本文是一篇英语语言学论文，本论文结合马修·阿诺德在《文化与无政府状态》中提出的相关理论，以沃克在三部二战文学作品中展现的犹太教正统派理念为中心线索，采用文本细读等研究方法，旨在全面探讨展示沃克在三部小说中所蕴含的权威动摇、权威崩溃、权威建立的完整过程，并以期最终揭示沃克深藏于文本中的宗教文化抱负。
Chapter One The Caine Mutiny: The Faltering of Authority
1. 1 Captain Queeg--The Incarnation of Orthodoxy
The Orthodox Judaism pays attention to “sticking to the tradition, rigidlycomplying with the belief or faith of traditional Judaism, strictly abiding by thereligious laws or rules and firmly believing in the final rescue or redemption fromMessiah”(Pan 133). What is more, The Encyclopedia of Judaism gives the mostauthoritative definition of the Orthodoxy. As it goes:
That is to say, Orthodox Jews embrace tradition and refuse change. In other words,the most striking feature of the Orthodox Judaism is the complete adherence to theJewish laws and comprehensive insistence on observing Jewish rules and regulations.The Orthodox followers are totally against change of any kind. They put emphasis onupholding the tradition and sticking to the custom. According to Henry PereiraMendes, the founding president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations ofAmerica, Orthodoxy “the term is applied to those who are strict observers of forms aswell as the rules of conduct” (Eleff 97). In this way, the Orthodoxy must appear to bestubborn and rigid, incapable of making any new adjustment and adaptation to thenew circumstances brought about by a new era or new environment.
Even though they set foot upon the land of America which is claimed to be theterritory of freedom and democracy, the followers of Orthodox Judaism continue to follow their tradition and do whatever they can to resist the great power ofassimilation, by doing which they intend to “ensure the rules or laws of OrthodoxJudaism intact, complete and unaltered” (Fischel 474). This attitude is in fact in thesame vein with their tendency to stick to the Judaic tradition.
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1.2 Keefer and Maryk --the Epitome of Dissent
Generally speaking, Judaism is roughly divided into three religious sects,namely the Orthodoxy, the Reform and the Conservative, among which theOrthodoxy and the Reform are two extremes holding completely opposite positions interms of understanding and interpretation of Judaism. Completely contrary to theOrthodoxy, the Reform is quite flexible and pragmatic, ever ready to accept and adaptto the changing environment and circumstances. The followers of the Reform Judaismappear to be a group of flexible pragmatists. They put great emphasis upon theexternal environment and social circumstances they are facing up before they makedecisions or take actions, paying attention to the change of external environment.Consequently, the followers of Reform Judaism forcefully argue that the traditionalJudaism should be reformed and altered in order to meet the requirement of newenvironment and new condition of the new world.
For Reform Jews, the top priority is to adapt fully to America, which constitutessharp contrast with that of their Orthodox counterparts, the faithfully andunswervingly observant Jews who instead call for 100 percent insistence upon Jewishtradition and laws. To Reform, some Jewish laws and regulations are so obsolete andout of date that they should be discarded for the purpose of meeting demands of a newsociety.
Many literary critics and reviewers believe that the officer Keefer is the initiatorof the whole incident of “Caine Mutiny” because Keefer always tries to trigger orprovokes conflicts and collision between Captain Queeg and other officers andconsequently stokes up hatred towards Queeg onboard the warship. However, thereason why Wouk arranges Keefer to appear in the story is not simply because Woukwants to depict Keefer as an instigator.
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Chapter Two The Winds of War: The Foundering ofAuthority
2.1 The Disintegration of Orthodoxy’sAuthority
In The Caine Mutiny, Wouk’s most profound religious observation seems to bethat the foundation of Orthodox Judaism as the authority
