Major Themes
The novel can be seen as autobiographical. John Fowles states in an interview: "You are every character you write. In Daniel Martin, where I describe myself travelling all over America, I probably revealed more of myself than anywhere else."
In exploring the relationships between the main characters, Fowles takes the chance to expand upon such topics as aesthetics, philosophy of cinema, archeology, imperialism and the differences between Britain and the United States.
John Gardner calls upon Daniel Martin many times in the first half of On Moral Fiction; it is to him a reflection of John Fowles's valid opinion regarding art—namely, that true art ought to instruct. The same notion was Gardner's central thesis in On Moral Fiction.
Read more about this topic: Daniel Martin (novel)
Famous quotes containing the words major and/or themes:
“Self-centeredness is a natural outgrowth of one of the toddler’s major concerns: What is me and what is mine...? This is why most toddlers are incapable of sharing ... to a toddler, what’s his is what he can get his hands on.... When something is taken away from him, he feels as though a piece of him—an integral piece—is being torn from him.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)
“In economics, we borrowed from the Bourbons; in foreign policy, we drew on themes fashioned by the nomad warriors of the Eurasian steppes. In spiritual matters, we emulated the braying intolerance of our archenemies, the Shi’ite fundamentalists.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)