Diablo Valley College The Orphan Masters Son American Novel Discussion

In an interview with his editor (pages 449-454) Adam Johnson is asked how his readers are “supposed to sort out what’s real and what’s invented in the book” (452) and Johnson responds, “If all literature is a fiction that tells a deeper truth, I feel my book is a very accurate portrayal of how the tenets of totalitarianism eat away at the things that make us human: freedom, art, choice, identity, expression, love.” Using this observation, show how The Orphan Master’s Son demonstrates how this is so. Do not try to cover all the things that make us human: choose one aspect, and trace the path of that aspect in Johnson’s novel.

Your paper will be six pages plus a Work or Works Cited page for the novel in MLA format. There is no need to consult sources outside the novel, but once you decide on a particular aspect, you may want to work your way through the novel with your idea in mind, making sure you know the page numbers where the references or examples occur.