Ethical Dilemma Of The Characters In Philip Roth’s The Human Stain

As one of the most typical Jewish writers in the United States,Philip Roth is one of the most productive writers and his production gives rise to critics’ heated discussions for a time.In addition,The Human Stain belongs to a more complex and meaningful work as the third part of Roth’s American trilogy.Generally,most scholars at home and abroad have begun to study the literary ethics criticism of this novel from various ethical themes.Therefore,this thesis attempts to interpret the specific characters in the novel based on this theory.On the basis of analyzing the text,this thesis takes four main characters as research objects,namely Coleman Silk,Faunia Farley,Delphine Roux and Lester Farley,and makes attempt to study systematically the above four characters respectively from three dimensions:ethical environment,ethical identity and ethical choice.Hereby,this thesis reveals their different ethical predicament,explores the hidden ethical factors behind their disparate ethical choices and analyzes the deep-seated causes of their disparate endings,thus offering some referential significance to our society nowadays.This thesis is divided into three chapters besides the introduction and conclusion.The introduction part gives an outline of both the writer,Philip Roth,and his novel The Human Stain,and then interprets several basic concepts of ethical literary criticism,on top of presenting relevant research achievements centred upon the novel home and abroad.The first chapter sums up the four main characters’ multiple oppression under diverse ethical environments,including racialist oppression,sexist oppression and traumatic oppression.The second chapter presents their ethical conflicts after deviating from each ethical identity from the point of ethical identity,ranging from the identities within the family to the identities in the workplace and society.The third chapter continues to explore their respective ethical choices under the great pressure from ethical environments,namely,the ethical roots of their various endings.In the end,this thesis finishes with the conclusion.Broadly speaking,there are profound ethical roots behind the four characters’ disparate ethical choices in the novel,but it is precisely their respective ethical environments,ethical identities-and ethical choices that constitute an inseparable unity.In this continuum,one would inevitably make wrong ethical choices and step on a destructive road if he makes inadequate adjustments within the depressive ethical environments and doesn t have a correct understanding of his ethical identities.In conclusion,it is feasible to make deep analysis of the main characters in The Human Stain from the perspective of ethical literary criticism through detanled analysis.And multiple ethical factors indeed exert effects on the characters’ life experience and even result in the characters’ tragedies to some extent,including Coleman and Faunia’s death,Lester’s beginning of life as a murderer,as well as Delphine’s rational loss.Combing the multiple ethical factors of the characters in the novel provide valuable experience for each of us to make ethical choices in the face of respective ethical conflicts,which is worthy of our vigilance.In addition to this,there is still certain practical significance to nowadays society by means of digging.the ethical roots behind the characters’ endings.For instance,both the simplification and settlement of the ethical conflicts could contribute to building a more harmonious and beauteous world.