A Pursuit Of Real Self: An Existentialist Interpretation Of Indignation

Philip Roth is one of the most famous contemporary Jewish American writers, known asa “literary living myth”. He won numerous awards and almost has received all U.S. domesticliterary awards and has been nominated for Nobel Prize several times. He created a largenumber of literary works, which reflect the living conditions of the majority of modern Jews.Indignation, published in2008, is one of the latest masterpieces concerning living conditionsof American Jews.Roth presents almost all topics of his classic works in Indignation: war, death, family,love, sex, education, religion, the American dream, racial discrimination and so on. The storytakes place during the Korean War in the1950s. The protagonist, Marcus Messner is near hisdeath lying on the battlefield. By means of morphine stimulation, he memorizes the past.The protagonist’s anger becomes obvious in face of the complicated problems in society andfamily in his growth. He is unable to tolerate the status quo and chooses to get away; hechooses to find a new life in a new world. Despite his caution, he has committed one mistakeafter another. Eventually he fails to shed the crisis of being expelled from school and goes tothe front. He approaches the end of his life. The entire novel reveals an ordinary American’spursuit, indignation, protest, and the demise under the historical background of the KoreanWar.French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialism explores the human condition andpredicament. The main points include alienation, free choice and the relationship betweenpeople, which is consistent with what Roth expresses in Indignation. Roth and Sartre revealthe survival dilemma in the world of the absurdity and the disorder, resulting in meaninglessexistence and living in despair. Meanwhile, they believe man is capable to survivesignificantly through continuous pursuit.Therefore, this thesis mainly employs existential theory of alienation, human relations,and free choice to analyze Philip Roth’s Indignation. Centering on a Jewish American,Marcus, this thesis intends to analyze the main contradictions between self and real self underthe Jewish tradition, which embodies incisively confusion, loneliness and anxiety. Secondly, this thesis attempts to explore the conflict between he and other people prove that hell is otherpeople, that is, the conflict stems from others. Thirdly, this thesis intends to demonstrate thediscord between the protagonist and the contemporary society to clarify existence lies inrebellions and free choice. All in all, this thesis will reveal the survival dilemma ofcontemporary American Jews in the United States and uncover their quest for freedom, thepursuit of real self and the significance of existence.Based on the detailed textual analysis, this thesis presents a pursuit of real self by Roth’sexistentialism about American Jews. In face of the survival plight, contemporary AmericanJews need free choice to live. Moreover, this thesis intends to illustrate Roth’s great skill andartistry in intertwining the protagonist’s personal life with the contemporary social context inhis novel. The thesis shows Roth’s concerns about the young man as well as condemnation tothe evils of war in times of war. Finally, the thesis attempts to enable the readers to understandRoth’s concern about the situation of the Jews, as well as his concern about the survivalcondition and difficulties of the entire human beings with no racial differences, which reflectsthe return of his Jewish nature and his humanism, so that people could be aware of the plightof modern people.