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Alienation and Eliminating Alienation – An Interpretation of >The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry< from the Perspective of Fromm’s Alienation Theory

  • Rachel Joyce, a senior British BBC playwright and columnist of the Sunday Times, has played a major role in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre and the Royal National Theater. Joyce turned to writing after 20 years of career in stage drama and television. In 2012, Joyce published the novel >The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry<, which is Joyce’s maiden work. It tells us the story of a retired old man on a pilgrimage across England on foot to save his old friend suffering from cancer. Harold, the protagonist, successfully realized his own salvation in this seemingly impossible journey. While waiting for him to return home, his wife, Maureen, began to reflect herself, gradually established the contact with the outside world and got rid of the self-isolation. The relationship between the couple also got back together after the pilgrimage. This novel is regarded as a novel that can heal the soul. Joyce, the author, has successfully touched the hearts of many readers with her unique narrative skills, and also successfully demonstrated the unique attention of female writers to the inner world of the characters.– On the basis of the researches at home and abroad, this thesis uses Fromm’s alienation theory to analyze the alienation of the characters in >The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry< from the three aspects: the alienation between man and self, the alienation between interpersonal relationships and the alienation between human and society, and further explores the various attempts made by the characters in the novel to eliminate alienation.– First of all, there is alienation between man and self. People become numb and isolated because of the lack of love in childhood and the traumatic experience in adulthood. However, by taking the initiative to assume responsibility and establish the contact with the outside world, they can realize the reconstruction of their own identity, and get rid of the self-isolation and successfully eliminate self-alienation.– Secondly, alienation has also occurred between interpersonal relationships. In the novel, the seemingly harmonious marital relationship between the husband and wife hides an insurmountable gap. The relationships between friends are full of use and friendship is no longer pure. Through the pilgrimage, Harold has a new understanding of his identity as a husband, and his wife has also begun to self-reflect and break away from the state of constant criticism to her husband. All kinds of people who met on the way also gave Harold warmth and care, making people realize that pure friendship still exists and that alienation of interpersonal relationships can be eliminated.– Finally, the relationship between people and society has produced alienation, which is mainly manifested in two aspects, namely, the alienation of material desire and the stereotyped life-style. In the highly developed modern society, people pursue fame and wealth too much and their life style is too simple, which squeezes people’s vitality and makes life too monotonous. Through establishing a sound society, human beings can get rid of the drive of material desire, regain vitality and uniqueness. Alienation is the universal theme of modern literature, which can reveal the living conditions and inner world of people in modern society.– The purpose of this thesis is to call on people to pay attention to their inner world and improve their sense of self-identity. When they are in a state of alienation, they should take positive measures to get out of it and take creative ways to learn to build a harmonious and healthy relationship with themselves, others and society. [Translation: www.cnki.net, 8/2023]

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Metadaten
Author:Yutong Jin
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2023
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Jin_Yutong_2023
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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