Search from Within
The 60’s was a period of change, a shift away from the traditionalistic views of the Fifties. The youth of the day fought for a completely different existence to that of their parent’s generation. There were various issues and influences that shaped the way of life of young people in the sixties. Racism, cold war, Feminist movement, and the sexual revolution were the Baby boomers and Caputo’s struggle for identity.
Racism helped push along the youth culture of the 1960’s. It showed that everyone was equal as long as they obeyed the laws. Brown v. Board of Education and even the fight for desegregated schools such as the Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas helped show the struggle for identity among the baby boomers. “On September 23, 1957, as nine black students attempted to enter Central High, a huge angry crowd of whites surrounded them.” Young people of the sixties, felt sympathetic toward the black people, who faced widespread discrimination, especially in the South. People of both races participated in protests against discriminatory practices. Through protesting with African Americans the children of the sixties were starting to break away from their parents’ traditionalist values, they were fighting for their own self- worth. Even in war there was still such a thing as racism when you could loose your life at anytime. “I now realized that some of them were not so decent and good. Many had petty jealousies, hatreds and prejudices.” (Caputo, 136)
The Cold war was a time of manipulation. The children of the sixties were conned and deceived into thinking that they were fighting for a purpose. “We went overseas full of illusions, for which the intoxicating atmosphere of those years was as much to blame as our youth.” (Caputo, prologue)Through this quote Caputo explains how patriotism and the thought of heroism can manipulate any one into war including women. Young people felt hopeless, and didn’t see how they could...