Essay On 1950s Literature

1950s Literature The 1950s with its new technology and thriving economy had the symbolic appearance of success: the suburban family with the house, the car, the television, and the home appliances, but not all was as it appeared. Many Americans displayed the facade of a happy, fortunate lifestyle, but in their literature authors of the fifties displayed the underlying turmoil and stress. President Eisenhauer maintained a balanced economy with his programs, and the American people thrived financially, but the authors of this time who could see beyond this disillusionment exploited the unhappiness that also existed. Their topics were controversial, but enlightened many. Because many American adults of the 1950s had experienced the hardships of the Great Depression, the economic boom created a freedom of spending they had never experienced before. President Eisenhauer saw the potential of the programs created by Roosevelt, so he chose to keep some of them in operation. One such program was big public works programs such as the federally funded interstate highway system (Schmoop Editorial Team). The creation of the credit card in 1950 was the start of …show more content…
One such author is J.D. Salinger who published The Catcher and the Rye in the summer of 1951. His main character Holden Caulfield was the voice of the young generation who did not seem to have the same conformist attitudes or mainstream goals as their parents (“J.D. Salinger”). Another important author of this time was Ralph Ellison. His novel The Invisible Man was “a groundbreaking meditation on race and marginalized communities in America” in the 1950s (Bio.com). In his 1950’s short stories, John Cheever helped exploit the disillusionment of the suburbian life. His “distinctive writing style in the 1950s elegantly captured the hidden foibles of human beings” (Riviera Academic Journal). These authors have a legacy that continues