SEMINAR PROFILE

H24 -
Classic 20th Century American Novels of the 50s and 60s: Bernard Malamud, The Natural, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, & Charles Portis, True Grit

If there is an American code of honor, surely it involves two sacred commitments: doing one's best and righting wrongs. These three novels all dramatize those commitments tested and transformed. The Natural has been regarded since it's appearance in 1952, as the best American sports novel, and presents the struggles for honor and the danger of corruption in that symbolic arena of American excellence with unparalleled power. To Kill A Mockingbird, 1961, is still the classic presentation of the difficulty of doing one's best to right wrongs in America when racial hatred is involved. And True Grit, 1968, a story of a girl carrying out a man's traditional task--avenging a murdered father--adds gender bending wit and innovation to a tale set in the traditional landscape of American quests for honor and lapses into dishonor--the gun-slinger's West, All 3 novels have inspired classic films, to which some reference will be made in class.

Scholar:

Theo Theoharis

Location:

Harvard Hillel

Dates:

4/29/2015, 5/8/2015, 5/22/2015

H24 -	Classic 20th Century American Novels of the 50s and 60s: Bernard Malamud, The Natural, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, & Charles Portis, True Grit

	If there is an American code of honor, surely it involves two sacred commitments: doing one's best and righting wrongs. These three novels all dramatize those commitments tested and transformed. The Natural has been regarded since it's appearance in 1952, as the best American sports novel, and presents the struggles for honor and the danger of corruption in that symbolic arena of American excellence with unparalleled power. To Kill A Mockingbird, 1961, is still the classic presentation of the difficulty of doing one's best to right wrongs in America when racial hatred is involved. And True Grit, 1968, a story of a girl carrying out a man's traditional task--avenging a murdered father--adds gender bending wit and innovation to a tale set in the traditional landscape of American quests for honor and lapses into dishonor--the gun-slinger's West, All 3 novels have inspired classic films, to which some reference will be made in class.

		Scholar:	Theo Theoharis
		Location:	Harvard Hillel
		Dates:	4/29/2015, 5/8/2015, 5/22/2015