Bright Lights, Big City Response

The book is in many ways a reflection of the time period it was produced in, this is mainly due to the way McInerney tells the story. McInerney uses elements of modernism, especially stream of consciousness that adds to the story being used as a product of the time. McInerney also uses references to the drug culture and emphasizes issues surrounding the time, and finally the setting adds to the novels importance to the future of novel writing.

The Novel is significant because McInerney uses elements of modernism to tell the story, one way being through stream of consciousness. Because the novel is told in the second person much of the novel consists of the reader being told the story through one person’s point of view and essentially in their shoes, which means that, we get their stream of consciousness. When the narrator in the novel talks about different issues he rambles on about his personal opinion on what has happened. An example is presented in the chapter the night shift. When asked a question by his brother the narrator answers simply, but then continues on thinking that “you have made such a point of not dwelling on the incidents associated with your mothers death…and in the end you have confused what she wanted with what Amanda wanted…you knew no reaction that satisfied both conditions (McInerney 161). The quote was actually a string of three separate paragraphs shortened down, all of them thoughts on the answer about a question posed to him. None of the information was said out loud, but instead was just his thoughts and consciousness. This element relates back to the novel being a product of its time because the stream of consciousness, unlike previous novels, gave us a glimpse into the point of view of a young person living in a suburban area, it also tainted people’s view of New York and life in big cities.

The setting in itself plays an important role in the way the story is told as it reflects one of the major themes of this time period and that was Wall Street. It also follows the scenes of the 1980’s, a man who lives in the biggest city, parties all night, and is in many cases stripped of his life. The setting, along with the choice of a young urban main character, reflects the new generation prevalent in the country at the time.

In the way that the author tells the story he emphasizes heavily on the drug culture that was a major theme of this period in history. The 1980’s, more than most other eras in history, saw an accumulated rise in the American drug culture. The novel focuses specifically on cocaine with the author using unusual terms such as Bolivian marching band to tell the reader when cocaine is being used. In books in previous eras the references to America’s drug culture was not used as heavily because it was not see as a problem. However, the author shows the growing drug culture as a major problem in America, something that was totally new to the American people. Bright Lights Big City played an important role in telling citizens the issues with the drug culture. The novel underlines how drugs had become an okay part of people’s life, but they are eventually one of the things that lead to the main characters downfall. The emphasis on drug culture has resulted in novels sensationalized during this time period, and at the same time in America the country was experiencing its first realization about the problems of drugs, bringing on the drug panic of the 1980’s. This was especially prevalent in the late 1980’s and 90’s, when nearly half of the population had used some type of drug over this time period with a third of people taking marijuana alone, thus breading an unhealthy environment.

            In summary, McInerney had an important effect on writing during the 1980’s causing a sensation in 1984. McInerney uses Modernism in the form of stream of consciousness, as well as the emphasis on drug culture to make his novel Bright Lights Big City a household name during its time after the books publication in 1984.

Work Cited:

McIerney, Jay. Bright Lights, Big City: A Novel. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1984. Print.

Reaction Paper Persuasion- Alfie Tutt

During the nineteenth century in England social divisions were more common than they had ever been since the abolishment of the feudal system in the mid 1600’s. Jane Austen in her book Persuasion shows these social differences between the different classes. Furthermore, the class someone is placed in is, in many circumstances, down to their wealth. In Persuasion, the characters Mary, Mr. Wentworth and Sir Walter show these social divisions to be true when approached with certain situations.

The importance of wealth and a noble title are at the forefront of importance in Persuasion. Mary, who is married to Charles Musgrove, constantly rejects lower class people into her social sphere. For example, while on a walk through the forest with her husband and sisters, Charles Hayter and Henrietta both want to visit the Hayter house, but Mary is shown to be shocked at the statement expressing her disbelief in their need to go near the house of such a poor family, as it would not look good for her or her families image to be associated with people who are in a different socio-economic class to her. After refusing to go to the house, and apologizing for bringing them close to the Hayter’s house, she quickly talks to Captain Wentworth, trying to show she has no affiliation with a family of lower status. She promptly assures Captain Wentworth that “It is very unpleasant, having such connexions! But I do assure you, I have never been in the house above twice in my life” (Austen 63). Mary demonstrates how people of any type of nobility quickly shun the idea of interaction with anyone of a lower standing than them, even if her sister was to marry into the Hayter’s family.

Mr. Wentworth also provides an understanding of how Jane Austen displays the change occurring in England with a shift to the importance of wealth and title. When Mr. Wentworth and Anne were first in love seven years before they meet in the book, the narrator describes them being deeply in love while still young, and quickly they moved to marry each other. However because Mr. Wentworth held no title and had little money to offer Anne, Lady Russell and Sir Walter strictly advised Anne against the move, as a woman of her nobility should marry better than a poor man. Anne, therefore, refused Mr. Wentworth. However by the time she met him seven years later he had not only gained the title of Captain, due to his naval triumph, but also moreover gained serious wealth. Due to Captain Wentworth’s new fortune, Sir Walter saw that “ his personal claim and…superiority of appearance might not be unfairly balanced against her superiority of rank…assisted by his well-sounding name enabled Sir Walter at last to prepare his pen” (Austen 185). While skeptical seven years ago, chapter twenty-four shows Sir Walter’s newfound admiration for Captain Wentworth due to his sizeable wealth, making him a worthy partner for Anne.

Sir Walter Elliot is another character that also embodies the change in English society. At the start of the book it is prevalent that “Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot’s character; vanity of person and of situation…he considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy” (Austen 2). Even though Sir Walter’s title was not as noble as he perceived it to be, he constantly shunned people of the lower class. When he decided to lease his house he was in sharp disapproval of a naval officer staying in his home and took much persuading by Lady Russell to agree to give Mr. Croft a meeting. After the meeting he swiftly decided Mr. Croft was good enough. Later in the book Sir Walter also furthers the difference in social class but at the other end of the spectrum. While in Bath, Sir Walter is offered the opportunity to go to visit his relative, Lady Dalyrmple’s house. Previously relations between the two families had been bad with no contact for many years. However, Lady Dalyrmple is now one of the wealthiest people in Bath, and so Sir Walter abandons all his family pride, and does whatever he can to please Lady Dalyrmple. Sir Walter’s actions not only reflect the difference of social class, but more importantly that even someone of Sir Walter’s high family principles will throw them all away in order to be friends with someone above his standing. Anne is disgusted with his actions and sees it as weak.

In conclusion, the difference between social classes, now dependent on wealth and title was strongly prevalent in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. The characters Mary, Captain Wentworth, and Sir Walter all show the change in English society through various situations.

Work Cited

Austen, Jane. Persuasion. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 1997. Print.

Reaction Paper-Alfie Tutt

Reaction Paper

Gretchen Schulz and R.J.R. Rockwood in their article Fairyland without a map, discuss in detail how Connie’s perception of the world around her has effected her actions. Moreover the article shows how the author uses fairytale stories as motifs to be followed by Connie in the story. After re-reading the story again, the apparent connection between Connie’s perception on the characters, and the motifs impacting the direction of the story, are both easily identifiable.

Arnold Friend plays a vital role because we view him as Connie’s inner world does, Connie determines how “Arnold is, or has to be, at least in her eyes…effectively rearrange and remodel the world of objective reality”(Schulz, Rockwood 114).  Furthermore the authors point out that the book is heavily based on “psychological realism” essentially meaning more emphasis is added to the characterization of a character and their internal responses to circumstances. Connie in the book is the perfect example of how psychological realism is used, the use of psychological realism makes it seem that Friend’s qualities are presented subjectively instead of objective with facts. It is important to point out that Connie embodies the average teenager at this time, as she is fascinated and frightened at the same time which trap her in a traumatic situation in which she does not know what to do, Connie "couldn't decide if she liked him or if he was just a jerk, and so she dawdled in the doorway and wouldn't come down or go back inside”(Oates 4). Later in the article it is pointed out that because of Motifs and symbolism used in the book, Arnold Friend is a character that Connie could not resist being interested in because he embodies the type of music she loves. The article later shows how Connie’s view of Arnold Friend results in her coming out of the womb as “the women in Connie wants to be born” (Schulz, Rockwood 127), creating the connection to Little Red Riding Hood with Arnold Friend being the woodcutter forcing her out her comfort zone.

Connie’s indecisiveness directly connects to her inability to understand whether she belongs in society, constantly stuck between “home and anywhere that was not home…at the boundary between childhood and adulthood, hesitant and yet anxious”. Later in their article, Schulz and Rockwood examine the behavior of Connie as stuck in the difficult transition away from childhood and therefore needing help from others to turn towards maturity and personal identity. Connie’s perception of the world is moreover altered due to the author’s personal style. Oates throughout her life used vivid imagery and symbolism in order to explain stories and further the plot similar to myths or folk tales. The symbolism was shown in other such books as The Assassins, but is even more prevalent in relation to Connie. Oates book uses “Motifs from such tales as "The Spirit in the bottle…Cinderella…and The Three Little Pigs”(Schulz, Rockwood 116). The article points out that Connie’s actions shows that children can compensate creating a happier ending to the situation. One book, The Spirit in the Bottle, is used as a motif because the bottle “is the drive-in restaurant where the tee-agers hangout…the boy on the bottle cap reminds us of the boy named Eddie” (Schulz, Rockwood 118).  Schulz and Rockwood show that the use of The Spirit in the Bottle… creates the mistake of Connie in inciting Arnold Friend’s interest in her. Similar to the fair tale “Connie has uncorked the bottle, but…she is not equipped to recognize…the laughing Arnold friend as the potentially destructive force which must be controlled” (Schulz, Rockwood 119)

However, as pointed out in the article Connie does not follow the trend but furthermore is symbolic for the whole generation, that has dramatically changed since previous ones. As mentioned “the only ‘stories’ Connie knows are those of the sexually provocative but superficial lyrics of the popular songs”(Schulz, Rockwood 116). The problem with these songs is that they present no model of behavior as previously mentioned stories, creating a false imagery of life. I found it interesting how the article briefly makes the connection of Connie’s generation comparative to stories such as the Burghers of Hamelin, as these stories are used as motifs for Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”.

In conclusion, the article “Fairyland Without a Map”, written by Gretchen Schulz and R.J.R. Rockwood, accurately makes a reference to the strong use of Connie’s inner world in reference to psychological realism. The article also makes a strong connection between fairytales and the story with the use of motifs, creating a meaning to the story.

Work cited:

Gretchen, Schulz, and R.J.R, Rockwood. In Fairyland, without a Map: Connie’s Exploration Inward in Joyce Carol Oates. Literature and Phycology 30, 198-. Print.

Oates, Joyce Carol, and Elaine Showalter. "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 1994. Print.