Authority's Faltering,Foundering And Founding: Research On Orthodox Ideas In Herman Wouk's World War? Trilogy

Reviewing Herman Wouk's long and prolific writing career,it is not hard to discover that his world-renowned reputation rests mainly on his three war works of World War II.Some critics firmly believe that Wouk spares no efforts in praising the just war,advocating discipline,loyalty,patriotism and promoting the justice of America's involvement in the World War II and cherishing the memory of great sacrifice made by American soldiers.Other critics attribute his unpopular reception among circle of critics to his positive attitude towards war,which goes against the anti-war trend of mainstream war literature.Judging from the existing studies of Wouk's war works,which are not large in number,critics at home and abroad pay their primary attention to Wouk's traditional techniques,conservative point of view,use of genuine historical materials,military command and literary values,as well as Jewish-related issues.These critics have made some achievements in Wouk studies and paved the way for further research.In the meanwhile,what should not be overlooked is the fact that Wouk is a very pious and devoted Orthodox Jew.Consequently,his idea of Orthodoxy and its corresponding change must be fully reflected in his works.According to the previous studies,however,an independent investigation of Orthodox ideas,especially its change and development reflected in Wouk's war works,has not yet been conducted by any researcher.Accordingly,by focusing on the central line of Orthodox ideas reflected in Wouk's war works and enlisting relevant theories proposed by Matthew Arnold in his Culture and Anarchy,this dissertation will try to reveal and discuss the whole process of the vacillation of authority,the disintegration of authority and the erection of authority with the purpose of finally disclosing Wouk's religious and cultural ambition.The dissertation argues that by comparing Wouk's Orthodox perspective in his earlier work of war with that of his later ones,a significant while subtle change,from Orthodoxy to Modern Orthodoxy,can be detected.The change also signifies the dynamic process of vacillation,disintegration and erection of authority.This dissertation consists of five parts.The introduction sums up the writing characteristics and achievements of Herman Wouk,combing multi-dimensional studies conducted by scholars at home and abroad and illustrating the theoretical basis and framework of this dissertation.The research will be conducted on the basis of close readings of Wouk's three war works,The Caine Mutiny,The Winds of War and War and Remembrance.In the first chapter,efforts will be made to investigate the vacillation of Orthodoxy's authority by studying The Caine Mutiny.Captain Queeg is the incarnation of Orthodoxy,representing the existent authority and order,while officers Maryk and Keefer epitomize Conservative and Reform Judaism,respectively.Wouk uses mutiny as a metaphor to indicate the possible conspiracy between Conservative and Reform movements against Orthodox authority,expressing his worry about the conspiracy.While the occurrence of mutiny shakes Captain Queeg's authority,Wouk still firmly believes in Orthodoxy.He defends Orthodoxy's authority by placing the Navy's(implying God's)favorable judgment upon Captain Queeg(who represents Orthodoxy).Orthodoxy's authority is greatly shaken but still stands.Besides,Wouk depicts the prevalent hostility between Orthodoxy and the other two religious movements in this novel.In the second chapter,attention will be focused on the disintegration of Orthodoxy's authority and subsequent disastrous aftermath by studying The Winds of War.Wouk emphatically describes the inevitable crumbling of Orthodoxy's authority.Putting a spotlight on an Orthodox family,Wouk gives a long and detailed narrative about four key family members who invariably choose to betray Orthodoxy,despite living in different parts of world and encountering different life circumstances.This family is the epitome of the whole Jewish community and its members' betrayals insinuate the crumbling of Orthodoxy's authority within and without this family.The disintegration of Orthodox authority leads to an authoritative vacuum,which contributed to the subsequent confusion and disorder in the Jewish community,and in turn to the Jewish disaster during the World War II.Wouk attributes the Jewish disaster to two factors,one internal,and the other external.The internal factor refers to the disorder and confusion caused by the disintegration of authority;the external to the prevalent anti-Semitism among western states.Combined,these two factors resulted in the Jewish disaster.In the third chapter,research will reveal the erection of authority for Modern Orthodoxy by analyzing War and Remembrance.Berel,the representative of Modern Orthodoxy,will be categorized as an incarnation of “the Best self”.Wouk spares no efforts in erecting authority for Berel,depicting him as the savior of Jewry.Wouk puts forward his solution to the Jewish disaster: in the face of confusion and disorder caused by an authoritative vacuum,Wouk proposes that an authority for Modern Orthodoxy must be erected.In order to deal with anti-Semitism,Wouk advocates for Zionism and calls for the solidarity of Jewish people under this movement.Consequently,Wouk emphasizes that Jewish solidarity comes after the erection of a new authority,which constitutes a sharp contrast to the prevailing antagonism reflected in The Caine Mutiny.In addition,this chapter discusses the reasons which could account for Wouk's subtle change of stance from Orthodoxy to Modern Orthodoxy.The dissertation reaches the following conclusion through the studies mentioned above: Wouk displays his religious ambition by changing from Orthodoxy to Modern Orthodoxy.In his opinion,the only solution to the Jewish predicament is pursuit of solidarity in the form of Zionism under the leadership of Modern Orthodoxy.