Paper Summary:

The thesis in this paper is that the city as a setting in modernist literature does not represent merely a backdrop. It is has a larger context connected to cultural and social themes. The writer explores these themes through two pieces of modern literature, T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland" and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Sign of Four". Using this literature, the paper examines common threads of difference and assimilation in cities, such as gender roles, women's suffrage, class conflicts and more.

From the Paper:

"So, whilst they seem to have the capacity to gain some knowledge, they are 'the other' and the reader cannot identify with them. The environment and atmosphere of the city is also important in expressing this epistemological concern. The repeated references to the darkness of the city and the image of the city engulfed in thick "yellow fog" are important in this novella (Doyle,1987:15). The darkness and fog hinder vision and, therefore, obstruct the access of knowledge. Most of the characters cannot see through this real and metaphoric fog. It blinds their vision. They cannot solve the mysteries of the city. However, it is important to note that Holmes' ability to gain knowledge, to see through the fog, and to find his way through this labyrinth, separates The Sign of Four from true modernist fiction where the protagonist cannot ever successfully gain the knowledge that they seek."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Conrad, J.,2005. The Heart of Darkness. UK: Digireads.
• Doyle, A.C.,1892. The Sign of Four. England: Penguin.
• Eliot, T.S.,2006.The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. In: J. Reidhead,(ed), The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume two. USA: Norton and Company inc.2289-2293.
• Eliot,T.S.,2006. The Waste Land. In: J. Reidhead,(ed), The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Volume two. USA: Norton and Company inc.2295-2308.
• Gardner, H.,1990. The Landscape of Eliot's poetry. In: G. Clarke,(ed),T.S Eliot: Critical Assessments. London: Christopher Helm,312-327

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