Exile As Metaphor

Cynthia Ozick's Heir to the Glimmering World represents the exile of the Mitwissers and characters related to the family.Their life experiences coincide with the living state of modern people.Based on Edward Said's theory of exile,this thesis studies the theme of “exile” in Heir to the Glimmering World,arguing that the cultural rootlessness,social marginalization,and sense of loss of the exiled characters in the novel are not only the life experience of the characters themselves but also metaphors for modern man's living state.This thesis consists of three parts.Part one is the introduction.It briefly introduces Cynthia Ozick,Heir to the Glimmering World and its studies both at home and abroad,and the research problem and theoretical basis of the thesis.Part Two is the body of the thesis.It is made up of three chapters.Chapter One analyzes the cultural rootlessness of the exiled characters in the novel,arguing that the cultural rootlessness of the Jewish families and the white American James can be thought of as a metaphor for modern man's cultural rootlessness.Chapter Two probes into the characters' marginalization in the novel,arguing that it is the embodiment of modern man's displacement and disorientation.Chapter Three focuses on the psychological world of the characters.The Mitwissers and James' s sense of loss and homelessness implies modern man's state of being spiritually orphaned and alienated.The final part is the conclusion.It sums up the main points of the thesis and points out that Cynthia Ozick's Heir to the Glimmering World is a book about “exile” which is not only a kind of living experience of the characters but also a metaphor for the universal living state of modern man.