Self-deconstruction and Alienation―An Existential Reading of The Anatomy Lesson
Abstract
The Anatomy Lesson is the third book of the “Zuckerman Trilogy” of Philip Roth. The protagonist Nathan Zuckerman,
tortured by the untraceable pain, tries to give up the identity of being a writer and illusioned to be a doctor. Basic on careful reading,
with Satre’s Existentialism and Foucault’s theory of madness, this paper tries to analyze Zuckerman’s living state, living conditions
and free choices. Zuckerman’s self-deconstruction and alienation reveals modern people’s loneliness and pain and the influence of
Existentialism on Philip Roth.
tortured by the untraceable pain, tries to give up the identity of being a writer and illusioned to be a doctor. Basic on careful reading,
with Satre’s Existentialism and Foucault’s theory of madness, this paper tries to analyze Zuckerman’s living state, living conditions
and free choices. Zuckerman’s self-deconstruction and alienation reveals modern people’s loneliness and pain and the influence of
Existentialism on Philip Roth.
Keywords
Pain; Self-deconstruction; Revolt; Alienation; Existentialism
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PDFReferences
[1] Duban, James. Sartrian Nothingness: Roth’s The Ghost Writer, The Anatomy Lesson, Zuckerman Unbound, The Prague Orgy, and Exit Ghost[J]. Philip Roth Studies, 2014:11-34.
[2] Roth, Philip. The Anatomy Lesson[M]. New York: Vintage, 1983.
[3] Zhang, Shengting. Zhang, Zhen. The Pain of Writing and the Writing of “Pain”—Interpretation of The Anatomy Lesson[J]. Foreign Language Teaching, 2015(7): 81-85.
[4] Muresan, Laura. Writhing Bodies: Literature and Illness in Philip Roth’s Anatomy Lesson(s)[J]. Philip Roth Studies, 2015: 75-90.
[5] Parker, Royal Derek . Philip Roth: New Perspectives on an American Author[M]. Westport: Praeger Publishers, 2005.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18686/ahe.v6i9.4771
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