A Study Of Identity Crisis In Deaf Sentence

David Lodge is both an academic critic with rich teaching experiences and a novelist with a strong self-consciousness. He has a deep understanding of intellectuals,and has always involved his concerns for the group into his novels. Written in his old age, Deaf Sentence shows Lodge’s concerns on the conditions of the aged intellectuals profoundly. Researches on this novel are relatively few compared with Lodge’s other novels, mainly focusing on the narrative structure, writing techniques and spiritual crisis. But the theme of identity crisis of the aged intellectuals is rarely involved. Based on the above understanding, this thesis analyzes identity crisis in Deaf Sentence to reveal the implied attitudes of Lodge by adopting the key word “the other” in Lacan’s mirror stage theory.To be more specific, this thesis mainly makes an analysis of the protagonist Desmond’s identity crisis as an intellectual and a deaf in this novel. It firstly elaborates the representations of identity crisis in these two kinds of identities. Then, the thesis respectively analyzes the construction process of the protagonist in his identity dilemma, revealing Lodge’ attitudes toward different identity crises and his deep ethical views on death. It indicates that David Lodge holds double attitudes—critical and sympathetic—toward the intellectual and the deaf. The study shows Lodge thinks that death is an inevitable crisis in life and advocates an equal dialogue between man and man, implying his ethical views of accepting death and cherishing the present time.To be brief, the thesis studies the identity crisis in Deaf Sentence so as to appropriately comprehend David Lodge’ attitudes toward identity, hence expecting to broaden and deepen the study of the novel and offer a new perspective to study David Lodge’ novels and creative thoughts. Meanwhile, the thesis also anticipates making contribution to the application of “the other” in Lacan’s the mirror stage theory...