The quest motif forms the framework of the journeys undertaken by the three youthful
protagonists of this study. In pursuit of selfhood the non-conformist hero of the Post-World
War II American South sets out on an uncertain path leading to confrontation and finally
transformation. Joseph Campbell's ground-breaking analysis of the quest motif is the starting
point for the patterns described in these journeys. The quest takes the hero through a perilous
post-modern landscape often in conflict with the legacy of the past. It is a place where the
optimistic mainstream of the American Dream is juxtaposed with the trauma of human suffering.
Through a close textual analysis the author elucidates multi-faceted characters and thematic
while shedding new light on a reading of Southern fiction. Although significantly different
novels important common threads are revealed linking the quest motifs in these works. This
study examines William Styron's Sophie ' s Choice Flannery O'Connor's The Violent Bear It
Away and Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country .
