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At Lowes Home Improvement Center: An Analysis

Decent Essays

The contemporary period is usually thought to have started around the 1940’s, after the end of World War Two. The experience of WWII changed the way that people around the globe live and think as many had begun to lead prosperous lives however the contemporary stories of the time would attempt to highlight the harsh realities that lied under the surface and were are still apparent in everyday life. An example of a contemporary author that writes about the luxuries of life while simultaneously relating his common experiences to the horrific tragedies of war was in Brian Turner’s “At Lowes Home Improvement Center.” Contemporary writing usually takes place in a realistic setting in the same time frame that the author is writing in such as in …show more content…

When looking at this store it appears to just be a normal store yet it is really built upon the sacrifice of many brave people that are willing to go through hell in order for us to be able to shop for home improvement supplies in peace. Turner is also using a contemporary technique of skepticism towards what is considered normal by forcing the reader to see through his eyes to understand how much sacrifice was and still is needed in order to provide Americans with a sense of security. Another piece of literature that questions what society considers normal is in W.S. Merwin’s “For a Coming Extinction.” At the time this was written, the idea of a species’ extinction, for the most part, was of no concern to us humans because we could not be held responsible for their death as that was in the hands of nature or God. Merwin takes this idea and throws it back into the readers face as he puts nearly all of the blame on the human race. In the text Merwin is attributing these preventable extinctions the fact that humans believe they are somehow better or more deserving of life than the other species of Earth as shown when he states that “we were made/ on another day” (Merwin) in which he is alluding to the Bible and the fact that humans were created separately from all of the other animals that roam …show more content…

This shows the change of thinking at the time as in the modern age the prevention of extinction and preservation of species has become one of the biggest concerns being dealt with right now. This story could be seen as cynical but that is also a trait that many contemporary authors were accused of as contemporary writing relies on questioning everything. Another important aspect of this writing period is that the stories began to focus much more on developing their characters in the story in order to progress the story rather than more narrative. This is illustrated perfectly in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” as the story is a simple one of a girl revisiting her family but the development of Mama’s character as well as the insight to what she is thinking turns this story into a contemporary masterpiece. The story of “Everyday Use” is not simply about the act of a girl coming home from school but instead it is about how people develop in relation to their environment and how others react to these changes. In the beginning of the story Mama speaks of how she wishes her reunion Dee would be a happy one and have all the hallmarks of a classic television reunion but as we learn more about Mama and Dee, the reader begins to realize that these characters are too different to have an

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