Identity Crisis In The Modern World:a Lacanian Interpretation Of Sophie’s Choice

William Styron is considered as a representative of the contemporary southern literature and one of the integral figures of the Holocaust literature. His masterpiece, Sophie’s Choice, has been studied from the perspective of feminism, narratology, trauma theory and power relationship since its publication. In addition, some scholars study this novel from the perspective of illusion and dreams. However, few critics have ever resorted to Lacanian theory to study this novel. This thesis aims to fill this research gap by using Lacan’s Theory of Subjectivity to analyze the identity crisis of the three main characters in Sophie s Choice.The modern psychoanalytic critic Lacan opened a new territory of critical mode, surpassing the surface text of the work, and entering the mental realm of the characters. By applying Lacan’s Mirror Stage Theory and the Imaginary-Symbolic-Real Theory, this thesis aims to find out the deeper and inner elements that result in these three characters’identity crisis and spiritual trauma. In the end of this thesis, the author concludes that they are not the only people who face the problem of identity, and their suffering on the way of self-searching is the common psychological experience that all people should face, especially after the cruel World War Ⅱ and the inhuman Nazi Holocaust.