The First and Second World Wars brought mass destruction and destroyed traditional values. This complete demolition kicked off the period of Modernism, influenced people to open their minds to new ideas of art, literature and social aspects. This is demonstrated through the works of Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, and TS Elliot. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The modernist period spans the years 1914 to 1945. “Although these writers express contradictory attitudes toward politics, tradition, obscenity, progress, and the psyche, they share a desire to experiment with form” ( Potter). The theme and content of modernist writing are very important. They raised topics that were not discussed before, but they also focused a lot on their form of writing and the characteristics of their style. This modern writing style has many different characteristics. Some of them include realistic details, which can be symbolic or suggestive. There are often multiple perspectives or points of view. The narrator can change, or the point of view of the story can be many different ways throughout the story. Characterization usually portrays heroic individuals, similar to romance, in that it usually leads to isolation or anti-heroism. The modernist period was a break with tradition or a reaction against Victorian culture. There were multiple advances during this period, in science and social sciences: “New ideas in psychology, philosophy and political theory sparked the search for new modes of expression” (Kuiper). These characteristics are shown in many different stories and authors. "The Sculptors Funeral" by Willa Cather is a great representative of the modernist movement. Willa Cather was born in Virginia, attended the University of Nebraska and became a high school teacher in 1901, and her first story was published in 1905. The main theme in the story of "The Sculptors Funeral" is communication problems between people. The sculptor's artistic and cultural ideas isolated him from his fellow citizens, because they did not think like him. His friends present at the funeral comment on how they see him out of touch with the people of the city: “He looked around painfully at the clover-green Brussels, at the thick plush upholstery; among the plaques, panels and hand-painted porcelain vases, for some identifying mark, for something that might once have belonged to Harvey Merrick” (Cather). He tried to find something to connect with Harvey, but it was difficult because none of the materialistic things were something he would relate to. There's also the theme of greed, because that's what all the people in town think they need. The main reason they avoid him is because he is pursuing something he loves, instead of pursuing money. This is definitely a good representation of Modernism, as people started to develop more artistic ideas, it became a topic of discussion with people still stuck in traditional time. Additionally, “Hands” by Sherwood Anderson is another great piece of literature that represents the modernist period. Sherwood Anderson wrote short stories for a living. He believed in writing short stories because he didn't have time to write novels. Furthermore, he did not believe that novels should have a positive, moral plot. He called it the poison plot, he believed that the plot actually poisoned the story. This story fits into the modernist period, forcing readers to question themselves and seek the truth. The story not only includes).