Symbolism In Don Delillo's Libra

The narrator makes this remark in Chapter 27, after coming out of her madness. The phrase punctuates her attempt to completely withdraw from society and live like a natural animal, and it contains her cathartic conclusion to rejoin society. When she refers to being a victim, she refers to mental stumbling blocks that had once made her believe she was being oppressed by forces beyond her control, including religion, men, and marital conventions. Here, the narrator decides not to be a victim. The narrator’s mention of powerlessness echoes her earlier search for “the power” during her madness. The narrator had searched for “the power” in her dead parents, the Indian gods, and in nature. Here, her resolution not to feel powerless marks the moment

Kennedy. In this novel, the author suggests that Lee Harvey Oswald, a confused and aimless young man, is a pawn of three CIA agents disgruntled over the bungled invasion at the Bay of Pigs. Oswald, whose disruptive childhood and devotion to Communism make him appear to be disgruntled against the American government, is chosen to be a patsy in a plot to make it seem as though Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, is scheming to kill Kennedy. Even the conspirators do not know that Kennedy is to die on that fateful day in Dallas, Texas and Oswald does not know he is not the single shooter until he sees the assassination of a president through his rifle scope. Libra is a complicated look at an often analyzed event that gives readers a sympathetic look at a traditional

Atwood deems religion as more of a social regulatory force than a truth. For example, the town priest abuses his religious authority on the village by enforcing a strict dress code for women. The narrator also labels Christianity as a social control mechanism that is learned at a young age and stays potent throughout adulthood. Religion in Surfacing becomes a false ideal, and Atwood’s condemnation of Christianity marks a larger social tendency toward secularization. At the same time, Atwood explores a growing rift between generations. The narrator of the book casts the older generation as crippled by a rigid sense of morality. In this way, Atwood documents a split between the conservative older generation and the liberal younger