Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
History
Date of Award
5-2002
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Ronnie M. Day
Committee Members
Melvin E. Page, Stephen G. Fritz
Abstract
This study examines one of James Jones's novels, From Here to Eternity,as more than a fictionalization of historic events. Juxtaposing the correspondence between the author and his brother, begun when James Jones enlisted in 1939, and the novel allows an understanding of the extent that the novel was a distillation of Jones' personality and experience.
Jones felt fiction must be pieced from real experiences, but also contain original emotions disguised in the pages of a novel. Analyzing Jones's personal letters, interviews, and experiences offers, with some degree of certainty, the understanding that From Here to Eternity is more than merely a famous novel. It is an entertaining exposition of not only what military service does to men, but also what it emotionally did to James Jones. Thus this study reveals how much an author incorporates the essence of his historical experience-his "soul"-into his work.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Sonnenburg, Penny Marie, "Fiction as History: James Jones, From Here to Eternity." (2002). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 666. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/666
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.