Escapism In Jonathan Franzen's Freedom

Critics' and scholars' increasing interest in Jonathan Franzen leads to the Jonathan Franzen craze.As one of Jonathan Franzen's representative works,Freedom(2010),discusses important issues such as freedom,environmental protection,war,and overpopulation.Foreign and domestic studies on Freedom have made some fruitful achievements,while a further study on the theme of escapism in Freedom is needed and necessary.With Erich Fromm's and Yi-Fu Tuan's ideas about escape as theoretical framework,the thesis attempts to explore the escapism in Freedom from three aspects including escape from freedom,escape from reality,and escape from animality,analyzes modern men's dilemma in face of freedom and how to achieve positive freedom,elucidates double implications of escaping from reality,and discusses the significance of morality and humanity in escaping animality.The thesis concludes that escape is not just a passive response to life but a positive way to return and fulfill self-realization.The thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter one mainly introduces background information about Jonathan Franzen and his works,reviews previous studies,and states research objectives and significance.Chapter two is about theoretical framework,in which Erich Fromm's Escape from Freedom and Yi-Fu Tuan's Escapism are introduced.In this part,major principles of escape are summarized on the basis of Fromm's and Yi-Fu Tuan's ideas about escape,which provide a theoretical framework for the thesis.The major analysis is from chapter three to chapter five.In chapter three,escape from freedom is analyzed from authoritarianism and destructiveness.In chapter four,escape from reality is discussed from migration and imagination.In chapter five,escape from animality is analyzed from rejection of animal desire and embracing humanity.Chapter six is conclusion.This chapter summarizes representations of escapism in Freedom and highlights the complexity and positive meanings of escape in the novel.