Alienation And Remedy: The Sense Of Worry In London Fields

Martin Amis is usually associated with his father, a well-known representative of the“Angry Young Man”, Kingsley Amis, but actually his writing style is totally different from hisfather. He strives to get rid of the shadow of his father from his first work. He has nowbecome a distinguished British writer for his postmodern experimentalism and bold themes inhis works. Published in1989, London Fields, together with Money: A Suicide Note (1984) andThe Information (1995) is an informal trilogy of Martin Amis, which contributes to havinglaid his profound position in the contemporary British literary field. London Fields isreviewed by the overseas and domestic critics mainly on its narrative techniques and somediscuss about the themes such as nuclear fear, the death of love, and emotions.The theme of alienation is first found out in the novel London Fields by the author of thethesis through the close reading of the text based on Erich Fromm’s theory of alienation. Thealienation in London Fields is classified into four kinds: alienation in the relationship betweenman and nature, man and society, man and man, and man and himself. The alienation in therelationship between man and nature is manifested in the environmental pollution and theabnormal climate. The alienation in mass media, consumption and technology in the novelproves the alienation in the relationship between man and society. In the relationship betweenman and man, strangers, friends and even family members are alienated from each other. Asfor the alienation in the relationship between man and himself, the protagonists Keith Talent,Guy Clinch, Nicola Six and Samson Young demonstrate this point clearly.At last, this paper finds out the approaches of remedy for alienation conveyed in thenovel, namely, the art of loving and returning to the world. The theme of alienation and theremedy for alienation clearly reveal the novelist’s strong sense of worry of the moderncapitalist society, proving that Martin Amis is a very serious humanistic novelist.