EXODUS TO THE PROMISED LAND AS EVINCED IN NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH- CENTURY AMERICAN FICTION

Exodus has been one of the favorite fictional topics undertaken by American fiction writers due to the fact that they belong to the so-called “Chosen People” that were not to trespass God’s covenant. My paper identifies two major Exodus themes: the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt (the Biblical wilderness, and the Promised Land) and human/divine justice as considered in the Bible. Observing the typological concept, these themes are analyzed in connection with their American antitype themes: the Pilgrim Fathers’ Exodus from Europe (the American continent as a counterpart to the Biblical Mosaic wilderness and America (New England) as the Promised Land) and the Puritans’ judicial system.