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.