Albert 20th Century Novel

My favorite scene in the novel thus far is Bill’s description of the boxing match in Vienna between the local fighter and a black fighter. I thought this passage was humorous and striking at the same time. Humorous, because of the unexpected plot twist when it’s revealed that the black fighter was trying to let the white fighter win. However, striking because of the injustice that the black fighter experiences after winning the fight (fairly). It is probably more angering because of the social standards that we have in the present, but in 1926 (when this novel was published) the civil rights movement hadn’t really started yet. But an important question is why did Hemingway feel the need to include this anecdote in the novel? One idea is that Hemingway is developing Bill’s character through this mini story. The anecdote is narrated by Bill as he describes his take on the fight. In the novel, Bill is portrayed as a humorous guy. He’s constantly expressing himself through jokes a...

Throughout our class discussions of Clarissa and Septimus, we frequently touched on the parallels between the two story lines. We did mention small similarities such as unwanted visitors barging into both of their houses: Peter at Clarissa’s and Dr. Holmes at Septimus’. However, in terms of their back story and their mental states, I would like to entertain the possibility of parallel story lines eventually diverging with Septimus’ suicide.             In terms of similarities of the two story lines, it’s quite evident that both Septimus and Clarissa are on the verge of crumbling beneath the societal pressures that they respectively face. For Septimus, his PTSD and the doctors’ “help” are quite stressful for him. On top of that, his fear of admitting to Rezia that he doesn’t love her adds to the pressures that he experiences in his everyday life. For Clarissa, her pressures are more a product of her aristocratic status. As a re...