A Comparative Study Of Wuthering Heights And Rice From The Perspective Of Fromm's Alienation Theory

Heathcliff is a controversial figure in Wuthering Heights written by the British writer Emily Bront?. Wuthering Heights describes the tragical love story between Heathcliff and Catherine.Owing to various reasons, heroes in the novel could not satisfy their inner demands so that they are in a separate and alienated condition.The novel vividly reflects the social customs in the late eighteenth century of England. People's life and mental state is also involved. Rice is a popular full-length novel and a masterpiece of New Realism written by the Chinese contemporary writer SuTong. It is about the hero Wu Long who fled to the city to make a living after the flood in his hometown and the abnormal love among him and other women. He didn't revenge people who had bullied him until he had the ability. Wu Long determined to return to his hometown as he was dying. In spite of various differences, both of the novels have the same theme of alienation and redemption. This paper adopts the research means of parallel study and the perspective of Fromm's alienation theory to analyze Wuthering Heights and Rice. It aims to give some suggestions on how to avoid alienation and keep healthy state by analyzing the heroes in the novels respectively.This thesis consists of six chapters except the Introduction and the Conclusion. The first part includes the brief introductions to Wuthering Heights and Rice, and the literature review of the works. Chapter One is the theoretical framework concentrating on the development of alienation theory and Fromm's theories on alienation. Chapter Two analyzes how the environment is relevant to alienation. This part compares the different surroundings of the heroes. Chapter Three is about the common alienation of interpersonal relationship, involving love and other relationship alienation. Chapter Four researches on the self alienation. Fantasies and dreams frequently appear in the novels. Heathcliff repeatedly had the illusion of uniting with Catherine after her death. It is impossible for Wu Long to forget his hometown in the Rice. Chapter Five is to discuss how to avoid and decease alienation. Heathcliff and Wu Long decayed from normal people to Devils. They finally restored to their normal states because of the sincere love they still bore in their hearts.The last part is the Conclusion. Alienation is a common phenomenon in the society. People may be influenced by the inner self and external environment. It is essential to learn how to avoid alienation and achieve healthy psychological harmony with the help of love and sound society.