1980s 19th-century a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure african-american african-american-experience african-american-literature alienation allegory alternate-history alternate-reality american-dream american-history american-literature apocalyptic assimilation atmospheric betrayal bildungsroman black-culture black-experience black-identity blindness british-literature brotherhood chase civil-rights civil-rights-movement civilization class-division class-struggle classic classic-literature classics coming-of-age conformity consciousness contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story discrimination disillusionment double-consciousness dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian dystopian-future dystopian-society eloi enigmatic escapism evolution evolutionary-theory existential existentialism exploration fantasy fate fiction folklore freedom friendship future future-society future-technology futurism futuristic futuristic-technology h.-g.-wells h.g.-wells harlem harlem-renaissance haruki-murakami history human-evolution human-nature humanity identity identity-crisis imagination imaginative individualism individuality inequality injustice introspection introspective invention invisibility invisible invisible-man isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature jazz journey literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-story machine magic-realism magical-realism metaphysical mind-bending modern-classic modernism morality morlocks murakami mystery mythology narrator novel obsession oppression parallel-universe parallel-worlds personal-freedom philosophical philosophy pop-culture post-apocalyptic postmodern postmodernism power power-dynamics prejudice progress protagonist protest psychological quest race racism ralph-ellison romance science science-and-technology science-fiction scientific-discovery scientific-exploration scientific-invention segregation self-discovery sheep sheep-man social-class social-commentary social-criticism social-critique social-hierarchy social-inequality social-injustice social-justice societal-decay society southern-united-states speculative-fiction stereotypes supernatural surreal surrealism survival suspense symbolic technological-advancement technological-advancements technology thought-provoking time-dilation time-manipulation time-travel time-traveler tokyo transformation unconventional underground urban urban-fantasy utopia victorian victorian-era victorian-literature visionary