When the French philosopher, critic and writer Jean-Paul Sartre concluded an essay on the American novelist John Dos Passos in 1938 with the words “I regard Dos Passos as the greatest writer of our time” it was quite clear that the author of the trilogy U.S.A. had joined the class of the most important and influential writers in American literature. The three novels of the trilogy are critical documents and portraits of the history and life of the American nation during the first three decades of the 20 th century. U.S.A. is a social and political work that is shaped by the stylistic experimentation of the author who treats art in the service of history 1 and therefore leaves him in a literary outstanding position. This term paper aims to explain and justify this position of Dos Passos by examining and analyzing The Big Money which was the final novel of U.S.A. First of all, this work will give an overview and assessment of the trilogy as a whole to facilitate an analytical insight into its meaning and purpose. Secondly, the four different styles of narration will be discussed. The third part of the paper will deal with The Big Money: What is the historical context of the novel? Who are the main characters? Finally, the themes of the novel will be shortly summarized in the fourth part of this paper. [...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. U.S.A.
3. Modes of Narration
3.1 Fictional Characters
3.2 Biographies
3.3 Newsreels
3.4 The Camera Eye
4. The Big Money
4.1 Historical Context
4.2 Fictional Characters
4.2.1 Charley Anderson
4.2.2 Margo Dowling
4.2.3 Mary French
4.2.4 Richard Ellsworth Savage
5. Themes
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Themes
This academic paper examines John Dos Passos's novel The Big Money, the final installment of his U.S.A. trilogy, to justify his standing as a major literary figure. The research explores how the author uses stylistic innovation and a collective narrative structure to depict the social, political, and historical decline of the United States during the 1920s.
- The stylistic experimentation and four distinct modes of narration in the U.S.A. trilogy.
- The historical context of the Roaring Twenties and the subsequent Great Depression.
- The role of fictional characters as types representing societal shifts rather than individual heroes.
- The theme of lost individuality and traditional moral values in the face of rampant materialism.
- The impact of capitalism on the American psyche and social structure.
Excerpt from the Book
4.2.1 Charley Anderson
Charley Anderson had become a flying ace during the war and returns home with ambitious plans to go into aero plane business with his friend Joe Askew. Charley is after the big money which is to be made in the east – in New York and not in North Dakota where his brother sells cars and wants Charley to join his business. After some time of loneliness in New York the aviation mechanic meets many people from the middle and upper middle class but most of the relationships remain superficial and reach no emotional depth. Charley and Joe Askew successfully start their small business and while Joe seems to be satisfied with his private and professional life, Charley wants more. He does not only want to marry Doris Humphries, a girl from a rich family who is on a higher position on the social ladder, he also wants to make more money. He meets Nat Benton, a broker who gives him advice on the stock market and offers him a more profitable job in Detroit which is accepted by Charley since he wants to leave Doris who rejected him and since he sees more possibilities to make more money. In Detroit, Charley’s career continues. He becomes consulting engineer of a big company and a member of the management of that company which has devoured his own New York company. Charley Anderson has become an instrument of the high finance. Because of his success in business, he enters the rich middle class and rises socially. He marries Gladys Wheatley, a girl from a rich family, they have the obligatory children but their marital life is unsatisfying for Charley. Like in New York, he goes on to have changing sexual relationships that are accompanied by heavy drinking. If there are any moral values in his character left they are invisible.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the significance of John Dos Passos as a writer and establishes the objective to analyze The Big Money as a critical examination of American history.
2. U.S.A.: Provides an assessment of the trilogy as a whole, focusing on the author's experimental techniques and the collective nature of the work.
3. Modes of Narration: Discusses the four stylistic methods (Fictional Characters, Biographies, Newsreels, The Camera Eye) that constitute the narrative framework of the trilogy.
4. The Big Money: Analyzes the final novel of the trilogy by detailing the historical context of the 1920s and exploring the character arcs of Charley Anderson, Margo Dowling, Mary French, and Richard Ellsworth Savage.
5. Themes: Synthesizes the central themes of greed, thirst for success, materialism, and the decay of traditional values in capitalist America.
6. Conclusion: Reasserts the author’s singular and innovative position within modern American literary and cultural history.
7. Bibliography: Lists the primary and secondary sources consulted for this research paper.
Keywords
John Dos Passos, U.S.A. trilogy, The Big Money, Modernism, 1920s, Roaring Twenties, American literature, narrative experimentation, capitalism, materialism, social history, Camera Eye, Newsreels, biographies, Sacco and Vanzetti.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper focuses on John Dos Passos's The Big Money to analyze how the novel serves as a social and political critique of the United States during the 1920s.
What are the central thematic fields?
The central themes include the impact of rapid modernization, the corrupting influence of materialism and capitalism, the loss of individuality, and the collapse of traditional moral values.
What is the research goal?
The goal is to justify Dos Passos’s stature as a leading literary figure by demonstrating how his stylistic innovations effectively capture the collective history and social struggle of America.
Which methods of narration are identified?
The paper examines four modes: Fictional Characters (representing types), Biographies (historical markers), Newsreels (documentary fragments), and The Camera Eye (a subjective, lyrical voice).
What does the main body address?
The main body details the historical setting of the Roaring Twenties, breaks down the four narrative modes, and analyzes the character development of the main protagonists in the context of their environment.
How would you characterize the work with keywords?
The work is best characterized by terms such as Modernism, social critique, narrative experimentation, capitalism, and the cultural history of the 1920s.
Why does the author consider characters in the novel "automatons"?
They are described as hollow because they are driven primarily by appetites and external social forces rather than internal reflection, moral depth, or individual agency.
What role does the "Camera Eye" play in the structure?
It acts as a subjective counterbalance to the hard, objective, and behaviorist tone of the narrative sections, providing a lyrical, internal perspective on the nation's state.
How does the author connect individual lives to national history?
By using the "collective novel" approach, where individual destinies are woven into a larger montage of events, news reports, and biographies to illustrate the "march of history."
- Quote paper
- Julia Schubert (Author), 2005, John Dos Passos´s "The Big Money": Critical Perceptions of the United States during the 1920s , Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/56775
