Compare And Contrast The Harlem Renaissance And The Hippie Movement

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The Harlem Renaissance and the Hippie movement, while vastly different from each other, both had a common core reason for the writing that came from these time periods. There are many different views of the Harlem Renaissance and what is considered just and unjust for the oppressed people of this time. Looking at the works of Zora Neale Hurston compared to Ralph Ellison, there is a vast difference in the message that is being portrayed between the two writing. Although these two works are different, they contain somewhat of the same message. The Hippie movement is something not taken as seriously as the Harlem Renaissance is. The Hippie movement was about people finding themselves and expressing who they want to be. The Hippie movement wanted …show more content…

The Hippie movement was very much about choosing things rather than being told what is okay. The norms were thrown out the window. Drugs were a significant part of the Hippie movement because drugs allowed these writers, and other people, to be able to reach rather than the normal mind can expand to. Many great works came from the Hippie movement, although there were people that did not see the drug movement in a good light the way the Hippies did. The Hippie movement wanted to prove that there was more out there than just the normal day to day. Ursula K Le Guin, author of Schrödinger’s Cat, explored the literal version of things. When reading this work it is difficult to understand it all at once. Everything that is written is in a very literal sense instead of the metaphors that are used in everyday life. “There was a silence then: deep silence. We both gazed, I afoot, Rover kneeling, at the box. No sound. Nothing happened. Nothing would happen. Nothing would ever happen, until we lifted the lid of the box” (592). Guin is exploring the idea of zero time, something that is very difficult to wrap a mind around, unless possibly, there is the use of psychedelic drugs to assist. Hunter S. Thompson openly experimented with drugs and writing to show what more can come out of an ever-expanding mind. Authors in the Hippie movement were working towards proving that there are ways to expand the mind and to be able to gain more knowledge for