blog




  • Essay / An analysis of the literary devices used in the book Generation X by Douglas Coupland

    Generations Have you ever wondered what life was like for someone from another generation? I've often wondered what life would be like in my 20s if I were of my parents' generation. I think we often have misconceptions that the generations before us always lived better lives without really doing detailed research into the type of lifestyle they led. In Douglas Coupland's Generation I believe the idea of ​​this book is to encourage that Generation X and Baby Boomers (the generation after World War II) should not be lumped together. This book, through its use of characterizations and colloquialisms, made me feel like the generation before mine has more in common with millennials than we expected and changed my overall view of their time in history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The key aspect of this book connecting its readers to the story is the portrayal of the main characters. The book begins with three characters: Andy, Dag and Claire. The perspective of the book is first person: Andy's point of view. These characters come across as obnoxious people from the first introduction. All three of them seem to be experiencing an inner anguish which they consider necessary to complain about. As unappealing as it may seem at first, their whining becomes apparent later. The stories of these three characters develop throughout the early chapters as each reveals their own life story that brought them together as neighbors. As each character presents their own story, they each become more likable and entirely too relatable. These stories were about leaving meaningless jobs, not being able to find love in a materialistic world, and many other stories that I thought I could read with the intention of caring about the generation before mine . I began to think of my elders (people my parents' age) as having lived lives similar to the people I know today, who continually struggle with love, materialism, and jobs. meaningless service, while trying to understand what life means to them. The main quality of these characters is that they are exceptionally good at telling stories. They're not motivated by much other than the stories of their lives or the stories they make up for fun that define their generation. In this sense, I want to compare them to Louis XVI, who was more interested in his hobbies than in running a kingdom and disconnected himself from his chaotic environment because he was not yet mature enough to lead France. This analogy is apt because these characters are not ready to live the lives that the generation before them established or have not yet figured out how they want to change their society. This led me to ask the question: “Does people’s education (or lack thereof) lead them to these positions in their lives?” Is this a common theme in the story? As the story develops, the supporting characters in this work of fiction help shape a strong story of the main roles that begins to answer my questions about them. Each main character is associated with a rolesecondary which provides insight into the origin of their problems. Claire's boyfriend, Tobias, is a superficial guy who doesn't like the other character. They call him a "yuppie", a term incorporated into the book used in the 1980s. It describes a well-paid and fashionable young person. Elvissa, a love interest for Dag who is atypical and too stuck in the past. Tyler, Andy's spoiled teenage brother. One of Claire's problems involves divorced parents and the idea that love is now a materialistic concept. Tobias shows him that materialism has become an important part of his current society. Andy's younger brother symbolizes the big family he comes from and the idea of ​​feeling like you're just a number. Dag's unusual love interests show his lack of attention to anything ordinary or monotonous. These supporting characters contribute their life stories, which makes it feel like I was in more depth with them. I felt like I got along with Dag in the sense that I was afraid that I would do the same boring, meaningless work every day and that my life would have no meaning or adventure. This also begins to explain their bold decision to move away from city life and move to a desert area. They wanted to create their own rules after the previous thirty years of rules set by their elders. One of the best and funniest lines in the book is that they felt delivered to the world.” . . like so many scratched underwear” (Generation X, 86). Their anti-establishment mindset begins to make sense because we realize that they don't want to live by the rules. This concerns me in the sense that I have felt encouraged to be myself in the midst of all the social changes of late. What is discouraging about this book is that we don't see many attempts at change. Nor do we see the characters ultimately succeed in making changes in their own lives that defy social norms. They soon seem to discover that they are living exactly as they were before they tried to make their lives different. I understand that the book is more of a fictional account of a generation written by a man who wanted others to understand what his generation went through, what they did, and why they are sometimes called "the silent generation." However, if it was pure fiction, I would have wanted to see a new society that they created beyond all imagination, like how Marxism was mentioned in the Communist Manifesto . But that's the problem: our society has been so structured by capitalism, social norms and regulatory laws that it's really easy to imagine a different one? Especially now, when the media is so big that we are easily influenced by what we see and hear. Misconceptions are easily spread about us. However, I also think this is the very reason they are called the Silent Generation. They didn't have the same means of mass communication as we do and many of my generation use this to their advantage to try to bring about social change and challenge our society. The only problem now is that millennials are completely immersed in the materialistic world that was presented to us a long time ago, so maybe half of Generation X was busy yearning for change; the other half of Generation X involved in the “yuppie life” solidified our current society. What one might take away from this book is that it is difficult to make changes in full compliance. I personally enjoyed the book in the sense that I like the fact that it represents a.