Era of Newness

Era of Newness

Introduction

In the 1950's the United States underwent a drastic change as the period after the war led to a change in the culture of the nation. The beat generation had a big influence on the culture of the country. Although it did not have a major status, its influence was very visible. The period after the war saw a change in the mindset of the people and the economic boom had an even greater influence (Morgan, & Ferlinghetti, 2003). People began attaching themselves to materialism and life started drifting away from the religious faith that existed during the period of the war. People soon began to question the attitude of people as it was becoming unacceptable in the society.

The Beats Generation

The Beats generation revealed the fact that capitalism was destructive in nature and the lust for riches led to the destruction of human spirit. However, this generation also saw the change in attitude of people who now demanded that certain things that were considered unethical should be considered acceptable. For instance, during the past, talks about sexuality were strictly forbidden in American culture, however, the beats generation considered this acceptable and told people that there was no harm in doing so. This paper addresses two discussion points related to the context of the beats generation and the change in the culture of the country (Knight, 1996).

In a country where importance was given to ethics, the beats opposed this clean formalism and wished to make the society straightforward, expressive, and bold. During this period, music styles such as jazz were common for the beat writers although it was harmful for the society. The literature of the beats was considered provocative since they were spreading the message that life should be spent in freedom by doing anything they wished. Another problem with this generation was that pornography began to spread like wildfire. Most of the movies by the beats contained pornography and therefore they had to be censored. All this was done in order to get attention from the people (Edington, 2005). Although they were regarded as quality writers during the period, their work is still continuously being spread all over.

The core of this group was founded by Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac in the 1940's and would remain active for the next several years. Some of the initial members of the group were considered masters of poetry and writings since their works could be compared with great writers of the time. Despite their anti-academy and anti-establishment policies, they were all well educated. This marked the beginning of the beats generation (Chandarlapaty, 2009).

The Beat generation used materials from a variety of sources to create their own culture and literature. Their main sources of influence were romantic poets. However, they used this skill in a different way compared to traditional poets. This variation is easily visible and was a powerful inspiration for the youth who tended to get attracted to this group. Although senior people considered this group ...