Literature is considered a mirror of the society. The pool of content in literary writing stems from the environment in which the writer is placed. A writer will use this environment to advance his/her views of the society and at the same time drive into the audience/readers important information that he/she wishes to pass. Hunter S. Thompson has used his creativity in the novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas written in the 1960s to reflect on American society with Las Vegas as the point of reference.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas describes the American society as hypocritical. This transcends from the leaders to citizens. The Duke and Gonzo attend a conference on Narcotics and dangerous drugs. The theme of the conference is slated as an appeal for knowledge sharing on drugs between those that have knowledge on drugs and those that do not. Their attendance is hypocritical in that they have already decided that they were not going to offer their services at the conference “… and it was clear that we’d be crazy to try any teaching. It was enough to sit here with a head of mescaline and listen to hour after hour of irrelevant gibberish” (Thompson 143). This is also a demonstration of unpatriotic behavior. Citizens have a moral obligation to help solve problems affecting their states
Secondly, the American society is as a blacked out society. Drugs, alcoholism and black market enterprises characterize a blacked out society. A black market society is a consumer based society characterized by both legal and illegal business the duke and the attorney are not drug dealers but heavy consumers. As soon as they get to Mint hotel the Attorney orders four shrimp cocktails, four club sandwiches, quart rum and fresh grape fruits. He says they ...
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... was before the Supreme Court, the final appeal. He'd been sentenced to five years in prison for refusing to kill "slopes.” This statement illustrates the moral decay of the society. A criminal was likely to get a shorter jail term than a person who had refused to join the military and aid in killings. What is right is considered a serious offence.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Thompson Hunter S. arguments have negatively portrayed the American society in the 1960s and 1970s. Drugs and alcohol abuse, racism, hypocrisy, failed institutions and the dying American dream continue to daunt the image of the Las Vegas society. However all is not lost as the issues addressed have continued to be a point of reference not only to the Americas past but the future ambitions. Thompson plays his role as an author in bringing into public what is ethically wrong or right.
In the article “Outrage over Las Vegas must outlive news and election cycles” Don Kusler believes that strict gun control laws should be put into place. His reasoning behind this is that the 2nd Amendment was written a long time ago and they did not have police nor did they have automatic weapons that were easily accessible. Expressing his opinion on the 2nd Amendment, Kusler writes “The 2nd Amendment was written in a very different time: there were no public safety systems, like police, and there were no automatic weapons available.” In this excerpt from his article, you can see that Kusler claims the police are able to protect everyone therefore eliminating the need for people to have their own guns for self protection. Kusler criticizes
The first article, “The Best Night $500,000 Can Buy,” portrays the perfect night out in Las Vegas. Devin chronologically takes the reader through a night in one of the famous clubs in Las Vegas, Marquee. He describes the fundamental marketing techniques that promoters use to lure women into the venue, the prices that high-rollers pay to get a VIP access and tables, and the “shitshow” atmosphere where people are dancing as if they are on Ecstasy (some people are actually on drugs). From personal experience, Las Vegas is definitely the Disney World for adults because people can openly consume alcoholic beverages on Fremont Street while enjoying their time at the arcades, night and day clubs, pools, gambling rooms, theme park rides, shopping centers, restaurants, strip clubs, and wedding chapels. Which ultimately le...
Analysis of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five Section One- Introduction Slaughterhouse-Five, written by Kurt Vonnegut Junior, was published in 1968 after twenty-three years of internal anguish. The novel was a "progressive work" after Vonnegut returned from World War II. Why did it take twenty-three years for Kurt Vonnegut to write this novel?
In one portion of the documentary, we see an excerpt from one of President Richard Nixon’s speeches on how he feels about America’s ongoing battle with drug abuse. In the speech, he declared that this so called “war” with drug addiction needed to be handled while proclaiming that drug abuse was “America’s public enemy number one”. Years later, the war on drugs has only become even more of a controversial issue in the United States with the consequences spanning and reaching particular groups and hinting that they are more so involved than others.
I think that the good novelist tries to provide his reader with vivid depictions of certain crucial and abiding patterns of human existence. This he attempts to do by reducing the chaos of human experience to artistic form. And when successful he provides the reader with a fresh vision of reality. For then through the symbolic action of his characters and plot he enables the reader to share forms of experience not immediately his own. And thus the reader is able to recognize the meaning and value of the presented experience as a whole. (Kostelanetz 10)
Much of the essay is filled with polar opposites, different metaphors for west-central Nevada; “present knocks against the past, development knocks against nature, repression against indulgence, reality against dream, masculine against feminine, the Goddess of Destruction against the...
Literature is representative of the time in which it is produced. Literature can reflect societal views, attitudes, and fears.Vampire literature, in particular, often represents the fears of a society.In the Victorian Era, a time of intense sexual repression, it was common for vampire stories to reflect the fear of sexuality that was rampant in society.
In many ways Las Vegas can be an escape from stressful life. A vacation from all the worries and problems those plaques the people of America on a day to day life. Many people come to seek fame and fortune. Though when looking for this American dream comes at an expensive cost. Hunter S. Thompson paid this price the hard way and even then did not achieve the American dream he was searching for. In Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson explains that drugs will change people even turn your best friends against you and those drugs can make you happy, but will not allow you fully achieve happiness that the American dream promises through allusions and symbolism.
Literature has played a large role in the way we perceive the world and it can affect the way in which we think about things. Edgar Allan Poe along with Mark Twain are two of the most influential authors that our world has ever seen. Their descriptiveness and diction has had a huge impact on their readers for centuries. Poe’s gothic style of writing was very enthralling and suspenseful; it left you wanting to know what was going to happen next. Whereas, Mark Twain was a very humorous author that intended to amuse all that read. The descriptiveness that was incorporated by these world-renown authors is tremendous.
What is horror? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as "a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." It stands to reason then that "horror fiction" is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader. An example of a horror film is "The Shining", directed by Stanley Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick was a well-known director, producer, writer and cinematographer. His films comprised of unique, qualitative scenes that are still memorable but one iconic film in his collection of work is The Shining. Many would disagree and say that The Shining was not his best work and he could have done better yet, there are still those who would say otherwise. This film was not meant to be a “scary pop-up” terror film but instead, it turned into a spectacular psychological, horor film in which Kubrick deeply thought about each scene and every line.
Riedel, Luther. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 2 Mar. 2014 .
Whenever we try to imagine the feelings or motives of a writer, we impose our own thoughts and ideas, our own biases, onto that person and their work. Perhaps in order to justify our choices or legitimate the philosophies that we hold dear, we interpret texts so that they fall into place in our own ideological frameworks. Literature, because it engages with the most important and passionate questions in life, evokes responses in readers that emanate not only from the mind but also from the subconscious and from the deepest places in the heart. Writers like Virginia Woolf ask, and sometimes answer, questions about life's meaning, about the nature and importance of relationships, about spirituality, work, family, identity and so on. It is what makes writing fascinating and the critiquing of writing something more than an intellectual exercise.
Literature allows reflection. It helps us to shape our own thoughts. It builds on rich histories of thought and expression. Literature represents and explores the ways in which the world is viewed and experienced by people in that society.
Literature has had a major impact on society, and, also our history. Literature has reformed and shaped civilizations, changed political systems, and has exposed injustices (3). Our literature has changed and developed as we have, keeping up with our society. “...literature is crucial for the advancement of society (3).” With literary works, we can convince others to view things a certain way, share our opinions, and more. Literature is greatly intertwined with our society and everyday lives, and they would not be the same without it. Literature plays an irreplaceable role in our
Literature is rarely, if ever, merely a story that the author is trying to tell. It is imperative that the reader digs deep within the story to accurately analyze and understand the message the author is trying to portray. Authors tend to hide themselves in their stories. The reader can learn about the author through literary elements such as symbolism, diction, and structure. A good example of this is Robert Frost’s poems The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold can Stay in which he uses ordinary language unlike many other poets that became more experimental (Frost, Robert. “1.”).