without a purpose. This could be expose something about society, illicit change, or sometimes do both. When August Wilson, Arthur Miller, and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Great Gatsby respectively, there was no exception. All three of the novels deal with 20th Century American life. Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Great Gatsby expose the unsound family unit of the 20th century American Family, where the members attempt to escape reality by partaking in less than admirable escapades.
The first novel that exposes the 20th century American family in a negative way is Fences. With the use of the novel “Fences”, August Wilson attempted to portray the average lower-class African American family. On the surface, the family seemed to be built on tight bonds of love. Troy Maxon is always reaffirming his undying love for his wife Rose. The sometimes-harsh relationship between Troy and his son Cory is Troy’s way of teaching Cory life lessons. Though the family has many boundaries to overcome, including the civil rights struggles at Troy’s job, it seems as if the strength of the family will allow it to survive. It turns out that all the strength the reader is led to see in the Maxon family is all a façade.
Troy will not allow Cory to play football in college because it is not the responsible choice for a young black man in America, but it is he that must learn to cope with responsibility. In an attempt to escape the pressures of everyday life, he has an affair with another women. When his wife finds out, he begs her to let him continue seeing this woman because it allows him to forgot all the worries of the world. In the early 20th century when people were beginning to break free from traditional roles, adultery was a common occurrence.
The second novel to expose the 20th century American family in a negative way is the Death of a Salesman. In the novel, Willy Lohman heads an average working class American family. Much like Troy Maxon of Fences, Willy Lohman seems to be the perfect head of the household. He is a caring husband, a loving father to both of his kids, Biff and Happy, and a hard working salesman. He is so intent on supporting his family that he will not even ask the kids for financial help when he is fired from his job. Willy has a fatal flaw though, his lifelong pursuit of the American Dream, leads him along the path to his downfall. Arthur Miller chooses to criticize the American family with the path that Willy Lohman follows.
To the untrained eye, the Lohman household seems to be a stable sustaining unit. The loving father travels the northeast selling items and single-handedly supporting his family. He seems to genuinly care about his son’s futures, although, his means of guiding them are questionable. The inner mind of Willy Lohman is must different from the one his family and buyers see. In truth, Willy cannot stand reality. He deeply longs to escape the worries of actuality and escape into his dream worlds. In these “flashbacks” Willy experiences times in his life when he was at ease. What he doesn’t realize is that while it hurts less to lie to himself, it hurts his family members more because he is in turn lying to them. Apart from the fantasies to escape reality, Willy commits adultery while on a business trip in Boston. He tells Biff that he was just lonely, that it didn’t mean anything, but this singular event stopped Biff’s promising future in its tracks. The 20th century was a hard time for families to sustain themselves. Through the Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller was attempting to show that even in the best-off looking families, members would often try to escape reality into a dreamworld of sorts.
The last novel that portrays the 20th century American family as a deteriorated unit in which the members try to escape reality is the Great Gatsby. While the time period in which the novel takes place is a little later on, it was written during the 1920’s. In this time period, the social rules were changing. The double standard for women was disappearing and new radical relationships were forming. The characters in the Great Gatsby portray the dysfunctional family unit. F. Scott Fitzgerald clearly suggest throughout the novel that 20th century American married couples were held together by weak bonds. Almost every member of the novel is engaged in adultery. The most prominent example of this is the Buchanan couple in which both members are committing adultery. Tom even brags about his mistress, Myrtle, to his friends. Meanwhile, Daisy is having an affair with Jay Gatsby. While some may think that Fitzgerald portrays weak marriages in the novel because that is how his relationships were, they would be wrong. Fitzgerald had a loving wife, Zelda, whom he was faithful to for his entire life. The very fact that Fitzgerald talks so much about adultery in his novels, having never experienced it himself, suggests he is deliberately criticizing the married couples of the 20th century.
The three novels seem to suggest that 20th century American families were built upon weak marital bonds and a desire to escape reality/responsibility. The writers wrote about this topic in a hope of exposing the truth and possibly changing society. Upon examination of 21st century families, I can conclude that to a certain degree things have changed for the better. In present day America, many families can be seen that are self-sustaining. While I cannot hope to identify adultery among couples I believe I can safely say that it is a less acceptable activity than it once was. In such instances where adultery occurs, divorces are most often than not taking place. Also, people are remaining in marriage because of love, as opposed to the marriage in Fences that continues only for the children’s sake. While it cannot be determined how much effect the three novels had on the American family, it is most definitely true that they exposed weaknesses in American society, and mirrored the time period from which they were written.
4/3/08
English III Honors
American Family In Class Writing
It has often been asked if art mirrors the society from which it springs or if it shapes the society that it emerges from. The answer is that both are true. When authors write novel, they very rarely do so without a purpose. This could be expose something about society, illicit change, or sometimes do both. When August Wilson, Arthur Miller, and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Great Gatsby respectively, there was no exception. All three of the novels deal with 20th Century American life. Fences, Death of a Salesman, and The Great Gatsby expose the unsound family unit of the 20th century American Family, where the members attempt to escape reality by partaking in less than admirable escapades.
The first novel that exposes the 20th century American family in a negative way is Fences. With the use of the novel “Fences”, August Wilson attempted to portray the average lower-class African American family. On the surface, the family seemed to be built on tight bonds of love. Troy Maxon is always reaffirming his undying love for his wife Rose. The sometimes-harsh relationship between Troy and his son Cory is Troy’s way of teaching Cory life lessons. Though the family has many boundaries to overcome, including the civil rights struggles at Troy’s job, it seems as if the strength of the family will allow it to survive. It turns out that all the strength the reader is led to see in the Maxon family is all a façade.
Troy will not allow Cory to play football in college because it is not the responsible choice for a young black man in America, but it is he that must learn to cope with responsibility. In an attempt to escape the pressures of everyday life, he has an affair with another women. When his wife finds out, he begs her to let him continue seeing this woman because it allows him to forgot all the worries of the world. In the early 20th century when people were beginning to break free from traditional roles, adultery was a common occurrence.
The second novel to expose the 20th century American family in a negative way is the Death of a Salesman. In the novel, Willy Lohman heads an average working class American family. Much like Troy Maxon of Fences, Willy Lohman seems to be the perfect head of the household. He is a caring husband, a loving father to both of his kids, Biff and Happy, and a hard working salesman. He is so intent on supporting his family that he will not even ask the kids for financial help when he is fired from his job. Willy has a fatal flaw though, his lifelong pursuit of the American Dream, leads him along the path to his downfall. Arthur Miller chooses to criticize the American family with the path that Willy Lohman follows.
To the untrained eye, the Lohman household seems to be a stable sustaining unit. The loving father travels the northeast selling items and single-handedly supporting his family. He seems to genuinly care about his son’s futures, although, his means of guiding them are questionable. The inner mind of Willy Lohman is must different from the one his family and buyers see. In truth, Willy cannot stand reality. He deeply longs to escape the worries of actuality and escape into his dream worlds. In these “flashbacks” Willy experiences times in his life when he was at ease. What he doesn’t realize is that while it hurts less to lie to himself, it hurts his family members more because he is in turn lying to them. Apart from the fantasies to escape reality, Willy commits adultery while on a business trip in Boston. He tells Biff that he was just lonely, that it didn’t mean anything, but this singular event stopped Biff’s promising future in its tracks. The 20th century was a hard time for families to sustain themselves. Through the Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller was attempting to show that even in the best-off looking families, members would often try to escape reality into a dreamworld of sorts.
The last novel that portrays the 20th century American family as a deteriorated unit in which the members try to escape reality is the Great Gatsby. While the time period in which the novel takes place is a little later on, it was written during the 1920’s. In this time period, the social rules were changing. The double standard for women was disappearing and new radical relationships were forming. The characters in the Great Gatsby portray the dysfunctional family unit. F. Scott Fitzgerald clearly suggest throughout the novel that 20th century American married couples were held together by weak bonds. Almost every member of the novel is engaged in adultery. The most prominent example of this is the Buchanan couple in which both members are committing adultery. Tom even brags about his mistress, Myrtle, to his friends. Meanwhile, Daisy is having an affair with Jay Gatsby. While some may think that Fitzgerald portrays weak marriages in the novel because that is how his relationships were, they would be wrong. Fitzgerald had a loving wife, Zelda, whom he was faithful to for his entire life. The very fact that Fitzgerald talks so much about adultery in his novels, having never experienced it himself, suggests he is deliberately criticizing the married couples of the 20th century.
The three novels seem to suggest that 20th century American families were built upon weak marital bonds and a desire to escape reality/responsibility. The writers wrote about this topic in a hope of exposing the truth and possibly changing society. Upon examination of 21st century families, I can conclude that to a certain degree things have changed for the better. In present day America, many families can be seen that are self-sustaining. While I cannot hope to identify adultery among couples I believe I can safely say that it is a less acceptable activity than it once was. In such instances where adultery occurs, divorces are most often than not taking place. Also, people are remaining in marriage because of love, as opposed to the marriage in Fences that continues only for the children’s sake. While it cannot be determined how much effect the three novels had on the American family, it is most definitely true that they exposed weaknesses in American society, and mirrored the time period from which they were written.