从死亡中领悟生存的哲学：论《我弥留之际》中的存在主义思想-英语语言文学专业论文.docxVIP

Abstract As I Lay Dying was written by William Faulkner under the great political and economic changes of the South America. Just as most of his works, it reveals the desperation in people and their loss of faith in life. As a representative of the southerners, Faulkner felt obliged to find a solution for the misery in people’s life. Existentialism came into being under the similar conditions; it also focuses on the absurd and isolated life people live in, furthermore it emphasizes the need to make free choice and the importance of having a proper attitude towards death. The major notions of Existentialism can be applied perfectly in As I Lay Dying, moreover it provides readers with a deeper understanding of the power of life and death in this novel. As an attempt to explore Existentialism in the book, this research will be generally divided into the following parts to highlight the Existentialist themes of isolation, free choice and death in the work: Chapter One will present a brief introduction of Existentialism, Faulkner and As I Lay Dying, as well as Existentialism in Faulkner’s works. Chapter Two aims at probing into the private inner world of the Bundren family by their respective monologues thus exposes the alienation and absurdity in every one of them, and the alienation and absurdity of the Bundren family as a whole to the neighbors. Chapter Three studies the main characters of the three sons from another perspective: the sense of responsibility and free choice, showing the positive side of their personalities and deeds, and how this theme of Existentialism defines and settles their essence. Chapter Four examines Addie’s monologue after her death and arrives at her attitude of life and death, along with the impact of death to herself and her family. The discussion of death also leads to the interpretation of the title of the book. The last chapter is an addition of how the narrative structure serves to reflect the Existentialist themes of the journey. The