The Public Burning (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Robert Coover
- First Published: 1977
- Type of Plot: Magical Realism
- Time of Work: June 17-19, 1953
- Setting: Washington, D.C.; Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, N.Y.; and New York City
- Principal Characters: Uncle Sam Slick, Richard M. Nixon, Ethel Rosenberg
- Genres: Long fiction, Magical Realism
- Subjects: History, Communism or communists, Folklore, Mysticism, Satire
- Locales: New York, NY, Washington, D.C.
The Novel
The Public Burning is an exaggerated fictionalization of the actual execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. Much of the book is narrated in the first person by a fictional version of Richard Nixon, but there are also folklore-like accounts of Uncle Sam, a larger-than-life mythic figure, in a life-and-death struggle with the Phantom, who symbolizes world communism, as well as actual documents from the Rosenberg case and contemporary news accounts, often adapted into the form of free verse or play...
[The entire page is 2109 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
