Eng/302 - Postwar Emerging Issues in Literature

Postwar Emerging Issues in Literature

Samantha Keane

ENG/302

November 9, 2015

Lindsey Surratt

Postwar Emerging Issues in Literature

There were so many unmistakable social situations that made the post-war period historical. Even after the war ended, to some it was like it had not due to the social battles that followed. Multiple old society related problems had been rediscovered during the period between 1950 and 1960. Many of these problems had infected humanity for years but were never debated in public until this time. Racism and government issues are some good examples of these kinds of problems, which only made it to the surface after the war.

Racism

The “Invisible Man” was written by Ralph Waldo Ellison. Elision was an American writer/novelist and literary critic who was born in Oklahoma City. “Invisible Man” described the intellectual and social issues that African-Americans had to face during the early 20th century. There was a very detailed description of the narrator’s life that included the setting being New York City and the problems the narrator faced as a black character, one of which was that he had been a student in an all-black college, which he was later expelled from. The novel is the story of an unnamed African-American man who thinks he is invisible to society. This post war time included this as one the anti-racism movements. The details in this autobiography gave Ellison details and courage to write about what he had to face. There were many differences between white and black men, more negative things surrounded the black man, like “random” acts of murder, and there was little or nothing to be done about it. Racism was a real social problem in 1950; also this was when the social movements started after World Wat II ended. It seemed as though one war ended and another began. Fights over territories and many murder homicides began in the middle of the 1950’s when the battles of race began. Ellison saw this is an opportunity to write about what was going on and to change people’s mentalities, and he wrote about it. During the post-war period was the time to survive and rebuild. Of course there are difficult times to reflect on from before or during the war, but after the war was a very hard time for the people. “Invisible Man” is a novel that explores the life situations that a young African-American male had to face during the post-war time period. These situations included racism as well as political struggles. The narrator considers himself to be “socially invisible” and remains unnamed.

Foolery and Manipulation

A short story