Biblical Influence on Selected American Novelists

The Bible has influenced American art, culture, literature and society in the past three centuries to such an extent that apart from being read as a holy religious book, it is read as a resource book to learn about language, style, literary terms, plots, character and themes in order to get a better understanding of western culture and literature. The present book focuses on biblical influence in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Uncle Tom's Cabin is one of the most famous and popular pieces of Civil War literature and contains almost hundred quotations or direct references to King James Version of the Bible. It had a lasting impact on American society and politics. The novel’s melodramatic dialogue and events cast the slavery debate in stark terms of good and evil. The second novel taken up for the study is Song of Solomon and Toni Morrison’s fascination with and critical stance towards the Bible has also been long acknowledged. Her attempts to appropriate and resist the Bible through allegory, the use of reversal lateralization and signifying covert citation are a trademark of the novel.