History Literature / ACanticleForLeibowitz

* PersecutedIntellectuals: Part of the aftermath of global nuclear war. After the enraged survivors slaughter the scientists who developed the bombs, they begin to target other scientists...and then other scholars...and then anyone with a formal education. The result is a society where it's dangerous to admit that you know how to read and ultimately, the collapse of society itself.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It may feature the WanderingJew. Or may not.
** The strangeness of the Poet also counts.
* MagicRealism: On the whole, the story is fairly plausible, except for a few supernatural elements such as Benjamin's apparent immortality and the fate of Rachel. Note that the story is vague about whether [[spoiler: Zerchi is imagining the whole thing because he's dying.]]

* DaysOfFuturePast: The cyclical nature of history is a major theme of the book, with "Fiat Homo" modeled after the Middle Ages, and "Fiat Lux" closely resembling the Renaissance. Likewise, the Texarkana Schism bears more than a passing resemblance to HenryVIII's English Reformation. And that's not counting the Manifest Destiny in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman,'' or the UsefulNotes/ColdWar analogy in "Fiat Voluntas Tua."

* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: Why humanity develops nuclear weapons and [[spoiler: destroys civilization a second time.]]

* LostTechnology: Electricity and computers are unknown to the monks, who only figure out how to build them for themselves later in the story.

* PersecutedIntellectuals: Part of the aftermath of global nuclear war. After the enraged survivors slaughter the scientists who developed the bombs, they begin to target other scientists...and then other scholars...and then anyone with a formal education. The ultimate result is a society where it's dangerous to admit that you know how to read.

* DyingLikeAnimals: This is pretty much the reason why the Simplification was so ''total'' that it threw humanity back into the dark ages. What began as a vendetta against those seen as responsible for the Deluge, in time turned to killing anyone who could ''read'', and eventually turning on each other. By the time it ended, there were simply too few people left who were in a position to rebuild civilization.

* CreatorBreakdown: ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman'' paints the Church more cynically, reflecting Miller's having become disenchanted with Catholicism over the years. It doesn't help that he committed suicide before the book was planned to be published.

* [[{{Tearjerker}} (Implied) Tearjerker]]: The fate of Emily/Emma Leibowitz and the trapped people in the shelter Francis finds.
** [[DownerEnding The ending.]]
** Abbot Zerchi trying to persuade a mother not to euthanize her child. The child is stated to be so badly burned by the atomic blast that her gender is not apparent until her mother refers to her as such. Also note that the mother is referred to as "the girl," (implying she is very young herself) and has also been diagnosed as so irradiated as to be untreatable.

* BittersweetEnding: The story chronicles the [[spoiler: second]] rise and fall of civilization, including TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. But this time, [[SaintlyChurch the Church has learned from the past]] and arranged for [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture a colony ship to be sent out]].
** ''Fiat Homo'' likewises ends with a bittersweet note. Francis successfully gives Leibowitz's relics to the Pope, thus leading to the man's canonization [[spoiler:only to be killed by the "Pope's Children" later on]].

* DaysOfFuturePast: The cyclical nature of history is a major theme of the book, with "Fiat Homo" modeled after the Middle Ages, and "Fiat Lux" closely resembling the Renaissance. Likewise, the Texarkana Schism bears more than a passing resemblance to the Protestant Reformation. And that's not counting the Manifest Destiny in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman,'' or the UsefulNotes/ColdWar analogy in "Fiat Voluntas Tua."

* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: [[spoiler: After the Flame Deluge, civilization rises and falls again, but this time humanity survives by sending off a colony ship.]]
** The entire purpose of the monks' work is to preserve the sum total of human knowledge for future generations who will be able to understand it better.

** Brother Francis is single-handedly responsible for getting Leibowitz canonized. Centuries later, one monk doesn't even remember who he is.

* HopeSpot: The ''Quo Peregrinatur'' spaceship.

* DaysOfFuturePast: The cyclical nature of history is a major theme of the book, with "Fiat Homo" modeled after the Middle Ages, and "Fiat Lux" closely resembling the Renaissance.
** Likewise, the Texarkana Schism bears more than a passing resemblance to the Protestant Reformation. And that's not counting the Manifest Destiny in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman,'' or the ColdWar analogy in "Fiat Voluntas Tua."

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: As noted, post-apocalyptic America is essentially medieval Europe, with a Dark Age, a Renaissance and modernity, and the appropriate conflicts between science and faith. By the end of the book, the two poles of the international system are loosely based on the ColdWar. [[spoiler:And then the Flame Deluge repeats -- with one key difference]].

Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during WorldWarII, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Creator/EvelynWaugh, Creator/GrahamGreene, and Creator/WalkerPercy, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. Miller's follow-up work, ''Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman'', was published posthumously in 1997.

* CaptainErsatz: The Green Star is very clearly the Red Cross.

* CorruptChurch: What the Catholic Church is blatantly portrayed as in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.'' [[BlackAndGreyMorality It's still to be rooted for over]] TheEmpire.

* * DyingLikeAnimals: This is pretty much the reason why the Simplification was so ''total'' that it threw humanity back into the dark ages. What began as a vendetta against those seen as responsible for the Deluge in time turned to killing anyone who could ''read'' until eventually turning on each other. By the time it ended, there were simply too few people left who were in a position to rebuild civilization.

* ApocalypseHow: Planetary/Societal Disruption, edging towards Societal Collapse, [[FutureImperfect the nuclear war being referred to as]] [[{{Homage}} "The Flame Deluge"]]. [[spoiler:The end implies that the result of the ''second'' nuclear war was Planetary Extinction for humanity... on Earth, anyway]].

** That's because it's not so much a conventional CorruptChurch as it is an exceptionally complex and institutionalized DysfunctionJunction. The [[OnlySaneMan only sane one]] is Cardinal Silentia.
* CrapsackWorld
** Although it's revealed to be a WorldHalfFull [[spoiler:at least until JustBeforeTheEnd]].

* ScienceIsBad: One of the chief conflicts of the story is how to use the knowledge gained from civilization's renaissance properly.
** Though it's mentioned that science ''itself'' isn't evil. Rather, it's ''how'' people use it that's one of the key points of the novel.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: At one point, Abbot Zerchi turns off a television with such anger that he breaks the knob off. Possibly justified in that this occurs almost 1800 years in the future, after technology has re-emerged.

* HopeSpot: The ''Quo Perigenitur'' spaceship.

* ApocalypseHow: Planetary/Societal Disruption, edging towards Societal Collapse, [[FutureImperfect the nuclear war being referred to as]] [[{{Homage}} "The Flame Deluge"]].

Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during WorldWarII, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of EvelynWaugh, GrahamGreene, and WalkerPercy, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. Miller's follow-up work, ''Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman'', was published posthumously in 1997.

** To clarify: first the politicians, then scientists, teachers, students, and finally people who can read.