"Little Fish" D. H. Lawrence The tiny fish enjoy themselves in the sea. Quick little splinters of life, their lives are fun to them in the sea. | The advent of the 20th century brought about several changes and cataclysmic events, both literature and technology were going through prominent advances from the invention of Kodak’s one dollar “Brownie” cameras to the modernist movements in writing and poetry, the birth of Imagism and Transcendentalism, the publication of “The Wizard of Oz,” the popularization of science fiction from H. G. Wells to Jules Verne, Sigmund Freud published his "The Interpretation of Dreams", changing the course of psychology forever: for better or worse. This was the decade Max Planck first introduced his Quantum theory and Boxer rebellion toke place in China, the first nobel prize was awarded, the first airplane toke flight, impressionalism toke rise in the arts, cubism and fauvism were introduced, Ford introduced the model-T and a three year old became the emperor of China, grand things were a foot, many prolific and other’s detrimental, the future began to come too quickly for some and succeeded in terrfiying a great many. The influence of Freud and an horror driven loathing of the progression of industry birthed the antagonism of one such D. H. Lawrence born in the year 1885, in Eastwood, The United Kingdom. He become one of the most controversial authors of the time(evident from his myriad of banned and censored works) his views are to this day considered eccentric by the politest of critics. |
D. H. Lawrence was famous for his deconstruction of the dehumanizing effect of industrialization and modernization in the transitions of the 1800’s to the 1900’s. He wrote with effrontery and his blatant expression and controversial address earned him much loathing and disgust from the public and other literary critics of the time. His often pornographic imagery and topics resulted in the persecution, censorship and misrepresentation of his original work, especially during the second half of his life. Proud and opinionated D. H. Lawrence went on what he titled a "savage pilgrimage" or his voluntary exile for the remainder of his life. It was only after D. H. Lawrence’s death that he was recognized for his incredible and innovative compositions, so much of which was wasted on salacious pieces in the views of many. However, in an obituary notice, E. M. Forster, went as far as to label him "The greatest imaginative novelist of our generation.” and posthumously his fiction is regarded as an integral component in the accepted “great tradition” of english literature.
Much of D. H. Lawrence’s early work was reminiscent of romantic styles of past masters, and reflected a strong reverence of nature. He produced prolific pieces of the imagist movement of the turn of the twentieth century, often evocative of Ezra Pound, who tried to draw Lawrence into his circle of writers. Lawrence, however was set on his own path and refused Pound, believing in candid and personal expression through poetry. Lawrence did not wish to bury the existential mysteries he wrote about deeper in their own enigmas, but to bring them to the light. He viewed evolution of anglo-saxon society as offensively desensitising, puritan and hypocritical he often expressed this both openly and through astringent satire. D. H. Lawrence believed that rudimentary nature of the unconscious mind, and subsequently sexuality were the cure to the corruption that he believed to be due to the technical development of society. Ceaselessly belligerent and rebellious in his theories, Lawrence’s compositions were rich and fecund, many times unrivaled in ingenuity from his most contentious novel: Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928), to his many anthologies of poetry including a particular collection regarding his wife titled Look! We Have Come Through (1917); and additionally two with natural themes collections: Birds, Beasts, and Flowers (1923); and Pansies (1929), which was banned on publication in England. The cases of his censorship were widely publicized and led to his infamous reputation.
Even without his work as an author, D. H. Lawrence was hounded, this time however for suspected pro-german sympathies at the rise of World War I. These suspicions were rooted in the assumed involvement of his wife, Frieda. Do to the myriad of accusations placed upon him from both literary and political critics, Lawrence was constantly traveling from Italy, Germany, Ceylon, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, the French Riviera, Mexico to even the United States where in Taos, New Mexico he developed a cult following of female admirers, whom he considered almost disciples, and their battles for his attention became legend. It was in 1930, at the young age of only 44 that D. H. Lawrence died of a lifelong case of Tuberculosis.
“Little Fishes” is a brief work that reflects D. H. Lawrence’s disgust at the pliable and complacent nature in which many people lived. “The tiny fish . . .” is a reference to the human race, mere minnows in the sea of the world, they “enjoy themselves in the sea.” gaining trivial happiness from their meaningless “Quick little splinters of life,”. “Their little lives are fun to them,” D. H. Lawrence condemns the shallow lives of the Anglo-saxon population” who he deems content to live out their lives without making a single ripple “in the sea.” A satirical work indicating the restless nature of D. H. Lawrence’s thoughts. Lawrence craved attention and recognition through his writing which is blatant and fiery, his views often insulting: in the hope of having his own assessments of human life imposed upon others. Lawrence demands to be heard, and the vulgarity and atrocity of his extraordinary work gained him both his audience and their disrespect.
It should be noted that though D. H. Lawrence was often heinously brazen and abhorrent he was truly a talented author and had he expressed his views less viciously it is sadly doubtful that he would be so well known in society today. It was Lawrence’s aggression and animosity than earned him his vast reputation, as well as his constant movement to escape persecution. “Little Fish,” however flagrant is a genius little work, that exposes some issues that are still relevant today, such as the uniformity of society and the willingness of people to conform to it. D. H. Lawrence may been excessive but it acquired him the mass debate he was seeking, and helped expose many darknesses brought about by the turn of the century.