The analogies and allusions may reference ancient Greek texts, but the theme of The Human Comedy could be easily understood by any of the young children to robustly populate the narrative. Marcus Macauley, eldest son of the Widow Katey Macauley, is one of those young man who went off serve their country during World War II and never came back. The theme is as simple as its story of a town confronting the consequences of being a soldier in World War II. The Human Comedy is no modern day retelling of an ancient myth requiring you to consult footnotes and references to get at its theme. Then there are those writers like William Saroyan whose novel The Human Comedy can be enjoyed equally whether you are familiar with a certain blind poet and a certain lost warrior desperately trying to get home or not. Some do it with such attention to detail that you practically have to have an advanced degree to understand it. Lots of writers have attempted to do this, from James Joyce to the Coen Brothers. When you set your novel in a California town called Ithaca and you give your characters names like Homer and Ulysses, you had better be making some sort of effort to tie your story in with the ancient myths of yore. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community.
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