Mailer Quotation

"The country was in a throe, a species of eschatological heave. The novelist John Updike was not necessarily one of his favorite authors, but after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, it was Updike who had made the remark that God might have withdrawn His blessing from America." (15)

In this passage Mailer captures the troubled state of America during 1968. Such events as the Tet Offensive, the Free Speech Movement, and the Civil Rights Movement contribute to the unrest in America and between the citizens. It is the differences between the citizens ant their opinions that highlight this time. Examples of this conflict of groups can be seen between Democrats and Republicans or college students and their school administration. It is also interesting that Mailer uses God within the passage in a sense that America was once "blessed" by God. Mailer seems to be suggesting that the reign of harmony in America has ended, not even God can create a compromise.