City of God (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: E. L. Doctorow
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Parents and children, Twentieth century, Religion, Jews or Jewish life, Fathers, Christianity, Faith, Martyrs or martyrdom, Birds, Holocaust, Jewish, Synagogues
- Locales: New York
In City of God, Doctorow's underlying theme is humanity's quest for meaning. Everett, the writer-narrator, is compiling a nonfiction account of the way his friend Pem (Thomas Pemberton) is dealing with loss of religious conviction. The son of a clergyman, Pem has repeatedly been disillusioned by his own ethical failures, especially his failure to discover a rational basis for Christian faith. He is considering a complete break with the church—a literal rejection of Christianity and a symbolic rejection of his father.
Then, a seemingly random street crime brings Pem into...
[The entire page is 684 words long]
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