Alienation And Self-Realization: A Thematic Study Of Bernard Malamud's Dubin's Lives

Bernard Malamud, along with Saul Bellow, Issac Bashevis Singer and Philip Roth, is one of the great Jewish American writers of the 20th century. Malamud emerged on American literary scene after the Second World War, and in his career as a writer, which lasted for over half a century, he published seven novels and four collections of short stories. Malamud's works mainly focus on the lives of American Jews who awkwardly survived on the margins of society, and his protagonists are usually represented as "sufferers" or "victims". As a major American writer, Malamud gained many literary prizes including two National Book Awards and the Pulitzer Prize.Dubin's Lives is the sixth of Malamud's novels. Since its publication in 1979, reviews of this novel are varied abroad. However, the situation in China differs a lot. There are only a few people who have done researches on it. Different from the earlier domestic researches, this thesis will try to make a thematic interpretation of the novel from a new perspective, namely it will make an analysis of alienation and self-realization of a middle-aged Jewish American intellectual William B. Dubin, so as to reveal man's predicament and their destiny in the modern society. With Karl Marx's theory of alienation and its application in western modernist literature, the thesis will examine the embodiments and reasons of the protagonist's alienation in Dubin's Lives, then explore the conditions and significance of his self-realization, and modern people in general.The thesis is divided into five chapters.Chapter one is an introduction, including Bernard Malamud's life and literary achievements, a brief introduction to Dubin's lives, the criticisms on this novel at home and abroad, and the significance of this thesis.Chapter two is the theoretical framework of the thesis. It first gives the readers a general review of Karl Marx's theory of alienation. It is from his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 that Marx attempted his first classification of the alienation syndrome, distinguishing four separate areas of the phenomenon: man is alienated from his productive activity, his product, his fellow men and his species. Then it introduces four kinds of themes in western modernist literature: the alienation between man and nature, man and society, man and man, and man and man's ego, which are the application of Marx's theory in western modernist literature.Chapter three firstly analyzes the historical and cultural mechanisms for the emerging of alienation in contemporary Jewish American literature, that is, the frequent appearance of the "alienation" theme in contemporary Jewish American literature which inextricably links with the Jews' unique historical background, social situation as well as the distinctive national identity. Then it introduces the roots of western spiritual crisis and the chaos and turbulence of American society in the 1960s, which bring about the flourishing of alienation in contemporary Jewish American literature. Finally, it presents the application of "alienation" theme in Bernard Malamud's works and other major contemporary Jewish American writers' writing.Chapter four is the main part of this thesis. Firstly, under the application of "alienation" theme in contemporary Jewish American Literature, it interprets the protagonist William Dubin's alienation from two aspects: the embodiments of his alienation and the reasons for it. Dubin's alienation is concentrated on three aspects, namely his self-alienation, his alienation with people around him, and his alienation with the society, which exemplify the alienated relationships in western modernist literature; the reasons for Dubin's alienation, his past experiences, his American environment and his studies are the main reasons for all Jewish American intellectuals. Then, it presents the conditions and significance of his self-realization. Dubin is an alienated man, but besides his own efforts, through the understanding and reconciliation between him and people around him, in each case, Dubin finally moves toward a partial restoration of human relationship, and came to his self-realization, which provides valuable guidance for people nowadays.Finally the thesis comes to its conclusion. Besides examining the spiritual crisis of modern society and the predicament of modern people, in this novel Malamud also reveals the ultimate outlet and the value of life, which show his great concern for human beings in the modern world.