Searching For Freedom

Thomas Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century. Look Homeward, Angel, his first and best novel, was considered as a highly autobiographical novel. Once published, it was considered a great success and influenced lots of readers immediately. This thesis applies the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan's theory of Three Orders about the structure of human psyche to the analysis of the psychological development of Eugene, the protagonist of the novel, arguing that Eugene is driven to insanity under the influence of his loneliness, spiritual suffering and split family and in order to seek his real freedom, he escapes from his hometown and went to Harvard.This thesis consists of three parts. The first part makes a brief introduction to Thomas Wolfe and his Look Homeward, Angel and its studies at home and abroad, and the theoretical basis and the layout of the thesis. The second part is made up of three chapters, applying Lacan's theory of Three Orders to the analysis of Eugene's psychological development. Chapter One deals with Eugene's psychological activities in the Imaginary Order, focusing on his illusion in the Mirror Stage and his alienation and his identity crisis. Chapter Two analyses Eugene's struggle against loneliness in the Symbolic Order, arguing that his becoming a split subject under the law of the Name-of-Father, his tragedy of the desire of others and his longing for the mother figure make him feel lonely all the time. Chapter Three explores Eugene's pursuit of freedom in the Real Order, maintaining that the death of his brother Ben cuts off his last tie with his family, and he leaves his hometown and goes to Harvard, which will free him from loneliness and the prison of his family and hometown. The third part is the concluding part of the thesis. It summarizes Eugene's psychological development from his entrapment in the Imaginary Order through his struggle against loneliness in the Symbolic Order to his pursuit of freedom in the Real Order and concludes that his mental disturbance and quest for liberation is out of sheer lack of love.