Carlos Trujillo

Ms.Breux

English III, Period 8

April 18, 2017

Modernism: The Cultural and Societal Changes
and Their Impact

Modernism is the modifying and change of traditional of traditional beliefs to better fit

modern times. In a time shaped by conflict and affairs that that change the whole perspective of

society, the modernist American developed doubts in their traditional value system and an overall

change in their way of thinking.

During 1914 1945 and even a bit after was the age of Modernism and Post-Modernism

that brought great instability to society, making them question their identity and causing them to

be skeptical about everything around them. This period in time could be described as being

chaotic with two world wars, the modernization of the world, the expansion of city life, and the

abandonment of their cultural roots to influence their everyday lives. It can be seen as an

attempt to shape, or as a progressive trend that helps human beings to reshape their environment

with the aid of practical experimentation, scientific knowledge, or technology.( essay.uk.com,

What Is Modernism? What Impact Has Modernism Had On Human Society?,). Thus with

technological progress along with rejection of their past moral codes and cultures, America

developed characteristics of skepticism, paranoia, atheism, and confusion over there identity.

Cultural, societal, and spiritual change all amount to the same thing: society develops

culture and culture develops spirituality of some kind, and they all have the ability to change the

values and mentality of mankind. She thought there were no Gods; no one was to blame; and so

she evolved this atheist's religion of doing good for the sake of goodness. (Virginia Woolf, Mrs.

Dalloway). Literature produced during that time often used the theme of symbolism to
characterize and understand the changes occurring around them, but since it was also developing

a cynical view on their past beliefs, often creating a different foundation to believe in. Each of

us, in our own personal Factory, may believe we have stumbled down one corridor, and that our

fate is sealed and certain (dream or nightmare, humdrum or bizarre, good or bad), but a word, a

glance, a slip - anything can change that, alter it entirely, and our marble hall becomes a gutter, or

our rat-maze a golden path. Our destination is the same in the end, but our journey - part chosen,

part determined- is different for us all, and changes even as we live and grow. I thought one door

had snicked shut behind me years ago; in fact I was still crawling about the face. Now the door

closes, and my journey begins. (Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory). As explained by Frank

Cauldhame, one of Banks characters, that life is both determined by things we cant control and

by choices people make on their own, so due to war, the expansion on city life, the technological

innovations impacting society, and all in all things that could not be controlled determined the

direction this change was taking the Modernistic American, and then came the Americans choice

of whether or not going along with the change or to going against it, causing modernist America

to be such a chaotic time.

In Charles Simics The Old Couple the poem is about a man that reflects his fears of

moving into the city upon an old couple that live close to his home. They're waiting to be

murdered, or evicted. Soon they expect to have nothing to eat. As far as I know, they never go

out. (Charles Simic, The Old Couple). This points out the conflicting thoughts and paranoia of

modernism, with the want of freedom but not having the foundation to keep them grounded

enough to keep them from going to astray with new ideas. Often Ive thought of myself as a

state; a country or, at the very least, a city. It used to seem to me that the different ways I felt

sometimes about ideas, courses of action and so on were like the differing political moods that
countries go through. It has always seemed to me that people vote in a new government not

because they actually agree with their politics but just because they want a change. Somehow

they think that things will be better under the new lot. Well, people are stupid, but it all seems to

have more to do with mood, caprice and atmosphere than carefully thought-out arguments. I can

feel the same sort of thing going on in my head. Sometimes the thoughts and feelings I had didnt

really agree with each other, so I decided I must be lots of different people inside my brain.

(Iain Banks, The Wasp Factory). In his novel, Banks shows his character franks conflicting

ideas to express the contradicting motions on whether to act the way you were raised or act the

way your reasoning and logic wants you to act, creating an interesting model of tradition versus

logical reasoning of your own experience.

Thus modernism is a change of the standard setting in traditional beliefs through chaotic

means often leading to unconventional values. Such unconventional values that lasted throughout

the many more changes society has gone through is the role of women in society in Mans

world, where women have more of voice and standing than just a female that belongs in home

providing for family. Another example is the idea and practice of atheism, much to the chagrin of

many religious devotees, but this goes to show that society can function and prosper without the

need of a faith to believe in, but to believe in something whether it is yourself or something else

to mold into society no matter how confusing it is. Modernism created many ideas that often

challenged what was easily accepted, it created methods to survive in a time the traditional

means did not really work. So modernism is defined as a time in-between the changes of

standard principles to newly uncommon ethics that shaped the thinking of modernist Americans

and those well after and their societies.

Work Cited:

Simic, Charles. Selected Early Poems. NY, NY: George Braziller, 2013. Print.

(The old couple poem)

Woolf, Virginia. "Mrs. Dalloway." Barnes & Noble. Hogarth Press, 30 Nov.

3919. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.

Banks, Iain. The Wasp Factory. Rearsby, Leicester: W F Howes, 2014. Print.

"History of Modernism." History of Modernism. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

"Modernism." Modernism. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

"Home." What Is Modernism? What Impact Has Modernism Had On Human

Society? - Free History Essay - Essay UK. Essay UK, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.