Comparing Society in The Dharma Bums and The New American Poetry Essay

Mass Society in The Dharma Bums and The bleak American rime One of the best ways to fully understand an era is to register its writings. The printed word has the incredible capacity to both reflect and shape the hopes, fears, and ideologies of the time. This is really evident when reading literature from 1960s America, a turbulent period in the history of our country. While the authors styles are genuinely contrastive, there are distinct thematic patterns and characteristics evident in galore(postnominal) of their forges. For one, there is a common landplace concept of the un tyro pluges. This concept serves as a foil for the enlightened few often represented as the main characters and more specifi augury as the authors themselves. There also seems to be a general wondering(a) of the American Dream as well as a suck up conflict between nature and technology. By looking at these common thematic elements, not only can we better understand the literature of the time, but we can also get a fuller contrive of the era itself. One of the most interesting concepts in 60s literature is that of mass society. And while this notion is evident in many of the writings, the treatment of it is different from author to author. Richard Brautigan chooses to show the poor masses in his piece Trout fishing in America. He writes, ...people gather in the park crossways the street from the church and they are hungry.//Its sandwich time for the poor.(280,Streets) Donald Berthelme in his work The Glass Mountain calls the masses, acquaintances(284, Streets). He shows them to be a drunk and frisky lot who shout profanities at him as he tries to climb the building. Lawrence Ferlinghetti mentions an unlonely advertize(130,Poetry) in his po... ...erature from 1960s America is full of recurring themes and images, which help to shed slightly light on the society of the time. There is a portrayal of a mass society that is questing for the Americ an dream. There is also a call for enlightenment which many of the authors seem to say comes from a rejection of technological shimmer and a return to simple, awe inspiring nature. These themes are shown in many different ways and with various slants. By placing these works in the large context of a social era, we can see that the 60s was a very tumultuous time of great conflict and great change. Works Cited Allen, Donald ed. The New American Poetry. U of California water closetBerkeley, 1999. Bloom, Alexander and Wini Breines Takin It To The Streets. Oxford University Press Oxford, 1995. Kerouac, Jack The Dharma Bums. Penguin Books N.Y., 1986.