The Terrorist As An Ethical Being

Paul Auster is one of the most important contemporary American novelists.His most political novel Leviathan came out in 1992.Through Peter Allen’s fragmentary recollections,Leviathan pieced together the tragic life of Benjamin Sachs.Throughout his life,Sachs lived in the shadow of a sense of guilt,which comes from both the moral crime of desire and the practical crime of murder.These crimes drove him to seek some way to redeem himself urgently.This paper takes Leviathan as the research object.Under the guidance of ethical literary criticism,it focuses on the three ethical choices of the protagonist Sachs and his subsequent ethical redemption,and critically discusses and reflects on the reasons why Sachs,as an ethical being,became a terrorist eventually.Professor Nie Zhenzhao’s ethical literary criticism believes that“the essence of human ethical choice is to be a human or an animal”.In the tragic life of Sachs,he constantly sought the balance of inner moral order between self-doubt and self-denial.Meantime Sachs made three important ethical choices,the first one was to satisfy his desire,and the second choice was to kill Dimaggio,and the last choice was to inherit the will of Dimaggio.However,each time Sachs makes an ethical choice,he takes a step closer to the abyss of evil.At the same time,the method Sachs seeks ethical redemption also changes with the change of ethical choice,from leaving his family,to providing assistance to the victim’s families,to finally becoming a terrorist as an ethical being.Although Leviathan has aroused domestic researcher’s attention,previous researchers did not interpret it as an independent text.From the perspective of ethical literary criticism,this thesis will focus on the novel,explore the political significance it reflects and pay attention to the plight of modern people.The main contents are as follows:Chapter one gives a general introduction of Paul Auster and his novel Leviathan.It analyzes the research status of Auster’s works at home and abroad,reviews his writings on violence,and also makes a brief evaluation of the Vietnam war initiatedby the American government.Chapter two analyzes the relationship between Sachs as a sphinx factor and his ethical redemption.Sachs’ s first ethical choice has violated his inner moral order.Thus Sachs begins to seek ethical redemption.Chapter three analyzes the relationship between Sachs as an ethical being and his ethical redemption.Through exploring the ethical dilemma and ethical choice Sachs confronted,this chapter tries to explore the internal cause of why Sachs became a murderer eventually.Chapter four analyzes the relationship between Sachs as a terrorist and ethical redemption.It reveals the function of violence in Sachs’ s terrorism,and points out that this way of redemption that has violated the social ethical rules also leads to the final destruction of Sachs.Chapter five concludes with a review of the paper.By reflecting on Sachs’ s three ethical choices and ethical redemptions,this chapter summarizes the reasons why Sachs eventually stoops to be a terrorist,and then makes a critical analysis of the false democratic freedom advocated by the American government after the Vietnam war.