John Dos Passos's Critique Of Everyday Life In Manhattan Transfer

The landscape of modern American society in the early twentieth century was marked by its overall alienated everyday life.John Dos Passos,as a dedicated observer of American history,paid great attention to the alienated city of New York in his time and completed a novel called Manhattan Transfer in 1925 with all his keen observations.Through his extraordinarily unique writing skills associated with film and news narration,what John Dos Passos sought to picture in this novel was a panoramic view of an urban society infused with alienation in the last century.In order to present a synoptic everyday life of New York City in the early twentieth century,Dos Passos depicted a myriad of ordinary people from all walks of life swarming into this metropolitan area,with journalists,actors,and lawyers as significant characters.Some of the minor roles just appeared for seconds and yet never came back anymore;while others willingly chose to be modern pioneers who got into a trend due to their following of the urban living rules;and also there were characters who reduced themselves to be the wandering men in this dangerously dazzling world.Through his overall reflection of an alienated New York society in Manhattan Transfer,Passos intended to seek for ultimate solutions in this novel to help people and society overcome alienation in the modern era.From the descriptions of urban revolutions and how alienated characters reflected upon their controlled destinies and tried to fight against the imposed alienation,readers could tell that Manhattan Transfer served as not simply a sheer criticism of everyday life in the modern world,but also,more importantly,as a typically recorded warning of everyday life in the urban society given by the author with his years of close observations and profound reflections.In this way,it could be confirmed that the most appealing character of John Dos Passos' literary works was the author's great insight and deep concerns about the modern everyday life on each page,rather than his particularly innovative writing skills.Through the lens offered by Western Marxism theorist Henri Lefebvre,in particular through what he termed the Critique of Everyday Life,this paper tried to carry on a detailed exploration of the overall alienation in urban society as in the novel Manhattan Transfer.The real significance of this paper was exhibited through its detailed expression of the author's great dedication to launching urban revolutions and constructing the “total man”,rather than merely showing his sharp criticism of alienation.Characters in this novel both undertook the roles as alienated victims and awakening representatives in the modern world,who strove to fight against alienation and pursued the way to become the “total man”.This paper involved five chapters in total.The first chapter was a general overview including the introduction of John Dos Passos and Manhattan Transfer,literature review at home and abroad,theoretical perspective as well as the significance and the layout of the whole thesis.Chapter Two focused on the alienation reflected in individuals' everyday lives in terms of their essential needs,interpersonal relationships,and consciousness,showing the alienating effects on people's everyday lives in the modern world.The third chapter still followed the alienation in the novel.However,the study perspective turned to the alienation in the whole New York society,mainly grabbing its attention on the economic,political,as well as cultural aspects.Chapter Four discussed the urban revolutions and the construction of the “total man”,disclosing the author's real writing intention and the solutions he left concerning how to smash the urban alienation in his time.Chapter Five finally served as a conclusion of the whole thesis,drawing out a summary of all the alienation manifested in the novel and the rehabilitation of everyday life as well as the return of the “total man”.