Kassons Assignment/ Coney Island - Essay Example

In the 19th century United States, culture and custom was dominated by a Victorian sense of public order and virtue. New York city was no different. The rich, elite, Park Ave mansion owning New Yorkers served as a sharp contrast to the lower class working famlies, living in slum tenements. Previously, there was no place where both the rich and poor could come and entertain themselves until Coney Island. Coney Island served as a cultural transition point, as the United States was entering the turn of the century and people seeked to create their own identity.

” The writer has very interestingly shed light on the whole development with regard to intellectual development which took place in the land of Coney Island from the point of view of the theme parks. It is pertinent to note that the cultural upheaval took place and was first noticed at the theme parks of Coney Island. At the turn of the 20th, something so dramatic and paramount happened that it had never happened before, and was considered to be one of the most influential acts of humanity. Coney Island acted like a bridge in the truest sense.

It is pertinent to note that Coney Island was the first place which allowed the intermingling of different cultures under the common shadow of humanity and love. It is important to understand that this trend of intermingling between people started off at the lonely island of Coney island. The Coney Island went through dramatic changes; however, in answering the first question, it was indeed a force of modernity. The island was not a face of old ages, instead, it grew into great character during the later times.

In his novel, the writer of the novel, Kasson has accurately described the victorian virtues of the then Coney Island. He has described the characteristics and other examples of the pre Coney Island era which used to be extremely highly moral, sober, beautiful, high tech in nature and well versed with the rest of the culture of the world. Coney Island was on the banks of the city of New York and there are examples of people trading a new set of lifestyle in Coney Island which had still not reached the city of New York.

All the virtues which have been discussed earlier were not attained and enshrined by the people of New York due to certain reasons. These reasons consisted of a low class of condition in which the people survived and lived, apart from the fact that they were not living in the best of the human condition. However, the elite and the rich New Yorkers did have the luxury to indulge into modernism just like the people of Coney Island did. Those who advocated the culture which was starting to take shape in Coney Island initiated he creation of theme parks and other central parks which were prevalent at that time.

At the turn of the 20th century people were starting to create an identity for themselves, and Coney Island helped them to usher into the new cloud of identity in the best possible manner. How do you think people living at that time viewed Coney Island? People viewed Coney Island in a distinct fashion, which was very different to the current setup prevalent in the rest of New York. Coney Island was a lonely Island, but people viewed it to destroy bridges of ice and come together irrespective of their economic status.

People viewed the Island as a place