An Interpretation Of Harry's Image In "Rabbit Tetralogy" From The Perspective Of Fromm's Humanistic Theory

John Updike(1932-2009),one of America's best novelists in the mid-to-late 20 th century,devoted himself to describing the living conditions of American middle class.His masterpiece“Rabbit Tetralogy” detailed the development and changes of American society from 1950 s to1990s,and revealed the living conditions of people in different stages of social development.Each of the four novels can stand alone,with about 150 personalities centered around Harry's life experience.As the protagonist in this series,Harry showed the typical way of thinking and behavior of American middle class.The purpose of paper is to interpret the image of Rabbit Harry based on the humanistic theory of Eric Fromm(1900-1980).Fromm,as a German psychologist and sociologist,mainly worked on human problems,and formed a unique humanistic theory of by drawing on Marxism and Freud's theory.He combined human problems with social phenomena,and explained that people are facing anxiety caused by freedom and loss of self-worth caused by alienation.He analyzed the personality of people on a socio-psychological level,and put forward a solution to build a sound personality and society.The thesis mainly analyzes Harry's image from two aspects of personality and behavior on the basis of Fromm's humanistic theory.On the one hand,Fromm's character theory was used to analyze different social personality traits of Harry before and after his becoming a middle class.The paper also expounds psychological changes of Harry and his internal performance when he interacts with family and friends under the different personality characteristics caused by social alienation.On the other hand,the paper analyzes Harry's behaviors in the face of contradictions in life,combining two predicaments of freedom and alienation proposed by Fromm,and describes the challenges and changes that Harry faces in the pursuit of freedom and self-worth under the influence of different social character tendencies.The analysis of Harry's character image from the perspective of Fromm's humanistic theory was a new perspective in the research of “Rabbit Tetralogy”.By analyzing the character and behavioral characteristics of Rabbit Harry,the paper further discussed the alienation problems faced by modern westerners and society.Harry's dilemma in the environment of alienation and the confusion he faced in his pursuit of freedom corresponded to the challenges faced by various classes in modern western society under the influence of alienation.Moreover the paper also considered the relationship between man and himself,man and man,man and society,and human productive issues in an alienated environment.