Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Elyse Nelmark
Central Michigan University
The Religious Dimension of Literature:
Understanding Virtue in Narrative through Mark Ledbetter and Ernest Becker
I have been drawn to the interrelations between literature and religion in my undergraduate work
at Central Michigan University as a means of exploring human motivations and relationships. To explore
these interrelations between literature and religion, I read Mark Ledbetter’s Virtuous Intentions: The Religious
Dimension of Narrative and was interested in his argument that virtues, or good things, can serve as the
solutions to the existential crises of characters in narratives. I found his literary theory insightful, but also
troubling because, although we are examining virtues as solutions, Ledbetter does not acknowledge those
solutions can have destructive outcomes. He writes, rather vaguely, that a character can reject or accept a
virtue, and then his analysis ends there, which I found problematic. I believe his theory is incomplete but
can be built on, which is what I am going to try to do. I will explain Ledbetter’s theory, but to show how
these solutions that appear virtuous and good can be destructive, I will be using social theorist Ernest
Becker’s research on how human beings’ pursuits to live the secure and meaningful life have been
destructive. I believe how a character uses a virtue can be meaningful to us as readers, even if the outcome
is destructive. Exploring these destructive solutions in literature invites cultural and moral critique that is
meaningful, and presents perspective to us, as readers.
Ledbetter writes how it is through the character’s choices and actions that the virtue is revealed.
The character is looking for a solution, and the solution “is meaning for human existence that shows itself as
a virtue for living the good life” (8). He writes, “A character in fiction actively seeks some authority which
informs the very nature of human existence. A character comes to the point in the text where acquiescence
is made to a particular virtue in which the character places all authority for existence and therefore leads the
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