Perspectives

Literary period

Zadie Smith’s short story “The Lazy River” was first published in 2017 in The New Yorker magazine and holds postmodern characteristics. The postmodernist literary movement experienced a rise in the post-World War II era and gained popularity all throughout th…

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Works with similar themes

In “The Decline of the West” by Hanif Kureishi, the themes of exploitation and consumerism are visible in the way Mike, the main character, lives his life. He loses his job, but he is unable to tell his family about it, as they keep demanding new expensive things from him. Just like the flotation devices in “The Lazy River”, the things demanded by Mike’s family are not a necessity and represent consumer culture. Exploitation is represented in both stories by immigrants. In “The Decline of the West”, it is the immigrant woman who cleans Mike’s house despite the fact that she is pregnant.

In “Beggarland” by Alan Sillitoe, the author explores themes such as escapism and ignorance. Ja…