A Study Of Nemesis From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Philip Milton Roth(1933-)is one of the representative figures of Jewish writers in contemporary America.He has finished writing more than 30 novels in almost half a century,creating many masterpieces and winning lots of prizes.He is the only living American novelist to have his works published in a comprehensive edition by the Library of America.Nemesis,published in 2010,was written by Philip Roth at the age of 77.It might be his last novel because he slipped his retirement announcement into an interview in 2012.In the context of polio,Roth tells us the tragedy of Jewish young man Bucky Cantor.He struggled in his own torture of guilt and self-accusation and finally crucified himself on the imagined cross of shame.The novel reveals man's spiritual crisis and existing conditions and it is a fable which inquires about choices and individual fate in the harsh reality.Holding the highest position in contemporary American literature,Roth has attracted the attention of the Chinese scholars.But there are only a small number of academic papers on Nemesis and most of the critics study this novel from the perspective of narrative techniques or the image of suffering hero.This paper will study Nemesis from the perspective of ethical literary criticism.By exploring the relationship between man and society,man and self and man and others,we will get a better understanding of Roth's ethical concern for the individuals.This thesis consists of five parts.The introductory part offers a brief account of Philip Roth and his works,introduces the story of Nemesis,explains the theory of ethical literary criticism and provides a literature review of Roth and Nemesis at home and abroad.Chapter One elaborates Roth's ethical claim in terms of the relationship between man and society.In Nemesis,Roth describes the reaction and solution of Jewish individuals,Jewish community and the neighbor Italian community when a terrifying epidemic,polio,is raging,to show the relationship between man and society.By describing the protagonist's tragedy,Roth expresses his ethical concern for a harmonious relationship between man and society.Society provides better conditions for human's development.Meanwhile,human being should give full play to his ability and make contributions to social progress.Chapter Two explores Roth's ethical idea in terms of the intrinsic and complicated relationship between man and self.By presenting the spiritual crisis of Bucky Cantor,Roth expressed his ethical concern for the individuals to seek the power of oneself by knowing,recreating and reconstructing oneself instead of referring to external forces.Chapter Three explicates Roth's ethical pursuit in terms of relationship between man and others.Roth expresses his wish for pursuing good by describing the importance of being responsible in the family,showing deep care for the other with lover and being a role model for students.Only by pursuing good can people establish a healthy and harmonious relationship between each other.The last part is the Conclusion.It discusses the meaning of the research.In the context of the post-Holocaust,American Jews bear the historical burden of the victims.By presenting Cantor's tragedy,Philip Roth is trying to awaken American Jews to get rid of the image of being the sufferers,step out of shadow of the Holocaust and seek new life.Philip Roth has set moral norms and ethics for the Jews and the whole society,and excavated his value and contribution to the construction of humanistic spirit.