Characters of different genders in various novels
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Characters of different genders in various novels encounter one another in public spaces, and in these interactions, the author evokes certain political, social, and economic aspirations, differences, and conflicts. This can be illustrated by reference to a number of novels in which different urban settings become characters in their own right, characters that shape the attitudes and destinies of the human characters who inhabit these areas. Dickens in Hard Times offers a social message which he brings to life through character and setting. Coketown in Hard Times is a representation of the sort of world that was being created because the Industrial Revolution centered entirely on promoting the economy through increased profits while ignoring the human element that makes the whole thing operate. Coketown is an example of what results when society ignores the consequences of change--it is a dark and dirty place where ignorance prevails and any human happiness is stamped out by the sheer sameness of the surroundings. The characters are affected by living in this milieu: It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but, as matters stood it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage (Dickens 30). It should be apparent that Coketown is being depicted here as an example of something from a less civilized age, though something that still exists. The streets are all the same; the peop
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or him, holding him down. The walls of the city similarly enclose other characters in the novel. The city has both energetic life and a deadening sense of enclosure, offering and taking away opportunities at one and the same time. Bud indicates this as he makes his way toward the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge:
When he got to the tangle of girders of the elevated railroads of the Brooklyn side, he turned back along the southern driveway. Dont matter where I go, cant go nowhere now (Dos Passos 124).
Dos Passos believes strongly in individual liberty, and many encounters i the novel show this in a public way. Ellen achieves personal success as an actress, but in so doing she compromise something in herself and finds the materialistic side of success to be empty and demeaning. Yet, the American dream has real power and draws character after character through life, and as they meet in public places, they play this out, each seeking to express his or her belief in that dream even as reality may elude their aspirations:
Pursuit of happiness, unalienable pursuit. . . right to life liberty and. . . A black moonless night; Jimmy Herf is walking alone up South Street. . . Every time he closes his eyes the dream has hold of h
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Industrial Revolution, Dos Passos, Greenwich Village, Manhattan Transfer, Coalhouse Walker, Kong Himes, EL Doctorow, Louisa Thomas, , York Ragtime, dos passos, manhattan transfer, hard times, public spaces, city manhattan transfer, fight die, walls city, city manhattan, el doctorow, country i'd, public space,
Approximate Word count = 1621
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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