Modernism: An Escape from Depression
             It has been said that "the Great Depression has central place in twentieth century economic history. In its shadow, all other depressions are insignificant" (Delong online). The 1930s was a time period of incredible poverty and despair. The American people, stripped of money, freedom, and pride, experienced an economic, social, and political recession that most could never comprehend and will never see again. Most would agree that the stock market was the final instigator of this sullen era. Delong comments,
             'Black Tuesday' saw American common stocks lose something like a tenth of their value... The exact reasons why the bubble burst then are unknowable; more important are the consequences of the bursting of the bubble" (Delong online).
             The consequences of this 'bursting bubble' would soon present themselves as job loss, the separation of families, and a considerably devastating amount of lost funds for people all over. In a time of much disparity, a new genre of literature presented itself as an escape: "Modernism's opposition to conventional morality, taste, traditions, and economic value" served as a perfect rock to build a Utopian society upon (Gale's online). Written in a time where war and depression enveloped the lives of most, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World portrays a creative alternative to the society known by those of the twentieth Century.
             First, in his lifetime, Huxley experienced many losses. At age sixteen he lost most of his eyesight after battling with keratitis punctata. When he reached the age of twenty,
             he experienced the suicidal death of his brother, Trevenen, with whom he had once lived and recovered from his eye operations with. Finally, at age forty-five he lost his mother, with whom he was extremely close, to cancer (Christianson online). The pain and suffering caused by his many losses inspired Hu...