Cultural References
The novel makes several references to both contemporary political and popular culture. Both Republican presidents George H. W. Bush and Ronald Reagan are castigated in the narrative, while Bobby Kennedy and the Vietnam War are referred to as representing the cushy Democratic era. In Chapter 24, the Senator mentions the 1991 Gulf War. In terms of popular culture, the Beatles song Eleanor Rigby plays on the radio in Chapter 9, paralleling the prosody of the novella. The Education of Henry Adams is quoted in Chapter 32.
Read more about this topic: Black Water (novella)
Famous quotes containing the word cultural:
“If in the earlier part of the century, middle-class children suffered from overattentive mothers, from being “mother’s only accomplishment,” today’s children may suffer from an underestimation of their needs. Our idea of what a child needs in each case reflects what parents need. The child’s needs are thus a cultural football in an economic and marital game.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)