THE INTELLECTUAL AS LITERARY HERO: CHARACTER, NARRATIVE, AND MORAL VISION IN JOHN WILLIAMS’ STONER

Abstract

This article offers a literary critical reading of John Williams’ novel Stoner (1965), examining how Williams constructs the figure of the intellectual through narrative technique, characterization, and symbolic structure. Drawing on close reading and the traditions of the American campus novel and the Bildungsroman, the study argues that Williams fashions Stoner as a distinctly modern tragic figure whose moral dignity resides not in achievement but in fidelity to his vocation. The article analyses Williams’ use of free indirect discourse, ironic narration, and the symbolic weight of the book-as-object to articulate a vision of intellectual life defined by integrity, failure, and quiet heroism.

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DOI

10.70728/human.v02.i05.006

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