The Radical Thought in the American Novel

Abstract

The major purpose of the article is to shed light on the role played by literature in general and the novel in particular to the struggle for social reform and justice in the American society through the promotion of some radical thoughts that changed the American philosophy of life. In fact, radicalism though seems more connected to political and economic life than to literature it goes without saying that literature usually reflects the ideas and the convictions of its writer who often hold radical views. In Uncle Thomas Cabin Stowe exposes abolitionism as a solution to the plight of the American slaves and many critics consider the novel as an attack on the evils of slavery while in The Jungle Sinclair suggests socialism as a cure for the social illnesses of the immigrants of America. In the light of the two novels we can say that the American novel provided a space to the radical ideology of its writer and therefore contributed to the promotion of social change in the American society