Anti-Hero

The definition of an “anti-hero” is “a person who is unable to succeed in what he/she does (or wants to do) because of he/she’s personal’s personal flaws”. I think J. Alfred Prufrock fits the definition of the anti-hero very well. Prufrock wants to get a woman he admires, but he is afraid to take action because of his lack of courage and confidence. He was unable to get the woman because of his personal flaws. I think J. Alfred Prufrock is certainly disillusioned, he mentions several times in his poem “the Love Song” how he is too old and too bald to do what he wants to do. Prufrock doesn’t dare to dream that he might one day get the women he wants. , “The hero is today running up against a hard world that is in no way responsive to the spiritual need.” Modern society has become a “stagnation of inauthentic lives and living . . . that evokes nothing of our spiritual life, our potentialities, or even our physical courage.” I agree with Joseph Campbell’s quote, I think that the modern society has indeed become a stagnation of inauthentic lives and living. People now work hard and do what they considered an entertainment (which is watching TV) everyday, they don’t really stop to think about anything because they are too tired, and also because their minds are too occupied.

What’s His Problem?

I think Alfred Prufrock’s problem is that he is too self-conscious and doesn’t have a lot of confidence. He is afraid to take action and propose to the women he admires, because he thinks that he isn’t good enough for her. I think he feels that most women are superior to him and are better than him; he also thinks that the women he sees won’t like someone like him. He thinks he’s too old, too thin, and has a bald spot. In his poem, he mentioned many times how he is bad compared to the woman he likes, he also mentioned how he doesn’t have the courage to tell the woman about his feelings. He said: “do I dare, do I dare?” many times in his poems because he doesn’t have the courage. In lines 37 to 44, he revealed his concern about his self-image. He confesses to the public that he lacks courage and confidence. He reveals his concern about how other people view him by saying: (they will say how his hair is growing thin, they will say how his arms and legs are thin!). 

Poetry’s Social Function

“I think it is important that every people should have its own poetry, not simply for those who enjoy poetry . . . but because it actually makes a difference to the society as a whole, and that means to people who do not enjoy poetry… Unless people go on producing great authors, and especially great poets, their language will deteriorate, their culture will deteriorate and perhaps become absorbed in a stronger one.”- T.S. Eliot. I agree with T.S. Eliot that every kind of people should be able to have their own kind of poetry, because poetry is a way for people to express themselves, and because poetry is different in every different culture, it contains its culture’s unique characteristics. For example, poetry from Indian tribes and poetry from urban Americans will differentiate in both the diction and subject matter. I think denying a culture’s poetry is equal to denying the culture itself. If a culture stops producing literary products, the culture will start to deteriorate. People will start to forget their own language, and the unique characteristics of the culture will start to fade.

War and Economics

Many significant events and disasters happened in the beginning of the past century. The World War One, Economic Crash, the great depression, and the World War Two all happened within the first few decades of the 19^th century. Many disasters happened during the first few years of the 20^th century, too. Even though there weren’t any wars, there were many natural disasters. There was the Si Chuan Earthquake, Haiti Earthquake, Japan Earthquake, Bali Tsunami, and the Japan Tsunami. These natural disasters caused drastic damage to the society and its infrastructures. People were horrified by the nature’s power to take away millions of lives. The human race had to face a big challenge once again; they have to rebuild society after mass destruction. I think historians of the future will describe the past twenty years as a time when the human race is harshly challenged by the environment they live in. We have to face the problem of rebuilding our society, and also sustaining our society, and we also faced the problem of climate change and global warming. I think the label for this contemporary period might be “Renewism”, because we have to, and have begun to restructure our society to fit the fast changing environment of where we live in. 

No Ideas But In Things

One group of Modern poets was called the Imagists. Imagism was a movement in the early 20^th century that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. The imagists rejected the sentimental approaches of the classical Romantic writers. Imagists believed that poetry could be made purer by concentration the precise, clear, and unqualified image. They wanted to rid poetry of its prettiness, sentimentality, and artificiality. I think that there shouldn’t be a limitation on the subject matter of poetry, because I believe that poetry should be a way for people to express themselves, and they should be able to do without any restrictions. Poems today are written about everything. The subject matters are not limited, nor are the formats. Even though I think people should be able to write poetry in whichever way they want, I still think there should be sets of rules and standards made for poem, but people can choose whether or not they want to follow it. Poetry can be more fun when there’s a standard set on it, because poets can challenge themselves to express all their meanings in the limited format. 

Historical Influences

Looking at the timeline on pages 632-633, I found out that many political and social events helped shaped the Modernist movement. Some of the events that I’m most familiar with are the start of World War I in Europe in 1912, the treat of Versailles that ended World War I in 1919, the 18th and 19th amendment in the US, the Great Depression in 1929, and the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Some of the movements that I’m not familiar with are the sinking of the British ocean liner Titanic in Newfoundland, the opening of the Panama Canal, the protest of Mohandas Gandhi, etc. I think the most notable events that must’ve contributed in shaping the artistic movement of that time are the World War I and World War II, and the Great Depression. The three big events mentioned above all impacted the society and the people in it. People’s optimistic views of the world were shattered, and people became more pessimistic. I think some of the recent events that happened around the world can also influence some artistic movements. The earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the riot in Libya and other countries in Africa are both events that can deeply influence the present artistic movements.

Social Influences – Entertainment

The only few entertainments that people in the past had was reading, and going to the movies every once in a while, and they didn’t have the Internet. The people in the past usually go to the movies every week, since it’s one of their only few entertainments, and also the most popular. Going to the movies in the past are almost considered as a routine, everybody goes to the movies at the same day each week. The movie theater has only one screen, and they play just one movie. Movies don’t just serve as an entertainment to the people in the past; it also serves as a way to attain information. Some movie theaters in the past play some news before and after the movies, so the people can get a glimpse of news on the screen. Today, people still go to movies for entertainment, but people don’t always go routinely. The movie theaters nowadays have more than one screen, and play more than a dozen movies in a day. People can choose which movie they want to watch, or choose not to watch any at all. People now can choose to go home and use the Internet instead. People in the past depend heavily on the movies, because it’s their only entertainment. People nowadays have dozens of alternative entertainments to choose from other than movies, they have the Internet and the television. They can also choose to go to see ball games or shows. 

Modernism

Modernism is a movement that has characteristics some different and some similar to that of the Romanticism and Realism. Modernists reject the ideal belief of a hero as an infallible person (Romanticism belief), they favor the belief of a hero who is flawed and disillusioned, but shows “grace under pressure”. One of the beliefs that are similar to that of the realists is the rejection of sentimentality and artificiality. One of the most important characteristics of Modernism is the sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American dream. The people’s beliefs of the American dream were badly destroyed by the devastation of World War I. Kind of like when the people’s Romantic beliefs were shattered by the Civil War. The devastation of World War I and the economic crash severely damaged the belief of America as a New Eden, the belief in progress, and the belief of triumph of the individual. People no longer think America is perfect. I think Modernism is kind of similar to Realism in a way that both movements focused on portraying society “realistically”, they emphasize the bad along with the good, not just the good alone.