Territories of the Mind and Body in A. J. Cronin's Keys of the Kingdom and Adventures in Two Worlds

Ever since chaos gave way to order in this universe, ever since man took birth in this world, there has been an attempt to limit, to draw boundaries every where. Nature is ruled by its laws. Man sought to rule nature and his brethren by making (and many times by breaking) his own laws. Borders and boundaries were drawn to divide nation from nation and man from man. Efforts were then made to define the territories of the body by creating geographical boundaries. Similarly, attempts were made to draw invisible boundaries between the various faiths of men and thus various religions came into existence. The territories of the mind were defined. Human beings were expected to remain within the set boundaries and be faithful to their respective barriers. This paper attempts to analyze two novels by A.J. Cronin and examine how the territories of the mind and body are crossed over by their protagonists in their attempts to create a newer and wider world of humanity.