Early Twentieth-Century Fiction
English 358:358, Fall 2022
“Jazz songs and love, thrusting unconscious rhythms, black reddish blood into the white and whitewashed wood of Washington,” (53).
Toomer, Jean. Cane. 1923. New York: Liveright, 2011.
Seventh street is the representation of black culture and the black community. This all began to emerge when the migration from the South to the North happened, which created these communities and really brought life to them. Today we can still see these communities and their influence on society.
“On Spade’s desk a limp cigarette smoldered in a brass tray filled with the remains of limp cigarettes. Ragged grey flakes of cigarette-ash dotted the yellow top of the desk and the green blotter and the papers that were there,” (Hammett 4).
Hammet, Dashiel. The Maltese Falcon. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1930.
Hammett’s style of writing seems to be very descriptive. Within these descriptions he sets up a vivid image of the surrounding area, much like a film would.
“How bad do you want to do something,” I says. She looks at me. “Of course. A doctor learns all sorts of things folks don’t think he knows, ” (Faulkner 246).
As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner.
MacGowan, who is pretending to be a doctor, is taking advantage of Dewey Dell’s dire need for the medication. Because she is a pretty woman he is preying on her, which he most likely would not do if she was a man.
“So Richard’s mind, recovering from its lethargy, set now on his wife, Clarissa, whom Peter Walsh had loved so passionately; and Richard had had a sudden vision of her there at luncheon; of himself and Clarissa; of their life together; and he drew the tray of old jewels towards him, and taking up first the brooch then that ring,” (Woolf 111).
Woolf, V. Mrs. Dalloway, ed. Bonnie Kime Scott (2005).
Reflection on his relationship with his wife overcomes him as he learns that her old love has returned to London. It seems that out of fear and disappointment in his past actions, Richard, wants to apologize by giving Clarissa a gift.
“As he sat at his desk in the King’s Inns he thought what changes those eight years had brought.”
James Joyce. Dubliners. Grant Richards 1914, 65.
Little Chandler seems to be reminiscing on how his friend use to be and who he has become today. So much has seemed to change within those eight short years.
“This was the pang that had been sharpest during the last few years—the sense of ebbing time, of shrinking opportunity; and now he felt not so much that his last chance was going as that it was gone indeed.”
Henry James, “The Middle Years.” Henry James: Complete Stories 1892-1898, ed. John Hollander and David Bromwich (New York: The Library of America, 1996), 337.
Dencombe can be seen reflecting on his life within this passage. He seems to feel that his life has hit its peak and is now declining. Does he feel hopeless or is he just becoming more aware of his situation?