Contrasting Representations of Guidance in Medieval and Post-Modern Literature

Abstract

This project explores the concept of guidance and how it manifests in literature. The intro discusses the concept broadly before diving into two divergent texts to focus the discourse. The first text is Dante's Inferno, the content of which represents the structured, authoritative guidance of Medieval literature and worldview. The second is Percival Everett's I Am Not Sidney Poitier, a novel filled with many and absurd guide figures who fail to fulfill their expected roles. This failure represents the fractured worldview of Post-Modern literature. The conclusion of the project summarizes the differences in the author's use of language, and muses on the inevitable necessity of the written word, regardless of its shortcomings.