Introduction 1
Chapter One History and the Reconstruction of History 35
1.1 "History"and"thepast" 35
1.2 Fiction:An alternative to represent the past 64
1.3 William Styron's narrative strategies towards the reconstruction of history 71
Chapter Two The Confessions of Nat Turner:Reconstructing the Common History of the White and Black 88
2.1 Nat Turner in the traditional historical narratives 88
2.2 Nat Turner in The Confessions of Nat Turner 96
2.3 The reconciliation between the white and the black:The voice of the 1960s 172
Chapter Three Sophie's Choice:Reconstructing the Unspeakable History of the Holocaust 191
3.1 Silence—The most fitting response to the Holocaust? 191
3.2 Reconstructing Sophie's history 198
3.3 Juxtaposing Auschwitz with the quotidian 217
3.4 Defining the evil of the Holocaust in pursuit of redemption 231
Conclusion 251
Appendix Ⅰ 258
Appendix Ⅱ 262
Works Cited 265