An Existentialist Interpretation Of Rachel's Life In A Jest Of God

Margret Laurence is one of the most distinguished writers in Canadian literature.Her literary works, especially the Manawaka cycle, have won her the fame all over the world. In her literary creation, she broke the tradition of Canadian literature that mainly focuses on the male characters. Nearly all her works, especially the Manawaka Cycle, are concerned with the living conditions of females and regard females as individuals equal to males, which sets up a monument in Canadian literary history.A Jest of God is the second novel in Laurence's Manawaka Cycle. Since its first publication, researchers have studied it mainly from the aspects such as its writing techniques,the images of its heroines and its feminist theme. This thesis,unlike previous studies which put too much emphasis on the female identity of the heroine Rachel Cameron,will regard her as a representative of the modern men,and give an interpretation of her life from a new perspective, that is, the perspective of existentialism.It will take Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism as its theoretical basis. Sartre's existentialism is a philosophy of humanism; it reveals profoundly the nature of human existence. From the perspective of existentialism, the world is absurd and human beings are painful. The relationship among human beings is alienated and people live in anxiety.Only through making free choices and taking responsibility for their choices can they decide what they are and lead an authentic life.Excluding Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis includes three major parts. The first part will give a detailed analysis of Rachel's plight of existence. Rachel hardly has any communication with people around her. Her life is filled with menial and trivial things in which it is impossible for her to find any meaning. At the same time, the consequences of her choices throw her into constant anxiety over whether she should make free choice. The second part will look into the causes of Rachel's plight of existence. Manawaka is an isolated town dominated by Calvinism which imposes on the townspeople a great many doctrines and rules that go against the nature of human beings.The religion, together with the isolated living environment, represses Rachel's passion to find the truth of life. At the same time,Rachel's mother's strict control of her also puts inescapable shackles on her heart and mind. The last part deals with Rachel's free choices to pursue an authentic life and achieve self-realization. Rachel falls in love with Nick Kazlik, but the relationship ends in failure. When Nick leaves without even a goodbye,and Rachel learns that the fetus in her belly is a tumor,she comes to the epiphany that God is the one who doesn't obey the rules, and thereby, begins to pursue her authenticity. She goes to Vancouver with the hope of finding a new life,and eventually grows into a woman with freedom,independence and a positive attitude towards life. An existentialist interpretation of Rachel's life leads to the conclusion that living in the world where plight of existence is universal, men can only gain their authentic existence through making free choices and readily accepting accountability for their free choices. It is hoped that such revelation may provoke the modern people to think about their own existence.