o common, that it became rare not to have them. This idea is expressed in Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt, in which he writes, “These standard advertised wares –toothpastes, socks, tires, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters—were his symbols and proofs of excellence…” [DOC A]. It is shown here that people also became ranked on not only how much money they had, but their attitude towards these advancements. Tension between the old and new not only occurred on an economic level, but as well as a religious level. As people began to turn more and more towards science to answer their questions, unbelievable amounts of strain arouse. One of these great conflicts was the Scopes Monkey Trial, also known as The World’s Most Famous Trial. There were basically two conflicts present within this trial: that of the fundamentalists and the Darwinists, and that between the accepted beliefs of the time, and the new ones that challenged them. The standard belief was to accept what society and the Bible dictated. The difference in mentalities between the prosecutor, William Jennings Bryan and the defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, is seen when Bryan states that he himself “believe[s] everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there,” and that “some of the Bible is given illustratively” [DOC C].Another important source of tension came in the Negro community. This is seen in Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” where he writes of the “revolt against weariness in a white world” [DOC E]. He stresses the tension that is building up between the new artists and those who stay with the old values. In contrast to the Negro movement was the Ku Klux Klan, who were the perfect example of those who did not want to accept the new ways of life. In Hiram Wesley Evans’ “The Klan’s Fight for Americanism,” th...
