An Analysis Of Nick’s Social Identification Crisis In The Line Of Beauty

The Line of Beauty is a masterpiece written by the British novelist Alan Hollinghurst.It is his forth novel, by which he is well known all over the world. The Line of Beautywon the Man Booker in2004, which is awarded to the best novels in the UK every year.It is the first time that the prize is awarded to a novel which is themed by thehomosexuality. The story happened in the1980s, and represents unique social issues andcharacteristics in the1980s by the protagonist Nick.Many critics regard the novel as a gay novel, but this thesis aims to analyze the novelfrom a new perspective—the social identification. The social identification crisis whichis showed on Nick is an unavoidable issue in the modern society. Analyzing the theme,we not only realize the unique period in Britain, but also start to think over our life andfuture. We will regard Nick as an alarm, and try to realize the value of life.The thesis is made up of three parts: an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.The first part of the thesis is the introduction, which includes a brief introduction toHollinghurst’s achievements and life experiences, the synopsis of the novel, the previousliterary criticism on the novel and significance and purpose of the thesis.The main body of the thesis is made up of three chapters. Chapter One is anintroduction to the social identification theory, which concerns how people build theirown and others’ identity. In the thesis, the social identification theory means that relyingon the group membership of a certain group, people distinguish themselves from others,and then people put typical characteristics of members in the group on themselves inorder to make their characteristics identify with typical characteristics of members in thegroup.Chapter Two explores the presentation of Nick’s social identification crisis in thenovel. In this novel, Nick’s social identification crisis mainly represents in three aspects.First, Nick deviates from the right position and loses the direction-sense. Nick makesefforts to become a member of the upper class, but in the end he is driven out of theupper class, which makes his identity in an uncertain state. Second, Nick loses his ownwords. Flattering people in the upper class, Nick learns to imitate features of theirlanguage, which makes his language lose basic functions of communication andparticipation. At last, he frequently doesn’t know what he should say and what he can say. Third, Nick collapses his ethical frame. He starts to snort cocaine and becomesmoney-oriented, which makes him lose his ethical standards.Chapter Three is an analysis of Nick’s social identification crisis. Nicks lives in the1980s in the UK, when the prime minister is Margaret Thatcher. To control the more andmore serious AIDS crisis, the conservative party takes an extremely repulsive attitude tothe homosexuality. At the same time, the government advocates the reverence of“Victorian values”. However, in such a background, Nick lives an indulgent andluxurious life, which can’t be accepted by most people in the society. Then Nick’s friendsdied of AIDS one by one, which makes him worry about his security. The intensificationof the anxiety intensifies his social identification crisis.The last part is the conclusion of the theme of the novel. Alan Hollinghurst catchesthe characteristics of the time in the1980s tightly and makes a reflection to the uniqueand turbulent period of the history. Nick, the protagonist of the novel, is just a footprintof the period. And the social identification crisis which is showed on him is the point weshould pay attention to. By analyzing the novel thoroughly and seriously, we begin tofocus on the social identification crisis. The novel warns readers in the modern society tokeep the authentic existence and not to lose them.