American Prose

American Prose

When we speak about American prose, we have to be aware of the fact, that it has English roots. The basis of the American prose comes from Puritans who left England and with them transported the English traditions into every aspect of life. 18^th century is the cradle of prose in America even though it sounded more English, this is caused by the lack of time the literature had so far, to build its own characteristics.

But, it was not until the 19^th century when Nathaniel Hawthorne became the key figure in the developing of American Literature. He had Puritan ancestors, and their cruelty and intolerance influenced his writing. He described the psychology of the characters, negative part of human mind and used a lot of symbolism. “The Scarlet Letter” is considered to be the magnum opus of his works.

In this work he attacks Puritanism and its traditions. The plot follows a young woman who comes to America. While she’s waiting for her husband, she falls in love with a Puritan priest. She thinks that her husband died and gets pregnant with the priest, but she is afraid to tell who the father is. That is the reason for her exclusion from the society. The moment she commits the sin she is ordered to wear a scarlet letter ´A´ on her bosom. This is the first purely American novel that is why we think of it as the beginning of American prose.

Next author, who played an important role in shaping the American prose, was Mark Twain, who was a Victorian Period writer and the only author to whom slavery brought inspiration. Mark grew up in a slave state. When he was young, it was normal for him to witness crimes which were committed on the slaves. Both of his works “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Huckleberry Finn” are based upon his childhood experience.

The era of 1920s had many nicknames, out of which “The Roaring Twenties” entitles it in the best way. It was the beginning of modern America, America without rules to obey. Out of nowhere F.S.Fitzgerald arose, and depicted the life in the twenties in his work “The Great Gatsby” in an astonishing way. The provoking youthful, sound of jazz, life without any worries, these are only few of the features which can be felt in Fitzgerald’s unforgettable work. 

During the 20^th century American Literature achieved a high level, however the WW1 had a great influence on the next generation of writers. The writers lost their ideals, their faith and hope, and they could not find a suitable place in society. This group of writers was called The Lost Generation, with Ernest Hemingway as the leader. In his novels “The Sun Also Rises”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” he describes his experience during and after WW1. His masterpiece, “The Old Man and the Sea”, shows the battle of a man with the natural world and most importantly, how man can be destroyed but never defeated.

The Lost Generation was followed by The Beat Generation which was a group of American writers, who came to popularity in the 1950s, and focused on the “Beat“as the central element. The major writers of Beat Generation were A. GINSBERG, W. S. BURROUGHS, L. FERLINGHETTI, and JACK KEROUAC as the author of the novel, “On the Road”, thanks to which he became the leader of the generation. “On the Road” is said to be the “Bible“of the Beat generation. It answers the situation in America and rebels against the values of average Americans. The book has autobiographical features. We cannot speak about concrete plot in the novel; it is rather a description of the sceneries, nature and places. The main goal of the book is to point out the life of Beat Generation.

The next stop will be the master of black humor and satire Joseph Heller. Heller with his novel “Catch 22” depicts the life of soldier Yossarian who desperately wants to leave the army. Yossarian and his friends have the tendency to find themselves in very humorous situations. The war forces them to do things which break the limits of normal thinking. The satire is based on the fact, that in reality the soldiers cannot escape the war because catch 22 is a contradictory rule.

Speaking of situations full of desperation, the one depicted by Ken Kesey in “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” shows how twisted can a human mind be. The antihero of this novel whose name is McMurphy is sent to a psychiatric hospital where he encourages other patients to rebel against the rules of the hospital. Through this process he experiences the life of a patient; more so, he develops a strong bond with some of the patients. His path to the rebellion is partially successful as one of the patients escapes the hospital. But before the escape, the escapee is forced to kill McMurphy as he underwent lobotomy and his will to escape is gone forever.

The vividness of the American Prose is undoubted. The inspiration the authors had drawn from their own life, resulted in unforgettable and highly praised works. American literature is a proof, that there can be several views even on the worst life events. More so, it tells us that no one can write a better book, than life itself.