20th century lit

A detailed Summary of 20th century lit

The first half of the 20th century was a time that will never be forgotten. War, violence, and death touched the whole world. Numerous totalitarian leaders came into power. Millions and millions of lives were taken from soldiers and civilians. Two great World Wars occurred. Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia's labor camps killed tens of millions of people alone, almost all due to genocide. Then of course, the end of World War II marked the introduction of the nuclear bomb to war. There was The Russian Revolution, The Chinese Revolution, The Spanish Civil War and democracy's arch rival, communism.

Whether it was rooted from one's own government, or from another nation, war affected just about everybody on the planet, directly or indirectly. It was a time of misery and despair. As you probably would have guessed, the arts of the first half of the 20th century were greatly influenced by the massive death and destruction. Many writers and photographers documented the horrors to share with the world. Some used their own stories to give readers an idea of what life surrounded by death was like. Then others tried to find meaning in a world of death, despair, and suffering that did not seem to have any meaning. Alexander Solzhenitsyn and

Part three states the differences between the physical and spiritual state, and the midpoint between the two, the use of memory. The words of the mystic Julian of Norwich are quoted, which state that "All shall be well". With no supporting evidence, Eliot follows up by saying even through all the death surrounding the living, everything will be all right in the end. Part four continues with irony (like the midwinter spring) by stating love causes pain and suffering, "Who then devised the torment? Love." It continues by stating that the living must deal with both pain and love. Part five starts off by stating "... the beginning is often the end/ And to make an end is to make a beginning." He builds on this seemingly ironic statement by implying that "We die with the dying" and "We are born with the dead".

Matryona is not a quintessential heroic main character that saves the day at the end of the story. She does, however, possess all of the qualities that Solzhenitsyn thinks a perfect individual, or society, for that matter, should possess. She is modest, hard working, optimistic, and generous. She possessed many qualities that the Stalinist Russia she was living in did not possess. Solzhenitsyn used Matryona to represent his ideas. Matryona was good in a society containing much evil, yet she never changed. Unfortunately, even after being such a positive person, her generosity led to her death. I believe that this is how Solzhenitsyn felt about Stalinist Russia; anything good will most likely be killed off by the evil. However, the evils will never go away if the "good" throws away their beliefs.

Through her search, some methods of easing her pain is reached, "... Hope keeps singing from afar". She remains strong in her search, never giving up, proving that although she is going through tough times she will make it. "But she goes on...Staggering...Alone..." What she finds is not happiness, but just a small reprieve from suffering here and there. Akhmatova, although very full of sorrow, looks at the positives. She realizes that the deceased are "the ones who smiled...glad to be at rest". Her suffering will never end, that is for sure. All of the mourners' losses will never be forgotten by anyone. The pain will never leave their hearts. "I will remember them always and everywhere,/ I will never forget them no matter what comes."

T.S. Eliot, like Akhmatova and unlike Solzhenitsyn, uses poetry instead of realistic fiction, to find meaning in a world of despair and suffering. Eliot was not surrounded by violence and oppression for a great part of his life like some of the other artists. He did serve as a watchman in World War II, though. This is where he witnessed the evils of war. His experience in World War II played a major part in the writing of Little Gidding. He starts the poem with the line "Midwinter spring is its own season/ Sempiternal though sodden towards sundown,". He goes on to compare the seasons, using them metaphorically, as the winter seems to relate to war, and the summer to peace, perhaps an inner peace. Then he goes on to discuss prayer as not a time "... to verify,/ Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity/ Or carry report.", but as a sort of spiritual journey.

Pablo Picasso expressed anti-war sentiments using a different art form than the other artists discussed above. Comparatively, Picasso was never as closely surrounded by war and violence. However, after hearing the news of an aerial attack on civilians in the small Spanish town of Guernica, he was motivated to speak o

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Approximate Word count = 2393
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English