Looking For An Unfound Door

Thomas Wolfe is one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. He takes rank with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner. During his very short lifetime he accomplished four autobiographical novels, which have elevated him to legendary status.Look Homeward, Angel is Wolfe's first novel, also the best of his. Once the novel was published, it began to receive great critical acclaim. In this autobiographical novel the protagonist Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a depiction of Wolfe himself and the prototypes of many characters can be found in Wolfe's life.The novel covers the years from Eugene Gant's birth till his departure from his hometown to enter Harvard University. It mainly deals with the development of Eugene's inner life and reveals the process of his maturation. Wolfe's works primarily focus on such human feelings as loneliness and alienation, and their search for the meaning of life as well as their struggles against the bondage of their family to open up new horizons for themselves, which corresponds with the concerns of the existentialists who are interested in the existence of human beings, their freedom and choices. This paper is an analysis of the novel from the angle of existentialism.The essay consists of five parts.The first part includes a brief introduction to Thomas Wolfe, his novel Look Homeward, Angel and its literature review, then the theoretical framework of existentialism.The second part analyzes the absurd existence of Eugene and his family by using the theories of existentialism such as "Existence precedes essence", "World is absurd, while life is anguished". This part mainly deals with Eugene's parents Olive Gant and Eliza's absurd marriage, Eugene's loneliness and lostness in his growing up, Ben's tragedy and other children's absurd lives. Eugene's family is just a miniature of the absurd world which we human beings are living in.The third part deals with the choice of the protagonist Eugene in the absurd world. The existential theory of "free choice" is touched here. Eugene's quest for the meaning of life makes a sharp contrast to his family members'abandonment to the absurd world. Eugene fights to escape from inauthentic existence and tries to find authentic existence in the light of his own choices to create meaning in life. His finding himself is accomplished in his fantasies, his pursuit of knowledge and his plunge into life.The fourth part analyzes the recurrence of American experience in the novel and reflects human existence. The novel reflects American experience and human beings'existence in many aspects. For example, the disillusion of American Dream, the pursuit of the Lost Generation and the whole scene of American society are all embodied in the novel; what's more, it helps us reconsider the circumstance of human beings and the meaning of our existence.The fifth part is the conclusion. In this part, the existentialist elements in the novel are summarized and the meaning of the novel is reinforced.