Analysis Of The Christian Faith Crisis In Three American War Novels

Men's social being determines their social consciousness. Based on the Marxist theory, this thesis analyzes the phenomenon of Christian faith crisis of the American soldiers, which are vividly depicted in such three American war novels as William March's Company K (2006), Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead (1948), and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried (1990). The three novels are set in the First World War, the Second World War and the Vietnam War, respectively. Their characters are representative of American soldiers in the social context and their cultural identities and power struggle during war times. Many of them, who used to be pious Christians, are gradually losing religious faith through their warfare experiences. The characters'three different attitudes—namely disillusionment, cynicism and silence—towards the Christian faith, indicate that the 20th Century wars have exacerbated the faith crisis among American soldiers and reflect the inevitable weakening of the ideological control of Christianity over American soldiers.The author conducts both synchronic and chronological studies of the Christian faith crisis within American military forces through the analysis of the novelistic characterization of American foot soldiers. Such characterization purports to reveal the causes for the Christian faith crisis among American soldiers in the different wars, and their individual experiences portray the hypocrisy of the Christian faith, which inevitably crashes in face of adversity, cruelty, and hardship. Thus, the thesis attempts to study the ideology of American troops, and it might be a perspective supplement to the study of American military culture.The thesis consists of five parts. Chapter One gives a brief introduction of the American Christianity and the Christian influence in American war literature, with an emphasis on the descriptions of Christian faith in the selected three American war novels: Company K, The Naked and the Dead, and The Things They Carried. The Literature Review summarizes the related researches on this subject in China and abroad, points out the gaps and limitations in the past and present studies, and raises new research questions about Christian faith crisis and the literary representation in American war novels.Chapter Two presents materials for the research, including characters, plots, and images from the three literary texts and the background knowledge related to the novels, as well as the theory and methodology adopted in the study.Chapters Three and Four are the main parts for analysis. In Chapter Three, the author carries out a synchronic analysis on the Christian faith crisis of the characters from the three war novels, illustrating the causes of the crisis in American armed forces during war times. It then summarizes the common features of the Christian faith crisis. In the following chapter, the author employs a chronological approach and discovers that different characteristics of the Christian faith crisis of American armed forces emerge in different social context and all of these characteristics have a tendency that the crisis exacerbates with the social progress.Chapter Five is the part of conclusion. The Christian faith crisis in the context of war depicted in the novels repudiates the devastating wars, which have butchered human lives under the cover of the vestments of right and glory, reflecting the novelists'antiwar criticism and their positive rethinking of Christian faith and value of life. Moreover, the Christian faith crisis of American soldiers in wartimes and its tendency of exacerbation, indicate the hypocrisy of the ideological control through Christianity within American armed forces, and the historical declination of spiritual beliefs among American soldiers. The research bears an important significance for the study of American military culture.