Failur
Failure to Construct a Meaningful Border for Democracy
in E. L. Doctorow's: The book of Daniel
Zohreh Ramin1 ,
Seyyed Mohammad Marandi2
1. Assistan Professor, University of Tehran,
Tehran, Iran1.
2.Associate Professor of English Language and
Literature,University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran2
Abstract: In
his Reporting the Universe, a book of non-fiction, Doctorow, like
many other Western writers, represents his orientalist mode of thought as he
divides societies into two broad categories: countries, mainly Eastern, which
are governed by a religious ruler, whose system of governance is an "absolutist
theocracy" and in which the people are fanatic,
religious, and backward-minded. According to Doctorow, the absolutist theocracy
in such countries have safeguarded their power by suppressing freedom of
expression, hence a hindrance to the outburst of multiplicity of voices and
actions, regarded as a threat to the state. On the other hand, Western
countries, specifically America, which are not governed by absolutist theocracy
and have accepted the fact that holy texts have been communally redacted, have,
according to this view, blessed their countries with the gift of freedom of
expression and multiplicity, hence opening space for emergence of contradictory
ideas, never claiming perfection. However, the ironical point in Doctorow is
between what he claims in his nonfictional work and what he proves in his
novels. His major novels reveal the impossibility of evolution and change, as
the outcome of this so called democracy is nothing but degeneration, lack of
justice and impracticality of freedom. With regard to Doctorow's stance towards
American democracy and focusing onThe Book of Daniel, the present paper
aims to show the impossibility and impracticality of Doctorow's claims
regarding the American democratic system. While Doctorow believes America is
governed by a democratic system which can evolve, his novels, which deal with
the American past, delineate a bleak and dark picture of this democratic
society in which no evolution is observable and history is the continual
repetition of human tragedy.
[Zohreh Ramin, Seyyed Mohammad Marandi. Failure
to Construct a Meaningful Border for Democracy in E.L.Doctorow,s:The book of
Daniel. Life Sci J 2013;10(4s):576-581]
(ISSN:1097-8135). http://www.lifesciencesite.com. 88
Key Words: Doctorow, civil society, theocracy, democracy,
evolution.
