| Ha Jin is the first Chinese American writer who has ever been awarded two Pen/Faulkner Awards and a National Book Award, which established him as a representative figure of Chinese American writer. His works mainly deal with the existential predicaments of the concrete individual, which shares the common themes with Existentialists. This thesis chooses two of Ha Jin's novels Waiting and A Free Life as the study objects. Based on close reading, it aims to make an interpretation of the two novels from the perspective of Existentialism.The thesis consists of four parts, together with Introduction and Conclusion. In Introduction, the thesis first introduces Ha Jin and his works in general, and then proceeds to have a review on the previous studies on Ha Jin and his works. Methodology, significance and contents of the thesis are also included in this part. Chapter One is divided into two parts. The first part makes an overview of the theory of Existentialism and its major themes including absurdity, alienation, freedom of choice and responsibility and authentic self which are manifested in Ha Jin's Waiting and A Free Life. Then in the second part, after a brief introduction to Ha Jin's Waiting and A Free Life, the thesis attempts to figure out the existentialist tendency embodied in the two novels. Chapter Two proceeds with the analysis on the absurdity of the world and the suffering of the characters displayed in the two novels. Chapter Three illustrates the protagonist's self-alienation and alienation of interpersonal relationship in the two novels. Chapter Four conducts an analysis on the different attitude and reaction of the male protagonists in two novels when they are confronting the absurd world and alienation, pointing out that Lin's inaction to pursue an authentic self leads to his tragic fate, and Nan's action to pursue an authentic self results in the realization of spiritual salvation. In the Conclusion, the existentialist themes of absurdity, alienation and self-actualization manifested in Ha Jin's novels are summarized. The practical meaning of Ha Jin's works is also emphasized that man should take actions to transcend the existential predicaments to pursue an authentic self and achieve self-actualization.
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