Horror and Death as War Effects: A Critical Study of Norman Mailer's The Naked and the Dead

Abstract

Norman Mailer, who is one of the prominant novelists in post-war American literature, argues the WWII effects in his novel The Naked and the Dead. He sheds light on the horrible events and death happen in the novel. Moreover, he focuses on the negative aspects of the war and its devastating effects on both the oppressors and the oppressed. This paper aims at expressing the inner thought of the Americans who suffer a lot during and after the war time. Mailer depicts the individual as either the one who submits to wrongful forces or that who tries to be spiritually independent. He also presents characters as either horrified, powerless, and victimized like Lieutenant Hearn, Trooper Red Valsen, and others or horrifying, powerful, and victimizers like General Cummings and Lieutenant Croft. Mailer also concentrates on the theme of death which happens to some characters as the war effects.