Modernism and Identity

One of the major issues that is found within works written during the period of Modernism is a character's sense of loss for things that have valuable meaning and purpose to life. The suffer from a great deal of alienation, leading them on a search for their true identity within the already chaotic modern world. Much of this may be caused by their surroundings, while often it occurs due to personal feelings. Whatever the case, a character is often successful in finding their true inner self, while some are not quite as lucky.
In Zora Neal Hurston's "Sweat" we find that the character suf…