speakeasy
Illicit nightclub which illegally supplied liquor for sale during the period of Prohibition.
Prohibition
Constitutionally mandated embargo of the manufacture and sale of alcohol within the United States between 1920 and 1933.
recluse
Someone who chooses to live without contact with other people outside their home.
languor
A dreamlike state of listlessness characterized by a lack of vigor.
advice columnist
Employed by a newspaper to answer letters sent in by reader asking for advice, usually on matters related to romance or family relationships.
shrike
A type of bird known for killing its prey by impaling them with a thorn.
lovelorn
Those pining for romance because they have been so far been rejected as the target of Cupid’s arrow; jilted or spurned by a romantic partner.
secular
Lacking any connection to spiritual or religious concerns or beliefs.
Sacrificial Lamb
An individual who is sacrificed for the greater good of the majority.
Humanism
Philosophy which attaches greater significance to human achievement and thought than religion and spiritual theories.
dissipated
Corrupted; degenerated; gone to seed.
entropy
The process of inevitable decay ultimately resulting in utter collapse.
edify
To inform and enlighten; improving the structural integrity.
puerile
Childish and immature.
sordid
Base and disreputable.
huckster
A particularly untrustworthy peddler or traveling salesman.
The Wasteland
The figurative region where all the spirit of hopeful expectation in humanity goes to wither and die.
disillusionment
The letdown that commences upon the revelation that cherished beliefs have been proven unfounded.
Naturalism
A deterministic literary genre characterized by a rejection of traditional moral certainties and the embrace of the social forces as providing a greater impact on matters of fate and destiny.
