What is the denotative meaning of fault lines in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from "A Quilt of a Country."
Once these disparate parts were held together by a
common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and the
electrified fence of communism. With the end of the
cold war there was the creeping concern that without a
focus for hatred and distrust, a
sense of national
identity would evaporate, that the left side of the
hyphen-African-American, Mexican-American, Irish-
American—would overwhelm the right.
O lines that are drawn when placing blame
O areas of defense in times of war
Olong cracks in the surface of the earth
O breaks in modern American Society