The Urban Individual and Other Aspects of Post Modernism.

Cities have, since ancient time always been around. Humans are social creatures, striving to receive acceptance, praise and acknowledgement from other humans. It has been like that since the dawn of mankind, and as long as we exist as a species it will remain like that, it lies deep within our primal instincts to huddle together and advance forward as civilizations. With the rise of the industrial age however, more and more people sought towards the cities and left their life in the countryside and smaller towns to partake in the vast and seemingly endless opportunities the cities had to offer. Some people succeeded, but many more were confined to cramped and meager existences. The cities changed over time though, and went from places, which primarily contained the ruling class and the working class, to contain all classes, as the notion of a ruling class was disestablished during the late 1900’s. It seemed like a fine idea to start with but literature has described otherwise, issuing a warning to society about which turns it has taken and which values it as assumed.
According to literature that describes the life of urban individuals in the post modern age, attributes such as greed, superficiality and narcissism play a big role. This was explicitly and effectively described in Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991 Novel: ‘’American Psycho,’’ in which a seemingly harmless and normal businessman goes about his business during the day, but at night transforms into blood hungering lunatic bent on destroying everything and everyone he deems unfit for life. Another interesting aspect of postmodern life the novel points out, is the astounding contrast between rich and poor. At first Bateman (the main character of the novel), is described to be at a fancy dinner party – but only a couple of hours later he finds himself face to face with a homeless person. Furthermore the novel also points out the way relationships function in a strictly urban setting. They are superficial and insincere. These observations where however, already made by Louis Wirth in his 1938 book about urban life where he describes the relationships between people in the larger cities to be: ‘’characterized by secondary contacts rather than primary contacts. […] They are nevertheless impersonal, superficial, transitory and segmental.’’ Wirth characterizes these relationships as being relationships of utility rather than relationships of sincerity.
The text: ‘’Skin Deep’’ also emphasizes a problem for the urban individual: The need for people with low self-esteem to be perfect for others, on the outside, for as the title reveals the change is only skin deep. The story is about a wife who in her eagerness to please her husband initiates a plastic surgery procedure. In agreement with most literature about the postmodern period, which is seemingly negative, it goes wrong for her and her husband leaves her. What she initially did for him backfired for her. Like American psycho, Skin Deep, warns the reader about the changes happening in society – skin deep is a comment on the vanity of the average urban individual, and how temporary fashion dictates our everyday lives whilst all that lies under the skin is less important. Instead of playing the cards you are dealt, you change your cards, and that leads to unhappy individuals.
It is important to stress however, that life in the postmodern world doesn’t only have negative sides to it – it has positive aspects too. American psycho is a book written to warn the readers of the development society has taken and therefore doesn’t give a nuanced view of the life of the average urban individual, who doesn’t commit the atrocities that Bateman does. Most people in the cities rather enjoy it, and the populations of the cities have been growing at a very rapid rate since the 1800’s, so it must be doing something right. Urban postmodern life has more to offer than relationships of utility between humans and superficiality. The multiculturalism and multi idealism that often dominates cities put a stop the homogenous lifestyle led in the suburbs and promotes a heterogeneity that in turn gives the population diverse values, which at the end of the day furthers different ideas and ideals.
Seen from a practical standpoint, the life of the urban individual is fairly trouble free, compared to those that reside further away from the metropolitan areas. The easy access to various amenities by trams, taxis, subways and busses proves that the freedom of movement is indeed greater in the cities. This coupled with the fact that most cities boast superior infrastructure compared to the land beyond the cities (probably due to the increased amount of citizens living in said area) gives the urban individual more time to do more things, due to the constant flow of public and private transport throughout the city at all times. The individual can achieve more in a single day then a farmer can in a week because of the fact that everything he or she needs is in his or her vicinity.
In conclusion it can be stated that the literature and popular fiction describing the urban individual is primarily negative. In the concrete jungles, which have been ever growing since humans invented steel and brick, man has distanced himself from nature and alienated it. He has grown far to comfortable in his concrete castle and worries now only about what others think of him. He cares not for the troubles of others but his own.