Analysis Of The Novel 'Mount Of Olives'

Mount olive , the third novel of The Alexandria Quartet ,published in 1958, according to Durrell's description is a naturalistic novel in which the narrator of Justine and Balthazar becomes an object that is, a character. Mount olive is the name of the principal character in the novel and is symbolic of peace as in the Bible, the Mount of Olives is the place from where the dove got the olive leaf to Noah in the ark when the flood waters receded. The Mount of Olives also was a place that Jesus used to frequent for His prayers. The olive leaf is generally considered as a sign of peace and therefore is indicative of the career of the Mount olive as a diplomat in Egypt. His first name David which was the name of one of the most powerful and just kings of Israel is also very significant. The epigraph of the novel is very important as it gives the central idea of the novel as "the story of mental wrong doing" and that …show more content…
A literary work must capture at least something of the quality of an ultimate reality. Durrell believed profoundly in the artist and his capability of presenting his own special vision of reality. Durrell offers a new means of approaching "reality"- an integration of appearances illuminated by imagination to achieve a likeness of truth to resolve the conflict between appearance and reality. Durrell's theme follows the pattern of reason intuition and imagination- from characters of contradictory traits, to illusion, to reality and ultimately to truth. Thus in this novel the protagonist Mountolive learns much about externals from his experiences in public and personal life which is contrasted with private passivity, but he also realizes that mere facts are less significant, less accurate than 'felt reality.' Thus reality and truth are presented on personal levels, in a particular environment within a definite time