A Study On The Alienation Phenomenon In The Pigman

The Pigman is a representative work of young adult literature written by PaulZindel. It has been widely concerned by experts and scholars since it was published inthe literature world. The Pigman has been popular to people of all ages, and the novelhas received literary recognition. The novel has been named “Best of the Best YoungAdult Books from1960to1974"; it has also been named "Outstanding Children’sBook of1968" and has got "Boston Globe-Horn Book Award in1969". Nilson andDonelson comment that The Pigman has great influence in the literary world of youngadult literature, because it has changed the writing style of young adult literature inthe past, and creates a new type of young adult literature. Subsequently, many articlesand papers about The Pigman have been written and published.The Pigman has been studied as a classic literary work from the perspective ofthe characters, the mother-daughter relationship, the narrative perspective and theartistic charm and the significance of across-generation reading by many domesticand foreign researchers over the years, but it has not been studied from theperspective of alienation. Marx, Engels, Marcuse have investigated the alienationtheory in the field of philosophy, and at the same time alienation not only exists inthe field of philosophy, but also exists as a literary phenomenon in many literaryworks.This thesis attempts to discuss alienation phenomenon in The Pigman, althoughmany researchers have conducted a study on alienation, they rarely discuss alienationin young adult literature, and now few scholars analyze The Pigman from alienationperspective. Here alienation theory will be used to analyze the alienation phenomenonin The Pigman, and then it will be concluded that alienation phenomenon exists notonly in modern Western fiction works, but also in young adult literature.This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the introduction toalienation theory. It discusses the development of the alienation concept and the fouralienation themes. Chapter two discusses Pignati’s self alienation. Through theanalysis of Pignati’s indulgence in the animal world, in the children’s world and in thepast memory, it reveals Mr. Pignati’s self alienation. Chapter three expounds thealienated relationship between human beings. Through John and Lorraine’s alienationphenomena in the family and outside the family, it reveals the interpersonal alienation. Chapter four expounds the reasons for alienation. In conclusion part it concludes thatthe alienation phenomena exist not only in the western modern literature, but also inthe children’s literature.