The Great Divorce: A Literary Analysis

Peter Foltz
Mrs. Wicks
AP English 12
March 17, 2014
Phase Seven: The Fiction Debate
A comparative essay between the merits of literary and genre fiction as it pertains to audience and style
Skimming through the collections of books at a local Barnes & Nobel, one might be stunned to find a copy of the popular fiction The Hunger Games sharing the shelf with the literary classic, The Canterbury Tales. But why should this come as a surprise? Don’t the authors share the same last initial? One could only conclude that this is due to the literary and genre labels placed upon two books. But does being long-winded and verbose necessarily constitute a quality novel? Does having an audience consist of mostly adolescent girls mean that a novel
It can be understood best through the biographical and historical aspects of Golding’s life and the time period.
The Great Divorce also employs literary devices found in literary works. However, it is categorized as genre fiction. It is a short book about Lewis’ ideas regarding Heaven. Like Golding in The Inheritors, Lewis’ approach may seem simplistic. As in The Inheritors, The Great Divorce, and its significance can be experienced through biographical and historical perspectives. This work also contains themes of high interest, common to the human experience.
To those who argue that popular culture makes a slave of the genre writer, one could counter that the genre writer simply mirrors what is taking place in popular culture. The contemporary works of genre authors document current thinking and trends in society. How does incorporating modern thought and events make this literature less valuable than literary fiction? These universal themes appeal to the masses because they are common to the experience of humankind. To further enhance this type of writing,
In this manner, Golding tackles the universal themes of what it means to be civilized in the eyes of ones culture. This is not accomplished with words. The plot and the primal reactions to events in the story convey the norms of the people. For example, there is a scene in which a Neanderthal by the name of Mal has been slain and the other members of his group are coming to terms with his passing with this simple utterance, "Oa has taken Mal into her belly." (Golding 91) The creatures display a sense of spirituality with their deity Oa as they believe their fellow tribe member has gone to join her. Literary analyst V.S. Pritchett seems to concur with the idea that setting and plot are most important to this novel, "The prose within 'The Inheritors ' is highly poetic; Golding paints an intricate portrait of a primeval landscape, such as our planet will probably never experience again; this description in itself adds to the atmosphere of suspense the author creates in this novel. It is not just that landscape in itself that is impressionable, but also how it is perceived by the Neanderthals and their "mind-dream-pictures" (Pritchett 166). Pritchett recognizes the importance of the setting and plot as opposed to the development of Golding’s characters. A scene around a