thesis 1 (Repaired)

Introduction;A novel is usually taken as a fictional prose narrative of considerable length typically having a plot that is unfolded by the actions, speech, and thoughts of the characters. In other words, it is a long fictional narrative which describes intimate human experiences. The novel in the modern era usually makes use of a literary prose style. The development of the prose novel was encouraged by innovations in printing, and the introduction of cheap paper in the 15th century. Forman is the 21st novel is constantly evolving and emerging as a demanding genre. A modern novel is a long fictional narrative, written in the form of story that puts forward in a realistic image of believable characters and occurrences. The majority of modern novels focus on recreating the everyday lives of common people. Modernism is a branch of modern literature that tries to move away from the realist novels that dominated the Victorian era. The movement reached its height between 1900 and 1920. Modernist luminaries include T.S. Eliot, Franz Kafka, James Joyce and Ezra Pound. The movement displayed a disregard for conventions and other forms; this led to fascist flirtations and rampant narcissism. Modernism led to postmodernism, structuralism to post-structuralism and colonialism to post-colonialism. The various types of literature built upon and diversified away from previous types of literature.So far as, the first American novels are concerned they were first published during late 18th and early 19th century. The 17th Century is the Age of Puritanism is a movement created by extreme Calvinist Protestants who sought to purify religion and society. They believed God would cleanse their feelings through “grace” eliminating envy, vanity, and lust. The Age of Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, is an intellectual movement which began in Europe. Writers during this time believed the goals of rational individuals were knowledge, freedom, and happiness. The literary movement which coincided with the Age of Reason was Classicism, based on the study of and adherence to the ancient classic works of Greece and Rome. Romanticism is the movement that rebelled against Classicism in favor of the imagination and emotions. Romantic writers favored intuition over reason and were more concerned with the individual than the whole society. They saw art as an imaginative expression of an individual’s essence. Romantics viewed nature as a beautiful mystery, and source of moral and spiritual lessons, not a machine. American Transcendentalism was created by Emerson who borrowed his ideas from German Transcendentalism and Indian religion to develop a new philosophy. Transcendentalists believe that the basic truths of the universe transcend the physical world and lie beyond the knowledge that can be obtained from the senses. Realism, unlike Romanticism, places less emphasis on the imagination and more on observed fact. Naturalism was a significant offshoot of Realism. Naturalism demands that writers penetrate the surface of life and human character. Modernism is a self-conscious break from traditional literary forms and subject matter and a search for a distinctly contemporary mode of expression. It was heavily influenced by the horrors and disillusionment of World War One. Imagism is a subsection of Modernism that attempted to free poetry from stale conventions and florid languagePostmodernism appears as a by-product of the World War II and in literature it sought novel to express its various nuances and shades of expression. Postmodernism is considered as an extension or sometimes as a break or deviation from the literary norms of modernism. We find the prominent literary figures in the genre such as Joseph Conrad, Marcel Proust, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf who proved to be the vanguard for postmodernism. Many other novelists are called postmodernist. These writers are Thomas Berger, Richard Brautigan, Don DeLillo, William Gaddis, Vladimir Nabokov, and Thomas Pynchon, Peter Ackroyd, Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, and Umberto Eco. Any how the most important focus lies on American writers whose works published after 1950.The postmodern fiction like that of modern one subverts the set patterns of plot, narrative techniques, chronological order and characterization. Postmodernism is thus anti-foundational in nature as it aims at revaluation of all values as claimed by Nitzsche (1844-1900). Similarly, Lyotard, (1979), the most powerful theoretician of postmodernism, urges the writers to challenge and reject the ‘grand narratives’ (that is, universal theories) of Western culture because they have now lost all their credibility. One of such grand narratives is Sigmund Freud’s (1856- 1939) Psychoanalysis which enthralled the minds of the writers for more than a century. He is the originator of psychosexual theory which describes how personality develops over the course of childhood. The theory has its applications not only on psychology but also on many other social, medical and behavioral sciences. Apart from its wider range of influence, it has so many controversial issues. According to Freud, personality of a child develops through a sequence of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energy of the id focuses on certain areas that are sensitive to sexual desire. Such psychosexual energy, or libido,is claimed as the driving force behind the behavior of an individual.The theory claims that the personality of a growing child is mostly established by the age of five. The experiences of early age play a large role in personality development and they get on influencing behavior even later in the later stages of life. If these psychosexual stages i.e. Oral stage (from birth to 18 months), anal stage (from 18 months to 3 years), Phallic stage (from 3 to 6 years), Latency stage (from 6 to puberty) and Genital stage (puberty to onward) go on effectively, a healthy individual turns out. In the case of some fixations or problem at any stage the individual remains wedged in that stage. For example, if a person is fixated at the oral stage, he is usually over-dependent on others and seeks oral satisfaction through smoking, eating, drinking, etc.There has been much criticism on Freud’s theory for his over emphasis on sexuality as the main driver of human personality development. In other words his idea of Oedipalization faced so many counter arguments but still it kept its resonance even till the start of the 20th C. Anyhow, it got the greatest stroke from the postmodern critics whose slogan of ‘anti-foundation’ challenged all the grand narratives including FreudGayle Forman is a female American young adult fiction author. An award-winning, internationally bestselling author and journalist, Gayle Forman’s witty, heartfelt talks draw in audiences of all ages with her signature combination of personal anecdotes and quirky, interactive style.Gayle Forman is an experienced and enthusiastic lecturer who has specially crafted talks for a wide-variety of audiences, including educators, teens, college students, and library groups. In her lectures, Forman speaks to her own life experiences as well as her craft and the building of a great story.The primary theme of ‘If I Stay’ is the concept of choice out of contrary routes. Although she is physically unconscious throughout the story, Mia is faced with the most important decision she will ever have to make — whether to succumb to her injuries or fight to stay alive. The idea is initially suggested by Nurse Ramirez, who provides not only physical care but also serves as emotional support for Mia. She seems to have a stronger connection to Mia than her other caregivers. As Mia considers her choice, she sometimes wishes that someone would make it for her by giving her an overdose of morphine or removing her ventilator. “Imagine if all your choices were go, Except one. And it’s the only one that truly matter” (25)The characters in If I Stay are connected by a deep love and respect for music. While a profound emotional response to music brings characters together, differences in taste and lifestyle also push them apart. Respecting the musical choices and tastes of characters in the novel therefore becomes a metaphor for accepting others for who they are, and also for accepting one’s own unique talents and tastes. “Don’t make me write a song’’ (20)The importance of love and family is a driving force in If I Stay, as many of the choices and sacrifices made within the novel are done for the sake of loved ones. However, love can also complicate these decisions, and can sometimes be the very thing that must be sacrificed. Thus, characters in the novel must balance making decisions for the sake of love‘’Don’t be sacred. Women can handle the worst kind of pain.You’ll find out one day’’ (35)At its core, ‘If I Stay’ is predicated on one decision: whether, after the car accident that kills her parents and brother and puts her in a coma, Mia decides to stay alive, or whether she decides to die. She is able to make this decision while in an out-of-body experience, in which she can see everything that is happening around her regarding her care in the hospital, but cannot interact with anyone or anything ‘I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard’’ (155)Kim is Mia’s best friend. Having too much in common initially made them hates each other, but they eventually realized they were perfect for one another.Kim must be a Libra, because she likes to keep things in balance. Mia is crazy about Adam. Kim is lukewarm about him. Kim’s mother is hysterical at the hospital, but Kim keeps her cool. Kim “makes light of her religion” (7.20), but at the same time, she takes her Jewishness seriously and prays for Mia’s recovery.We only see Kim in relation to Mia, because the whole world revolves around Mia. In that respect, Kim is the perfect friend. “Kim had to bear” (10.6) the pain of her friend being injured, but she does it calmly. And she helps by retrieving Adam from his concert to bring him to Mia’s side.“Look, I accept Adam because you love him. And I assume he accepts me because you love me. If it makes you feel any better, your love binds us. And that’s enough. I and he don’t have to love each others’’Thanatophobia is a medical condition whereby an individual experiences an extreme fear /phobia of death, whether or not if it is the idea of him/ her dying or the loss of a loved one. In’ If I stay’ Adam faces the fear of losing Mia Difference between rock and classical music shows the age gap between parents and child relationship. This gap also illustrates the difference between old and new traditions, modern and new world and hence sets another series of parallelism and contrasts.