Postwar Issues

During the post-war era, important issues such as feminism and racial issues began to rise in American society. Even after the war was over, society was in turmoil with social battles gave American writers inspiration to underline these issues. Authors such as Elizabeth Bishop and Ralph Waldo Ellison used their literary pieces as forms of expression towards these issues.

One well-known author during this post-war era was Elizabeth Bishop; she was an only child who lost both of her parents at an early age, her father had passed away and her mother suffered from mental instability and she ended up in a mental institution (Augustyn, 2011). Her literary pieces were well known for her general themes of struggle, experiences, and grief (Augustyn, 2011). One literary piece of work that was discussed this week was her poem, “Questions of Travel.” This poem underlines reason for her traveling; the speaker often questions the idea of traveling and questions whether or not she should have stayed home. During this time period, the feminist revolution was an upcoming topic in American history. In the 1950s women were expected to stay at home and motherhood was socially acceptable as a housewife characteristic (Augustyn, 2011).

Bishop takes the reader to a journey of self-conflict; the poem focuses on an unknown woman that is almost in turmoil as questions are frequently brought up because this woman longs for experiences. This woman keeps asking the question, “Think of the long trip home…should we have stayed at home and thought of here? “ (Perkins 13-15) This demonstrates an intelligent contemplative woman, qualities that women in the early 1950s did not necessarily posses. Bishop captures the essence of evaluating ones worth, the poem is filled with questions especially questions about the decision to stay at home, and the title ties in the meaning of life not having an answer to all of one’s questions but valuing the importance of the questions itself. Bishop goes into justifying the woman’s decision by saying, “But surely it would have been a pity not t have seen the trees along this road, really exaggerated in their beauty, not to have seen them gesturing like noble pantomimists, robed in pink” (Perkins 30-34). Bishop allow to underline a theme that questions where and what a home really is, the poem allows the speaker to be taken on a journey of exploration very contrary to the wishes of women in earlier times that were restricted solely to their own homes. The feminism movement allowed women writers to express the individual creativity in order to expand their art.

Another important issues that rose after the post-war time period was the rise of racial issues. A well-known author to express their views in this matter is author Ralph Waldo Ellison. Ellison’s parents had been slaves and had moved to Oklahoma in pursuit of a better life for them all (Augustyn, 2011). Ellison was greatly influenced