Modernism vs. Postmodernism

I have pondered the characters in each of the works we have read. The character that best helps me understand the differences between Modernism and Postmodernism is the Chancellor from "The Obsolete Man". If we were looking at continuum comparing Modernism and Postmodernism, we would see the Chancellor at the extreme side of Modernism. When I think of Modernism and the Chancellor, I see there being an absolute and universal truth that is understood through rationalism and logic. In the totalitarian society, the Chancellor was putting Wordsworth on trial for being obsolete in the State. The Chancellor had the mindset that Wordsworth was obsolete because he was a religious librarian in a society that didn't allow religion or books. Wordsworth, who is more of a Postmodern character says, "I am nothing more than a reminder to you that you cannot destroy truth by burning pages." Wordsworth, along with Postmodernism, believes there is no universal truth, and rationality by itself does not help us truly understand the world.

The Narrator ends the short movie saying, "the chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete, but so is the State, the entity he worshiped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete." This solidifies the notion of Postmodernism, which the Chancellor and his state was against.