Muriel Spark's The Comforters from the Perspective of Intertextuality

In The Comforters, Muriel Spark absorbs and transforms materials from her former readings, especially from the Book of Job, thus rendering it in conspicuous intertextual relations with her own novel. Spark also parodies the genre of the detective story in The Comforters, which demonstrates her wish to innovate and to improve the tradition of parody as a kind of intertextuality. Spark's skilful and shrewd application of the technique of intertextuality displays various denotations and rich implications, and challenges the reader with infinite meanings and multiple methods of interpretation, thus shaping her unusual style and contributing to the huge success of The Comforters.