Abstract
Thesis Abstract
Identity Preservation and Existential Authenticity in a Wartime Setting:
The Reality of war in Catch-22, The Man in the High Castle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Gravity s Rainbow
This thesis deals with the effects of warfare on central characters in Catch-22, The Man in the High Castle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Gravity s Rainbow. These novels were all written during the counterculture and anti-war protest period of the late 1960 s and early 1970 s. Another thing they have in common is that they project totalitarian systems which use warfare as device for control and consensus, and to cover up secret destructive inventions that will cause inferno and an end to all human life when they are launched. We see in these novels that central characters are trapped within these systems, and their responses to this threat are very different.
My task here has been to explore the efforts made by the different protagonists when it comes to surviving in the bleak reality of warfare or other hostile surroundings. Apart for the struggle for survival, many of the characters strive to find a meaningful existence, and to preserve their integrity under totalitarian rule, be it the ubiquitous Them in Gravity s Rainbow, or the incompetent military administration in Catch-22.
In the wake of war follows death and violence. Not only are the characters threatened by an official enemy on the other side of the battlefield, they must relate to and protect themselves against an enemy that is not always visible or recognisable. Furthermore, there is often a lot of violence within their own lines; bullying and racism are common among the soldiers in any army, and thus many of the men face hostility on both sides of the line.
These novels belong to different styles and genres in literary history, and therefore I have chosen to compare them to central concepts in post-modernism and science fiction, such as the presence of truth and reality, the manifestation of an other , represented by a different race or religion, and with elements of dystopia or apocalypse. The last chapter is devoted to the exploration and discussion of textual references and influences.