The Interpretation Of The Bible Motif In Doctorow's The City Of God

E.L.Doctorow is one of the most famous postmodern novelists in the United States.His novel City of God's takes the 1999's New York City as background,and covers such historic events as Jewish massacre,World War II,as well as religion and other aspects of American society.There are many clues in the novel,the two of which through the full text are more important.The overt clue is looking for the lost Christian cross,and the covert clue is looking for the Ghetto diary.This novel is different from Doctorow's previous works because his historical and social concerns rise from implicit to explicit.This thesis is a study of the fiction from three biblical motifs,which are wandering,suffering and atonement on the basis of close reading of the text.The analysis of wandering and suffering motifs reveals the plight and mental distress of the various groups,exposing the great harm caused by the Jewish massacre and the two world wars.The atonement motif reflects Doctorow's response to postmodern thought "God died".In general,the novel City of God embodies the author's strong sense of social criticism and political concern.