Underlying Themes in the Works of James A Michener
James A. Michener is often regarded as a literary outsider. Despite his vast works that have sold millions of copies and delighted readers everywhere, his blunt approach to literature has brought him much criticism. Despite his lack of many literary vehicles to convey his ideas, his works do contain several universal and underlying themes. These themes can often be applied to our lives and thought processes to benefit us for the better. One of Michener's most apparent and perennial underlying themes is on the issue of race. As literary critic Pearl K. Bell has said, "He [Michener] tries to improve their [the readers] hearts by exposing the torment and destruction caused by racial intolerance" (Stine and Marowski, ed. 29: 314). Michener himself has said that one of his major themes has been man as a brother to all other men (The World is My Home, 507). In This Noble Land: My Vision for America, Michener says, "No aspect of our society causes me greater apprehension than the lamentable state of our race relations" (49). Indeed, Michener has seen racial tensions as a great trouble in our society, and has written his works to deal with such. The theme of race first comes up in Michener's debut novel, Tales of the S
Fadiman, Clifton. "The Drifters." Book-of-the-Month Club News May 1971: 1-3. Becker, George J. James A. Michener. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1983. Magill, Frank, ed. Magill's Survey of American Literature. Vol. 4. "James A. Michener." New The Drifters also focuses on the issue of youth. The novel chronicles the saga of six drifters, who are youth supposedly without a purpose. It shows that these youth are not worthless degenerates; on the contrary, they are intelligent and are going against the ideals of the generation before them because they do not believe in these values. They accept their own world that emphasizes their own ideals, such as communal sharing and the rejection of war (Fadiman 1-3). In The Source, Michener chronicles the persecution of the Jews. In the town of Makor, during the Roman invasion, most Jews are executed and the rest become slaves. When the Muslim invaders come years later, they also execute and enslave Jews, and subject them to harsh rule. All of this suffering was simple because they were Jews (Becker 87-88). The belief in youth and acceptance of change is also present in Centennial. Levi Zendt leaves his traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Community because he is against their tyrannical bigotry. He leaves so he can go somewhere (in this case, out west) that he can abide by what he feels is right.
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Approximate Word count = 1959
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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