Bøger i Social Issues in Literature serien

Joseph Heller's satire Catch-22 presents war, driven by state bureaucracies, as a form of institutional psychosis. Soldiers, trapped in the circular logic of an obscure army regulation, find themselves in impossible circumstances, ones that threaten not only their personhood but their free will as well. This compelling volume offers a diverse range of views on Joseph Heller's interpretation of war in Catch-22. Essays discuss how the book engages with the hypocrisy of American culture during the war, how the novel anticipates the anti-war novels written after the Vietnam War, and how the military in the novel reflects American society. The text also offers readers contemporary perspectives on war, discussing topics such as the U.S. provocation.

One of the most beloved franchises in history, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series follows a trio of wizards-in-the-making through their years at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This expansive edition provides background on the life of British author J.K. Rowling and the influences that shaped her work. The book features eleven articles that explore political issues as portrayed in her Harry Potter series of novels, tackling topics such as race relations and human rights. The volume also examines politics in the twenty-first century.

This book offers an in-depth examination of war as presented in Stephen Crane's novel The Red Badge of Courage, as well as contemporary perspectives on this issue. Discussions include the impact of combat trauma during the Civil War, the relationship between the Industrial Age and army combatants, the main character's motivations in going to war, and war as both a cultural construct and as part of human nature.

When Hamlet's father, the King of Denmark, dies suddenly, the country is thrown into confusion with no clear leadership. After his father's ghost reveals that he was poisoned by Hamlet's mother and uncle, Hamlet must grapple with the dissolution of a world he once trusted. This book examines the topic of corruption in Shakespeare's Hamlet through a series of essays that touch upon topics such as the symbolic role of sickness and disease, parallels between the politics in the play and Elizabethan England, how Claudius created generational disorder, and the relationship between corruption and inequality. Promoting cross-curricular study, the text also invites readers to engage with contemporary perspectives on modern-day corruption.

In his novel Brave New World, writer Aldous Huxley extends the intersection of community and science to a dystopian conclusion: an entire world built upon the principles of Henry Ford's automobile assembly lines. This volume offers an in-depth examination of bioethics as presented in Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, as well as contemporary perspectives on this issue. Essay topics include the misuse of science for power gains, the balance of good and evil inherent in certain scientific endeavors, the ethics of designer babies, the promotion and restriction of stem cell research, and the relationship between genetic science and civil liberties.

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. The mantra of authoritarian government in George Orwell's dystopian novel pulls conventional wisdom inside-out, leaving characters, and readers, compelled to peek under the surface for meaning and truth. This informative edition provides an in-depth examination of abuse of power as presented in 1984, as well as contemporary perspectives on this issue. Discussions include the potential danger of big government, the threat posed by misuse of power, the book as promoting the values of the common person, and industrialization as a dehumanizing factor. Expert writers include Christopher Hitchens, Irvine Howe, and Erich Fromm.

A collection of essays discuss issues of gender, ethnicity, family, and class in Cisneros's novel.

A collection of essays reflecting on Thoreau's environmental message and how it continues to influence modern opinion.

Jerry Renault, the protagonist of Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War, finds himself at the center of bullying efforts conducted by his high school's secret society when he refuses to comply with a school-wide chocolate sale. Cormier's 1974 novel remains a popular point of discourse in schools and academia for its effective rendering of peer pressure, bullying, corruption, and individuality. This compelling edition presents essays that examine the treatment of peer pressure in The Chocolate War, discussing such topics as pessimism, high school, activism, and standing against evil. The book also offers contemporary perspectives on modern-day peer pressure, urging readers to compare and contrast the themes of the novel with the issues of the today's world.

Stranded on a tropical island, a group of boys attempt to govern themselves but instead give into chaos and savagery. William Golding's 1954 novel, Lord of the Flies, utilizes the theme of violence to showcase the conflicts surrounding power. This compelling edition presents readers with a collection of essays that examine topics such as puberty, innate corruption, and class conflict as it relates to the theme of violence and power. Contemporary perspectives on violence are also discussed, examining topics such as the recruitment of young men to war and the effects of peer alienation.

Collection of essays discussing whether Mark Twain's book is racist, the issue of race in the novel itself, and race relations in 21st century America.

Adolescence and coming of age are explored through the work of Romeo and Juliet with a variety of perspectives presented.

When four Chinese immigrant mothers meet through their church in 1949, they begin to play mahjong together, forming what eventually becomes the Joy Luck Club. The novel, which centers around these women and their first-generation daughters, tells varied stories about what it means to live, work, and love as an immigrant, with a focus on the bond of female empowerment. This essential edition presents readers with essays that examine women's issues in The Joy Luck Club, discussing topics such as gender and ethnic identity, cultural conflict, and stereotypes about immigrant women. The text also explores contemporary perspectives on women's issues in relation to immigration, urging readers to contextualize the themes of the novel within the issues of the present.

Capturing a snapshot of the race relations that would set the stage for apartheid in South Africa, Alan Paton's 1949 novel, Cry, the Beloved Country, paints a complicated portrait of the widening divisions between dissolving tribal cultures and white communities. This necessary edition presents essays that examine the treatment of race relations in Cry, the Beloved Country, discussing topics such as whether or not the book's political vision was naive, how Paton's complex view on goodness and badness helped to inform his text, and how the novel's publication helped or hindered open conversations regarding race in South Africa. An in-depth biography of author Alan Paton and modern perspectives on race in South Africa, including an examination of post-apartheid conditions, are included as well.

Elie Wiesel witnessed the horrors of genocide firsthand when he and his family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp and later to Buchenwald. Some critics characterize his book, which he published a little over a decade after the war's ending, as memoir. Weisel refers to Night as a deposition, one that constantly questions why genocide happened and what it reveals about human nature. This compelling volume interrogates these questions by introducing readers to a wide range of essays that explore themes about and surrounding genocide as they relate to Wiesel's work. The book also provides contemporary perspectives on genocide.

Bigger Thomas, a young man living in 1930s Chicago, takes a job with a wealthy white family, the Daltons. After a night of drinking with her boyfriend, Mary, the Dalton's only child, dies when Thomas accidentally suffocates her so as not to be heard by Mary's mother, who would not understand why Thomas was carrying her up to bed. Thomas's fate, to be tried and convicted of murder, speaks less to Thomas as a person than to the impossible circumstances racism creates within society. This compelling volume delves into author Richard Wright's life and the divide that made two separate Americas legal. Essays discuss Thomas's revolutionary consciousness, racial blindness, and the contemporary plight of the millions of African-Americans in prisons due to racism inherent in the justice system. Writers include Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, and Irving Howe.

Responding directly to the era of U.S. politics known as McCarthyism, Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible positions the Salem witch trials at the center of a narrative that seeks to dance with and around questions of justice, power, and suspicion. This compelling edition presents readers with an insight into Arthur Miller's life, work, and inspirations, with a specific eye toward his writing of The Crucible. Readers are invited to explore the theme of justice through a series of essays, from writers and figures such as Michael Moore and Andy Worthington, that present varying viewpoints on the play's subject matter and tackle ideas such as the misuse of the legal system and the relationship between religion and the courtrooms. Perspectives on modern-day issues pertaining to justice are presented for consideration, allowing readers to link the themes of the play to the issues of the present.

When an extramarital affair with a minister results in a child, Hester Pryne is publically shamed and ostracized by her community in Puritan Boston. Her subsequent attempts at a quiet life are complicated by a vengeful husband, her rambunctious daughter, her refusal to name the father of her child, and finally, by a desperate attempt to escape from Boston. This compelling edition takes a critical look at Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter through the lens of women's issues. The text presents readers with a biographical snapshot of the author and examines women's issues in the novel. Essays discuss topics such as feminism in the nineteenth century, forced marriage, and the subservience of women. The text also provides contemporary perspectives on current women's issues, creating a dialogue between the events of the text and the world of today.

Published shortly after his assassination, The Autobiography of Malcolm X recounts Malcolm X's painful childhood, from his early experiences with racism, to his conversion to the Nation of Islam while in prison, to his years of activism as a leader and proponent of Black Nationalism. This volume offers a diverse range of perspectives on the role of racism in the life of Malcolm X and his autobiography. Essays discuss Malcolm X's life, his quest for racial truth, the psychological impact of racism, black identity shaped by white racism, and Malcolm X as spokesman and leader.

Jane Austen pioneered the modern novel by focusing on realistic depictions of ordinary people, with an eye toward unraveling the social structures that ruled Victorian England. This volume explores the role of class in Jane Austen's life and in Pride and Prejudice, providing a critical background on the life of the author and the influences that shaped her writing. Ten articles explore topics such as the rapidly changing class structures in Britain during the time of the novel, and what class meant for women. The book also includes twenty-first-century perspectives on the intersection of class and gender. Contributors include Emily Auerbach, Terry Eagleton, and Sarah Mahoney.

This volume presents biographical and critical information on Salinger, viewpoints on the depression, and contempora ry assessments well as a chronology of important date s in the author's life, discussion questions, a guide to additional literary works that focus on the same issues, a bibliography for further resea rch and a thorough subject index.

A collection of critical reviews that investigate the background of industrialism in the works of John Steinbeck.

Ernest Hemingway's 1925 novel The Sun Also Rises sought to capture the resilient spirit of the Lost Generation through a series of love connections between a group of men and a liberated divorcee who finds herself at the center of their affections and attentions. Themes of gender, role according to gender, and the influence of masculinity and femininity saturate the novel, as the main characters grapple with what it means to expect integrity and morality in a modern world. This compelling edition provides background on the life of Ernest Hemingway and the influences that shaped his life. The book features articles that explore gender roles as portrayed in his novel The Sun Also Rises and also examines issues of gender roles in the twenty-first century.

The struggle to locate one's personhood and role within a rapidly-changing society can present even the most well-adjusted adults and adolescents with deep psychological and emotional trauma. Arthur Miller's award-winning play Death of a Salesman pushes the context of this universal struggle even further, confronting what it means to live in a world wherein mediocrity and failure seem not only inevitable but imminent. This informative edition presents essays that examine the treatment of suicide in Death of a Salesman, discussing topics such as alienation, the lack of meaning in contemporary industrial society, and the power of the American Dream. Contemporary perspectives regarding suicide as it pertains to family, work, and society allow readers to link the themes of the text with modern discourse.

One of the most influential works in the canon of black American literature, Maya Angelou's autobiographical work I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings offers readers a frank and inspirational personal portrait of what it means to overcome and move past personal trauma and racism. This compelling edition provides readers with an in-depth biography of the author and presents a series of essays that discuss racism as it relates to Angelou's work. Topics include race and gender, humor and folklore, and death and rebirth. Modern perspectives on the issue of racism are presented as well, allowing readers to connect the themes of the text to the world of today.

Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is taught in classrooms nationwide and is widely hailed as one of literature's most compelling depictions of racism in the South. This informative edition presents essays that examine racism and other related issues in To Kill a Mockingbird, discussing such topics as new and old Southern values, and the connection between class, gender, and racial prejudice. Modern perspectives on race issues are presented as well, allowing the reader to create a link between the themes of the text and the realities of today's world.