The Zeitgeist of the 20th Century: From Modern Times to the era of Great Dictators

 

Thinking Activity

                 The Zeitgeist of the 20th Century : 

From Modern Times to the Era of The Great Dictators 

                                            Frame Study 

 

        This Blog-spot is in response to the part of Thinking activity on 'The Zeitgeist of the 20th Century, From Modern Times to the Era of Great Dictators' . This Task was given by Dr. Dilip Barad sir.  

 The understanding of the socio-economic-religion-cultural setting is must for deeper understanding of the literary text. When it comes to teach first half of the Twentieth Century, Charlie Chaplin's films are the best to serve this purpose. The films like 'Modern Times' and 'The Great Dictator' serves the purpose and students can get an 'easy' understanding of the 'esoteric' nature of the literature.

 

•        What is Zeitgeist ? 

                

     According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary , “Zeitgeist” is  the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. 

 The meaning of the word “Zeitgeist” comes from German. Zeit means "time" and  "Geist" means “spirit”, means "spirit of the time" 

•  Frame Study 

                    

         Modern Times is an American silent comedy film. It is written and directed by Charlie Chaplin and released in 1936. Charlie Chaplin as a man at odds with modern technology. It is regarded as the last great silent film. 

           The film, which was set during the Great Depression, canters on a luckless factory worker (played by Chaplin) who finds himself so unnerved by trying to cope with the modern equipment he must operate that he suffers a breakdown. After being institutionalized, he is freed, only to be mistaken for a communist agitator. He is arrested but released after preventing a jailbreak. He subsequently falls in love with a young girl (Paulette Goddard) whom he met when she was running from the police after stealing a loaf of bread. The factory worker and the girl have many adventures together as they evade the police and struggle for a better life.

 

                                 

              The story begins of the life of a factory working  people who is employed on the assembly line. His job sees him screwing nuts at an ever-increasing rate as part of the assembly line as well as being subjected to new, untested inventions like an 'automatic feeding machine'.

                                             Sheep-People

                                  

             In this film , the story about Chaplin presents Sheep's as an allegorical and another side presents the human minds were pushed up by the particular authorities. The crowed followed by the authority of factories, or we can say the presidential rules were ruling upon the workers. 

                    Basic needs: Food, cloth and House

                                    

                                    

                  In those time, most people did not have sufficient money to buy food. Most people was jobless because of capitalism. That’s why people have a such problem of food, house or cloths .  At that time they were no money with. so that they need to steal food for livelihood. At that time poor people struggles for their basic needs like food or house, job. 

                           

       The owner control on their workers.  He always under the control of their boss or owner, and the boss always has an eye on his workers. Even the boss controls their personal privacy.

                                          

                                      

               In This picture , There is a guinea pig to test a new machine to feed the workers automatically, without having to interrupt their work during lunch.     There was an owner also tried to  experiment on their workers. While first time machines worked well but after damaged . it was not good for worker. It was hit again and again. 

                             Death of craftmanship 

                   In this film we can say that, there is a mechanization . so , In 20th century was not too good in mechanization  because workers became jobless . and today’s time we can see that the mant factories like coca cola factory or many more.  

      According to ,  A.C.Ward said about the death of craftsmanship , 

"Throughout the period between the two world wars, the growth of mass production methods in industry created deep concern among sociologists who recognised that a lifetime of work on assembly-line processes was destructive of interest in the objects produced and a threat of death to craftsmanship."

        

 

Thank you.