The Modern Era. Alienation and Desperation in Ezra Pound’s In a Station of the Metro and Edward Hopper’s Automat

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, University of Duisburg-Essen (Fakultat Anglistik), course: American Literature, language: English, abstract: In the Modern period, the American lifestyle is growing and developing gradually. With the improvement of the railroad system, such as the use of steel rails instead of iron rails, everything in life is moving faster. Furthermore, America’s need for workers combined with cheaper train and steam ship tickets have caused a new wave of mass immigration. Although life in America seems appealing, these positive aspects are overshadowed by hard times. Especially after the two World Wars, which caused a lot of pain and death, the world is fragmented and the devastation and alienation of people, both outer an inner devastation, has started to take place. Furthermore, through industrialization and mass production, human beings are in a continuous hurry and there is restlessness. Due to the fact that people always seem to be in a rush, life is chaotic and fragmented. The alienation and desperation of the individual in the Modern era can be seen in Edward Hopper’s painting Automat , which was published in 1927, and in the poem In a Station of the Metro by Ezra Pound from 1916. Therefore, this term paper will illustrate the characteristics of the Modern Era, especially in terms of literature, by analyzing and comparing the painting and the poem.