American Fiction and the Loss of Faith

Abstract

“The loss of faith which has characterized our fiction … seems to have consisted of three steps: first, an awareness by writers and critics of the decline of traditional Christian values and often an accompanying disavowal of them; second, a sense of loss precipitated by the failure to find adequate substitutes for those values; third, a re-evaluation of those values from a standpoint of disillusion, resulting in a new recognition of the Christian heritage but without the vitalizing ingredient of personal commitment.”