Appointment in Samarra | Themes
Through Julian English, O'Hara examines the failure of conventional solutions to human anguish, and poses the necessity for individual strength and courage. Family, sex, work, drink, religion, even a simple apology: None provides solace to Julian, who is the isolated twentieth-century man, left with nothing in which to believe — most importantly, himself. Julian's despair becomes a metaphor for the sense of national despair caused by the Depression, and his failure to find a solution mirrors the frustrations of a culture in which belief seems illusory. To underscore this theme, O'Hara...
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