ENGLISH EXTENSION 1: QUOTES TECHNIQUES ANALYSIS

HIROSHIMA JOHN HERSEY

QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Narrative structure Through the voice of six hibakusha (atomic bomb
survivors): Hersey forces readers to question the
validity behind the use of the atomic bomb, in
binary opposition to the dominant Western way of
thinking which involved an imperialistic attitude in
response to the use of the A-bomb
In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand,
nearly a hundred thousand people had been
killed or doomed at one blow.
Emotionless and statistical recount: merely
presents the event as it was. However, this is
juxtaposed by: Tugged here and there in his
stockinged feet, bewildered by the numbers,
staggering by so much raw flesh, Dr. Sasaki lost
all sense of profession and stopped working as a
sympathetic man which introduces a human
perspective into the writing, giving readers an idea
of both the negative physical and emotional effect
of the bombs, rather than just the statistical effects.
This technique challenges the dominant way of
thinking, evidenced by President Truman, which
claimed the Japanese were savage, ruthless,
merciless and fanatical and confronts readers by
exposing the similarities of the Japanese civilians to
themselves. Thus, Herseys depiction of the
devastation of human suffering resonates with
Sartres existential philosophy at the conclusion of
WWII: existentialism is a humanism
Miss Sasakis blunt questioning of Kleinsorge
If your God is so good and kind, how can he let
people suffer like this?
Reflects a changing attitude towards religion which
was typical of the cold war era.
He became an automaton, mechanically wiping,
daubing, winding, wiping, daubing, winding.
This metaphor describes the way in which Sasaki
was completely overwhelmed in the hours after the
bomb exploded, reduced to robotic movements
and stripped of his humanity, highlighted by the
repetitions of 'wiping' and 'winding'.
our life is short, we don't live twice; the
whirlwind will pick up the leaves and spin them,
but then it will drop them and it will form a pile.
Sasaki makes this speech to his staff at the medical
clinic. It is a statement of his guiding philosophy,
shaped by the violence, trauma and suffering of 6
August 1945. Life is symbolised as 'whirlwind', a
maelstrom of chaos that briefly animates life before
the 'leaves' (lives) are jettisoned and abandoned.
Dr Sasaki had come to live with his one bitter
regret: that in the shambles of the Red Cross
Hospital in those first days it had not been
possible to keep track of those corpses
with the result that nameless souls might still
be hovering there, unattended and dissatisfied
This shows Sasaki to be a man both spiritual and
humane. Hersey's spare, understated style evokes a
mood of sadness, reflection and regret. The use of
complex sentences, commas and colons slows the
pace, highlighting the many years of Sasaki's grief
and bitterness. The final images, of the hovering
dead, are poignant and haunting.

Relevant information
- Hersey, through his new journalism style, vividly personalises the atomic destruction of Hiroshima
- Herseys style is measured, understated and clinically objective
- Real people become characters (not fictional) which is used to evoke increase sympathy
- Deliberate selection of scientific and political paradigms - to bring a close observation of power
- Shows a shift from triumphalism to humanism through an eroding sense of the other which, again,
asks us to think sympathetically
- Idea of a common global humanity / expression = new values
- Key people affecting structure / narration: Churchill, McCarthyism, Einstein (I never believed that
the nuclear bomb should have been inflicted on the Japanese people, but there was nothing much I
could do to stop it), Harry S Truman (savage, merciless)

WAITING FOR GODOT SAMUEL BECKETT
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Beat me? Certainly they beat me
ESTRAGON
Apocalyptic vision of the world post-war fallen into
savage inhumanity
He beats my brother
BOY
The motif of being beaten, violence inflicted on
innocent human beings, recurs throughout the play
Setting: the bare tree A motif of suffering the wasteland becomes a
physical embodiment of the struggle for survival
post war; road leading to an uncertain path
All the dead voices
ESTRAGON
Lyrical evocation: reminds the audience of the
victims of Hiroshima
They make a noise like wingslike leaveslike
sand
VLADIMIR AND ESTRAGON
Series of similes that evoke a landscape devoid of
human life
But behind this veil of gentleness and peace night
is charging and will burst upon us pop! Like
that!... just when we least expect it
POZZO
Evidences the fear of annihilation. Beckett
contrasts the metaphor veil of gentleness with
the plosive sound pop to evoke a sense of
imminent annihilation
Nothing
(eg. nothing to be done: nothing you can do
about it)
Repetition of nothing: echoes a state of
nothingness, a world that has lost purpose and
direction evidencing nihilism
yes, lets go (VLADIMIR), yet stage directions
indicate that they do not move
Indicates mans state pf paralysis, his post-war
existential condition
What about hanging ourselves?
ESTRAGON
Echoes the constant awareness of death that
haunts the play
One doesnt even laugh anymore
VLADIMIR
Inclusive subject one reflects the broader
pessimism of man in the times which Beckett wrote
What is terrible is to have thought
VLADIMIR
High modality: reflects the emptiness of
philosophical speculation about human life in a
world where man had lost control and his future is
uncertain
Together at last well have to celebrate this
VLADIMIR
Lifts the play out of complete nihilism by the
humane relationship between the central
characters and their interdependence. For example
when blind Pozzo asks: who are you? Vladimir
replies: we are men this is one of the few
definitive statements on the play and an
affirmation of their intrinsic humanity
Estragon: We always find something, eh Didi, to Black humour: evidences the intense questioning of
give us the impression we exist?
Vladimir: Yes, yes, we're magicians.
humanity and the senselessness of living in a world
full of fear, worry and anxiety, as endured during
the Cold War. This sense of complete emptiness
resonated with Emperor Hirohitos speech from
1945: The enemy has begun to employ a new
and most cruel bomb. His of personification
highlights the horrific capabilities of the atomic
bomb, highlighting, similar to Hersey, the universal
fear of complete human annihilation during this
historical period. The atomic bomb made the
prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us
up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and
beyond there is a different country J. R
Oppenheimer.
ESTRAGON: Let's go. VLADIMIR: We can't.
ESTRAGON: Why not? VLADIMIR: We're
waiting for Godot.
Notion of being unable to move forward in life, of
stasis, and overcome the disastrous effects of the
bomb and inability to express individualism. The
repetitive quality of these lines also raises
awareness of mans struggle to find meaning in life
except in ones actions, as nihilistically reflected by
Sartre: there is no reality, except in action.
Derelict setting of the play Used to add to the sense of bleakness and hellish
vision: evidences nothingness of life during the cold
war (pessimism regarding the possibility of a bright
future and nihilistic / existentialist viewpoints)
The Tramps (Vladimir and Estragon)

act as a representation of all of humanity,
encouraging audiences to see parallels between the
absurdity of the tramps existence and their own
Continual waiting signifies waiting as an inescapable condition of
humanity
Overwhelming barrage of questions without
answers - such as What am I to say?
creates an intense atmosphere of despair
Characterisation of Pozzo who praises Lucky:
who taught me all these beautiful things while
bespeaking his worthlessness: In reality he
carries like a pig
Represents the role of governments, both the
Soviet Union and in the US, who, on one hand,
represent and care for their peoples and, on the
other hand, put them at great risk of annihilation
Setting: of having V and E wait on a road Ironic: as roads are synonymous with journeys and
moving from one place to another. However, E and
E are painfully static, and are restricted by their
desolate setting

Relevant information
- Albert Camus: the human condition is essentially absurd, or devoid of purpose
- Pessimistic vision of humanity struggling vainly to find a purpose and to control its fate
- Humankind in this view is left feeling hopeless, bewildered and anxious
- WWII was the catalyst resulting in trauma of living under the threat of nuclear annihilation put into
stark perspective the essential precariousness of human life
- Nonsense, ludicrous and cyclical language and mocking of theatrical conventions surreal, illogical,
conflict-less and plot-less known as the play where nothing happens
- Addresses the absurdity of, and mans need for, hope
- Focal point is often mans bewilderment and confusion, stemming from the fact that he has no
answers to the basic existential questions
- Absence, emptiness, nothingness and unresolved mysteries are central features in many absurdist
plots
- Often the action is cyclical (repeats itself) or ends exactly where it began
- Existentialism (is a Humanism JP Sartre No rule of morality can tell you what you ought to do)
is a philosophical movement which emphasises on individual existence, freedom and choice these
features of freedom and responsibility often create intense anxiety as human beings are responsible
for what they make of themselves. Satre reflected a shift which involved a questioning of what and
who to believe in. thus, Becketts characters reflected: questioning of higher authorities (eg. god and
religious leaders, as well as political figures), loss of self
- Resonances with the bomb and post-war survival
- One must find ones own meaning
- The human condition is meaningless, absurd, illogical humans are lost and floating in an
incomprehensible universe and they abandon rational devices and discursive thought because these
approaches are inadequate in discovering the meaning and/or purpose in life
- Absurdism is the inevitable devaluation of ideals, purity and purpose (Esslin)
- Absurdist dramas ask its audience to draw his own conclusions, make his own errors (Esslin)
- Absurd is that which is devoid of purpose man is lost; all his actions become senseless, absurd,
useless (Esslin)
- The audience is forced to question their own existence and the absurdity of life often through the
characters use of many pauses to heighten tensions
- There is no resolution at the end of the play evidences the permeating fear of nuclear annihilation
for generations still to come
- The Theatre of the Absurd rejects realism and exposes the deepest conflicts within the human mind
- There is a distrust in language as a means of communication language has become nothing but
vehicle for conventionalised, stereotyped, meaningless exchanges > no certainly, no definite
meanings
- Youre on earth. Theres no cure for that. (Beckett)
- Choice to reflect the world at Becketts present time
- Pozzo is the antihero which represents authority and power = government (totalitarian), with the
people as represented by the abused Lucky (irony in name) censorship and confinement also
through symbolism of the rope = subservient (eg. Berlin Wall > Stasiland). The fact that Pozzo is
blind by the start of act 2 suggests a warning to the negative effect of power
- Questioning of the meaning of life and individuality in a world where everything has become
meaningless and absurd (sense of nothingness > Beckett influenced by existentialist thought >
explain)
- Contrast between sadness and humour in the play which is used to bring light and hope to lifes
intense questioning through the need for friendship and an upliftment through the notion of not
being alone in this world of worry = human endurance and the need for company, universal need to
belong (Maslows hierarchy) > understanding, care, compassion, empathy and sympathy for others =
connectedness
- Nothing can be relied on (eg. Godot never comes = God? > the absurdity of waiting which is
repetitive and mundane therefore life has become bleak and lost purpose evidenced in TS Elliot)
therefore increasing reliance on the personal paradigm (beliefs and values of the individual) due to
lost faith in traditional structures (lost, blurring and eroding) therefore people seek new and
different ways to find comfort (self-determination of future) brings both fear and excitement
(more confidence, freedom, expression of though and action in individualism compared with
structures of government and higher authorities like religion and scientific and technological
advancement)
- Circling structure: used to evidences the idea of no absolutes

POETRY - SYLVIA PLATH
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
v MORNING SONG v
Your nakedness Evidences vulnerability in a world where nuclear
annihilation is possible
Your bald cry Connotations of coldness and lack of comfort.
Further reinforced in the line in a drafty museum
which expresses the outer-world as a cold and bare
place, which lacks hope
Shadows our safety Sibilance: creates a sense of danger and pain felt by
citizens worldwide as a response to the A-bomb
The cloud that distills Clear reference to the atomic bomb
The clear vowels rise like balloons Abstract imagery: creates an image of fragility, yet
a sense of hope for the future generations by
creating a sense of childish freedom and fun
v WORDS v
Words dry and riderless Words themselves are presented as empty rhetoric
(meaningless) with no power or direction. This
nonsense of words is similar to Waiting For Godot
Echoes travelling Words are represented as hollow and meaningless
evidences Plaths postmodern approach
Wells like tears Simile: used to evidence grief and sorrow as a
response of humans to the A-bomb
A white skull Death is evidenced as a constant beneath the
surface highlighting the fragility of life
Overall Focuses on the human struggle to cope with
suffering and to reconstruct personal identity; a
struggle against an individuals fate.
Tone = anguish
v FEVER 103 v
the tongues of hell Religious allusion to James 3:6 used to stimulate
ideas in regard to heaven and hell and the fear of
the possibility of nothingness
The aguey tendon, the sin, the sin Evil of Hiroshima and radiation recalled in these
images of bone and flesh the indelible smell
Im in a fright Clearly evidences her fear of the unknown for the
future of humanity as a result of the possibility of
nuclear annihilation
Such yellow sullen smokes Sibilance: emphasises the pollution in the
aftermath of the destruction reminiscent of The
Fire in Hiroshima
The ghastly orchid Beautiful imagery is turned ugly, negative and
catastrophic. This highlights the sense of
disillusionment with life itself after the knowledge
of what man is capable of nuclear annihilation
Radiation turned I white Radiation after the bomb continues to have a
devastating impact on future generations of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki children as many children
are born with physical disorders
Like Hiroshima ash and eating in / The sin. The sin Simile associated with the aftermath of the bomb
with death and pain
I am a lantern Metaphor: used to evidence a source of light which
evidences hope
v THE ARRIVAL OF THE BEE BOX v
The bee box Symbolic of an enclosure, containment,
suppression and control relates to the individuals
power struggles against the all-powerful US and
Soviet Union during the Cold War
The box is locked, it is dangerous Evidences an underlying tone of fear
There are no windows no exit Repetition: used to highlight the confinement of
the individual and, therefore, the lack of freedom
The box is only temporary Ends with a sense of hopefulness and the possibility
of a release from the bee box
It was like the coffin of a midget Deathly images: symbolic of Plaths bleak view of
the Cold War world of fear that experienced
political corruption and a desperate grasp at
traditionalism in order to maintain some level of
certainty as the values evolved and shifted rapidly

Relevant information
- Fragmentation and fragmentary style of poetry - associated with visions of ruin and desperate
attempts at radical change and renewal
- Confessional mode raise Qs about life, morality and existing in a harsh world
- Deals with the post-bomb mentality and how the persons personal inner-world is shaped by the
political, historical and social outer-world
- Her poetry has great consciousness of history, and the effects of the violence; the echoes 1950s
Cold War mentality is reflected in the constant danger and vulnerability she evokes in her poems and
expression of her personal world and world-view
- The legacy of the bomb is a questioning of former certainties and understanding of the human
condition, and a renewed focus on our potential to destroy ourselves
- She captures a sense of disorientation and alienation across time
- Daddy: has holocaust imagery and the context of being in the next generation. What our fathers
have done is a concern to Plath; how we respond to our history and what we, the successive
generation, do with its wake, and within its wake a questioning spirit
- Her poems contemplate the potential apocalyptic future. There is an overwhelming feeling of
desolation and disappointment in her poems that reflects the disillusioned nature of the future she
contemplates; she forecasts doom and destruction as she speculates about her present and future
world
- The Bee Box: deals very clearly with feelings of danger, the threat of violence and the need to handle
experience delicately
- The Applicant: evokes the post-war backlash that had women back in homes she shows the
repressing of the womens gains satirizing the 1950s hyper-cautious plastic consumerist living
- Morning Song: has Cold War resonance in that innocence is always showed by violence. Also shows
a great sense of detachment and alienation from the world she used to know and subverts new
motherhood encroachment of the outside world into her inner world as a result of the unsteady,
tumultuous political landscape
- Words: all about words and their echoes
- Domestic containment > shift the independence (eg. the pill was a liberation and enabled increased
freedom of women) > blurring and breaking of the established boundaries during the time >
increased reliance on moral conscience
- Women in the 60s = patriarchy > Silencing of the feminine voice
- McCarthyism (containment of the individual)

RELATED: LIVES OF OTHERS - VON DONNERSMARCK
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Overall: subtly evokes a vindictive society that exists by
turning citizens against each other in the interests
of national unity and collective security

Grey colour palette used for Stasi Captain Gerd
Wieslers bare apartment.



Used to represent the bleakness and sense of
hopelessness, as well as the restraint of
individuality associated with strict authoritarian
governments. This idea is further reinforced in the
medium-shot of Wielser as he turns on the
television and attentively watches the only channel
available to citizens which is completely run
government- just like the lives of West Berliners
(ultimately leads to nihilism and existentialism).
This visual technique is also juxtaposed when
Dreymans house, full of books, paintings, a piano
and newspapers, to symbolise hope and happiness
associated with freedom of thought and speech
I can't understand this country anymore. There
are no human rights, no freedom of speech. This
whole system drives me mad (Jerska)

Reveals the prevailing anxiety experienced by many
individuals as a result of a lack of freedom
we are the partys sword and shield (Weisler)

Feelings of imperialism of the communists
Opening shot: characters in foreground
silhouette, hallway lit, emphasises the length in
which they have to travel
Lack of hope for future generations
Low camera view of Wiesler as he interrogates
suspect and close-shot highlights his power and
authority , whilst high-angle shot is used for
victim which emphasises his disempowerment
Emphasises the authority of the political powers
over the individual

Relevant information
- Cold war created challenges by the threat of a nuclear (and 3rd) world war which could result in
complete human annihilation
- Character is trying to find creative expression in a suppressive world

RELATED: THE BUTTER BATTLE BOOK - DR SEUSS
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Capitalisation of the Wall and its salience in the
drawings reinforced on almost every page
Evidences the barriers to freedom and
democracy
whimsical rhyme of Yooks and Zooks as well as the
portrayal of blue uniforms for the Yooks and Orange
for the Zooks
Shows the clear binary opposites in values
between the East and the West
several references to propaganda, such as posters on
the Wall (Yooks are not Zooks. Keep your butter side
up!)
Highlights the confinement of the individual:
contrast between the chiefs office at the beginning, Shows the secrecy (reflecting fear, anxiety,
which evidences balance as the back room where
Bright Boys work is open with the politician in the
middle, compared to later scenes, where the chief
gradually moves closer to the back room, whilst the
grey tones and dead flowers visually represent the
bleakness of the situation. Paranoia is evident in the
lack of contact between characters towards the end
of the story and through the visual metaphor of the
closed door as opposed to the previously opened door
worry)
trees begin to look increasingly disheveled Evidences the consequences of fighting on the
natural order and increasing disconnection
between man and the environment and
suggests that they may be close to pushing the
boundaries of human capabilities in the face of
war. Furthermore, the use of animals as part of
the weapons exemplifies the abuse of nature in
warfare (Our countries first gun-tooting
spaniel)
uniforms and the weapons used by the Zooks and
Yooks become increasingly advanced and become the
salient images (This machine was so modern, so
frightfully new, no one knew quite exactly what it
would do!, Had a Sputter exactly like mine!)
Symbolic of the arms race
the grandson of the protagonist clings onto a tree,
with a worried expression, on the far side of the
image representing the childs powerlessness,
whilst the grandfather argues with a Zook. Idea that
defeating the other is more important than ensuring
a future humanity: But I, also, now have my hand on
the trigger
Fear of future (generations to come) and the
threat of nuclear annihilation
Every Zook must be watched! He has kinks in his
soul
Notion and fear of the other
Fight! Fight for the Butter Side Up! Do or die Conformity and overbearing influence of the
political powers

RELATED: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST - KEN KESEY
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Overall: evidences failure (inability) of individuality and the
entrapment of the individual under the political
landscape during this historical period

Characterisation of Miss Ratched (the nurse in
charge of the mental ward)
Used to allegorically highlight the overbearing
power of both political powers, America and the
USSR, during the Cold War; as they attempted to
maintain total control of their society and, hence,
maintain citizens support of democracy or
communism respectively.
ball cutter

Colloquial language and hyperbole: used to
represent the fear of institutional and feminine
power: the juggernaut of modern matriarchy. His
fiction reminds readers of the changing gender
roles and the widespread male resentment of
feminism in post war America as a direct result of
overbearing patriarchy since Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden
The Combine Used as a motif of the asylum: highlighting the fear
and distrust of authority and the burgeoning
capitalist use of technology. Chief Bromden
describes it as the machine that beats everybody;
decimating the mainstream conservatism
Escape of Chief Bromden in the closing chapter Signals some hope for individuals and expresses
Keseys belief that there is more to life than
ensuring increased power and ruling over the
other

RELATED: LORD OF THE FLIES WILLIAM GOLDING
QUOTE TECHNIQUE: ANALYSIS
Characterisation of Ralph Represents the liberal tradition. He acts as the
democratic leader who tries to organize their
civilization with a series of roles and rules and gives
everyone a chance to speak through the use of the
conch shell. The rejection of the conch later in the
story, as the boys begin to follow Jack, (apart from
Piggy and Simon) symbolises a rejection of the
rules of society
Characterisation of Jack Represents the kind of military dictatorship that, for
mid-century America and Great Britain,
characterised the communist system. Goldings
negative depiction of Jack he was eager,
impatient, beckoning - gestures support for the
Western position in the Cold War as the boys follow
his almost blindly, mutely, over Ralph.
Jacks face-paint Jacks army-style face-paint is described as a
mask behind which Jack hid, liberated from
shame and self-consciousness. Thus, the face-
paint can be seen as an analogy for spies who
secretly spied on others during the Cold War,
emphasising the anxiety of the period by not being
able to trust anyone
All round him the long scar smashed into the
jungle was a bath of heat
scar describes the natural feature of the land,
whilst foreshadowing the future violent interactions
between the boys
Setting: the island The island is symbolic of the world full of terror,
anxiety, worry, fear, spying and secrecy (which
permeated the Cold War period)
Daddy hell come and rescue us because
because, because.
RALPH
Evidences fear and uncertainty of being saved. The
notion of the boys being saved can be seen as a
metaphor for being saved from the terrors of the
Cold War
Maurice still felt the unease of wrong-doing his This incident is an analogy which is can be linked
mind formed the uncertain outlines of an
excuse and (he) broke into a trot
with the idea of citizens realizing the wrong-
doings of their country and government, yet
turning a blind eye to such incidents like continual
spying on others (can be linked to Lives Of Others)

Relevant information
- Their attempts at civilization and devolution into savagery and violence puts the relationship
between human nature and society under a literary microscope
- Ownership of the island becomes destruction, and the degradation of the natural world through
burning fires or killing pigs mirrors the breakdown of the boys socialized humanity
- Existentialism: evidenced through the boys shared search for recognition and their mutual lack of
recognition for the truth they are stranded and lost )the way a majority of citizens felt, worldwide,
after the dropping of the A-bomb)
- The characters discover fire, craft tools and form political and social systems in a process that recalls
theories of the development of early man
- Culmination of the plot in war and murder suggests that Goldings overarching hypothesis about
humanity is pessimistic anarchic and brutal instincts in human nature ordered democracy or
some other regime is necessary to contain these instincts
- The pessimistic nature of the story reflects the authors emphasis on the necessity of democratic
civilization and the idea that brutal and violent human impulses can arise in the absence of political
order
- Lord Of The Flies in an allegory about human nature and society
- Published in 1954, the novel is firmly rooted in the sociopolitical concerns of its era as it alludes to
the Cold War conflict between liberal and democracy and totalitarian communism

THEORY TO ESTABLISH WAYS OF THINKING

Winston Churchills Iron Curtain Speech
Cold war paranoia and anxiety: anxious and baffling times
Imperialistic tone, evidencing dominant way of thinking: the United States stands at the pinnacle
of world power
Fear of annihilation: no one country has slept less well in their beds
Need for humanity and unification: the brotherhood of man temple of peace fraternal
association
Fear, anxiety, worry which permeated the lives of individuals: world calms down
Notion of the danger (domino effect) of the other: What they desire is the fruits of war and the
indefinite expansion of their power and doctrine

Chicago: Graham Nash
Need for change and a belief in a common humanity through the chorus: We can change the world/
Rearrange the world/ Its dying/ To get better

Emperor Hirohito: The surrender of Japan, August 1945
Idea of the other and the fear of complete human annihilation: The enemy has begun to employ a
new and most cruel bomb

J. R. Oppenheimer, New Mexico, November 1945
Imperialistic attitude and lack of concern for the enemy (lost lives): The reason that we did this job
is because it was an organic necessity
Realization of the damage on the A-bomb for future generations due to the potential of complete
human annihilation through the allusion to the Hindu scripture: We knew the world would never be
the same I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-GitaNow, I am become
death, the destroyer of worlds.
The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few
steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country

Jean Paul Sartre: Existentialism and Humanism:
there is no reality, except in action
Nihilistic viewpoint

KEY IDEAS
Communism was to be contained to eliminate the chance of the domino theory becoming a
frightening reality
The 3 cs: conservatism, conformity, censorship
The 3 ss: stability, security, safety
Dropping of the atomic bomb was a catalyst for the transition into post-modernist thinking
Potential of human annihilation (fear of future)
Feelings of: fear, betrayal, anxiety
Intense questioning of humanity and human beliefs and values and a recognition of the
commonality of human beings (development of compassion for humanity)
Search for meaning and identity
Sense of disillusionment with current political powers (questioning the importance of state over the
individual and a lack of trust/fear of betrayal by governments)
Changing ways of thinking: philosophical, scientific, economic, religious (paradigms): feminism, civil
rights, democracy, individual freedom, role of government, power of church (and other traditional
structures), humanity and compassion as hope for future
The building up of arms: threat to security, stability, resulted in secrecy
Values of both political powers: obedience, duty, service, control, conformity, conservatism, secrecy
Western values: individual freedom, democracy, patriotism, capitalism
Communist values: importance of state, order, collective need, authority, denial of individual rights
and desires
Individual engagement / response with period: Sartres philosophy (existentialism is a humanism),
ethical and moral dilemmas, emphasis on human relationships, dissent or resistant values to those
of their societies of governments (reflected by composers)
Growing disillusionment with structures that had been certain can no longer be certain = loss of
faith
People looked inward on their own sense of identity and morality and purpose > therefore, relying
on themselves to not let themselves down
The crumbling of structures: movement to a counter-culture (rebellion eg. feminism and females)
and resolution through reform (based on individual seeking peace and freedom)
(ie.) paradoxically out of the destruction of war comes a rebirth, full of new creative processes and
expression such as Hersey and New Journalism style and Beckett with Theatre of the Absurd which
evidences a clear intense questioning of current beliefs, values and structures present in societies
worldwide
Identity was defined by bigger structures breaking away from this (increase individuality and
personal thought and expression)