WWI

It is difficult to find the good in something as terrible as a war, and yet such wonderful works of writing and art stem from effects of WWI. I shudder to think that without the advent of WWI, the writings of Elliot and Pound may have never come into existence. It is a dreadful occurrence; however, without it the mentality of people throughout the world may have never been changed. When I think back to the nineteenth century, a myriad of images flashes before me, most of them having to do with progress. Indeed the nineteenth century saw progress in scores, but everyone at that particular time stuck to the ideal that all of that progress was for the good. There was a certain amount of naivete that went along with that century. WWI put an end to that idealism. I have never been much of an idealist myself, probably due to the fact that I was born post-WWI, so I am almost comforted by the cynicism that followed the beginning of the war. That must seem like a very bleak outlook, but that is reality. I am very much so a realist, and realistically speaking, it was only a matter of time before someone realized that all the progress made in the nineteenth century did not necessarily have to be used for good. Someone did finally realize this and it must have been a very difficult transition for people to make in order realize that not all progress is for the good. Some people still held onto this ideal into the twentieth century, (and I am sure some people still hold onto it today) but Ezra Pound and Wyndham Lewis sought to make it known that this ideal was not realistic. The very name of their publication was reminiscent of bombs and war. After reading such a publication, called Blast, people could not help but accept this harsh reality. Some would say it was a negative that a certain amount of idealism was lost, but unfortunately it was a necessity that had a great effect on many aspects of life, especially art and literature.