By Thornton Wilder

Discussion prompt by Seth Loh

There was a moment while reading The Eighth Day, when I wondered, “How on earth did this novel beat The Chosen for a National Book award in 1968?”  What’s more, how can the back of the book describe this piece of literature as “at once a  murder mystery and philosophical story,” or a “great American epic?” While I sill might ponder these question, after finishing the novel I must admit I have grown to respect it for what it is: A philosophy of the Wilder “Ubermensche.” 

The story opens in “Coaltown USA” and follows the lives of two families, The Ashleys and The Lansings, after the supposed murder of Breckenridge Lansing by John Ashley. Right from the get go it seems highly improbable that Ashley is the murderer since John Ashley is Wilder’s version of the perfect American hero, and his character is upright, practical, and helpful. How does he escape his sentence and where does he go? How will his family cope? The book unfolds in a nonlinear fashion from there as the reader discovers how the characters met, and the impact that the sentence had on the different people in each of the families. What’s become of John Ashley? Somehow he made his way to Chile and he continues to be a steady, faithful, helpful, albeit a bit boring, friend to all he encounters – mostly as he uses his engineering skills to improve the lives of those around him. (For more in depth plot and analysis see – https://www.twildersociety.org/works/the-eighth-day/ has a deeper write-up.)

I’ll leave you with a thought the book impressed upon me…If “the eighth day” is supposed to be a reference to the 8th day of creation and therefore the day for man to progress…what does true heroic progress look like? It would seem that Wilder envisions an America that “John Ashley built.” For the Christ follower, it’s nothing less than that death to self that allows for the sanctification process to begin. Though Wilder’s vision may have been a bit overly humanistic, we can still glean wisdom from seeing Ashley’s faith in progress and in helping others. May it inspire all of us to look to how our faith in Jesus’s redemptive work can lead us to love his people and usher in His Kingdom all the more.