本文是一篇英语论文，笔者认为厄普代克的文学作品关注社会各阶层人士，尤其是小人物的命运。他认为小人物的境遇是社会现实的真实体现。
Chapter One Manifestation of Caldwell’s Alienation
1.1 Caldwell’s Self-alienation
Fromm (2008) believes that powerlessness is one of the manifestations of alienation. If the individual does not feel his initiative in life, he will feel powerless. Caldwell’s powerlessness causes his somatization disorder. His sense of powerlessness forces him to accept reality through fantasy. Somatization disorders and his fantasies are manifestations of his self-alienation.
Caldwell’s alienation is manifested as somatization disorder. In the novel, Caldwell always thinks he is suffering from some kind of disease. As his mind state deteriorates, his physical pain becomes more intense. But at the end of the novel, it is revealed that Caldwell is healthy and he has no illnesses. This certainly suggests that his pain is repressed mental pain. And this pain is brought about by his powerlessness in life. This pain is an expression of his self-alienation. Caldwell’s fantasy of beautifying reality is also a manifestation of alienation. Caldwell can’t face his failure. He feels powerless in real life, so he decides to beautify reality with fantasy. Faced with an irresistible temptation, he pulls himself into a fantasy world. These mental abnormalities are the concrete manifestations of Caldwell’s self-alienation.
英语论文怎么写
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1.2 Caldwell’s Alienation in Family Relations
Fromm argues that anxiety is one of the manifestations of alienation. In capitalist societies, human relations are transformed by capital. Modern people make great material progress. They think that they are the center of the world. In fact, they have a strong sense of loneliness, hesitation, and powerlessness. The reproduction of capital makes everyone participate in competition, and there is only the value of mutual exploitation between each other. Individuals are transformed into commodities. The pursuit of material value leads to the neglect of the importance of emotion. Everyone lives in fear of falling behind in the competition. Alienation from others leads to a situation where material possessions start to dominate our interactions, thereby weakening the emotional connections among individuals.
The emotional connection between Caldwell and his family has also been affected. He regards material value as all, but he can’t provide enough material support for his family. As a result, he avoids emotional communication with family members. Eventually, Caldwell faces a difficult situation: anxieties cause him to neglect communication with his family. And the lack of communication makes Caldwell even more anxious.
1.2.1 Anxieties of His Ability as a Husband
In the family relationship, Caldwell seems to be caught in a cycle of anxieties and alienation. The reproduction of capital puts every individual into competition. This competition makes individuals feel insecure. Anxieties compel him to look for material values. Consequently, this search for material values may lead to a neglect of communication within the family. And anxieties are the result of capital’s emphasis on efficiency. Emotional communication is the only way to relieve anxieties. And the lack of communication makes him even more anxious. In the end, Caldwell always has doubts about his ability as a husband. He always thinks he is unwanted. This thought causes him to refuse to communicate with his family. There’s no doubt that what he does hurts his family. However, his original intention is to give his family a better life. His alienation causes great damage to his family relationship.
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Chapter Two Causes for Caldwell’s Alienation
2.1 Lack of Self-Identity
Caldwell’s somatization disorder is caused by his inability to adapt reality. Caldwell’s fantasy of reality stems from his inability to face reality. In other words, the concrete manifestations of Caldwell’s self-alienation lies in powerlessness. Without a sense of identity, the individual feels powerless. Fromm emphasizes the importance of a sense of identity. He thinks that the human need for sense of identity is a very basic one. “Man’s life cannot ‘be lived’ by repeating the pattern of his species; he must live. Man is the only animal that can be bored, that can feel evicted from paradise. Man is the only animal who finds his own existence a problem which he has to solve and from which he cannot escape.” (Fromm, 2008: 23) The individual must realize that he is unique. If he loses this sense of identity and uniqueness, he runs the risk of alienation.
Therefore, individuals go to great lengths to find a sense of identity as a necessity. Individuals can realize that he is the center of his own power and the subject of action. They can experience themselves in this way. In creative activities, individuals can feel their power.
Caldwell’s loss of identity leads to his sense of powerlessness. He always tries to run away from problems. In the novel, Caldwell can also choose to take the initiative to change the situation. But, he gives up that option. Caldwell always has a negative attitude towards reality.
In the first chapter of the novel, Vera tried to seduce Caldwell. Because Caldwell couldn’t stand the temptation, he couldn’t face himself. Caldwell couldn’t refuse Vera or reflect on himself, but he chose to escape. When Vera denigrated the people in the town, Caldwell agreed with her. However, he remained silent.
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2.2 Negligence of Productive Love
In the family relationship, Caldwell’s alienated manifestation is the result of his lack of emotional needs. The need for relationships is the most basic spiritual need of human beings. If this need is not met, the individual will experience anxieties. Fromm points out that the need for relationships mainly refers to the need for people to connect themselves with the outside world. As isolated little individuals, people realize their own weakness and ignorance, feeling of loneliness, the inevitability of life and death. To get rid of this state, individuals need to forge a new connection with society and other individuals. However, relationships are not always beneficial and healthy. For individuals, building relationships is about overcoming feelings of separateness. But when the individual becomes part of the connection, he is no longer independent and complete. Therefore, Fromm believes that only love can constitute a healthy relationship. In relationships imbues with love, individuals can maintain their integrity and independence.
Fromm gives the correct concept of love: “Productive love always implies a syndrome of attitudes; that of care, responsibility, respect and knowledge.’ If I love, I care—that is, I am actively concerned with the other person’s growth and happiness.” (Fromm, 2009: 33) Fromm points out the key to productive love. People should respect the real needs of others and treat them equally. People’s opinions of others should not contain any prejudice. On the contrary, the wrong kind of love is narcissism. “Narcissism is the essence of all severe psychic pathology. For the narcissistically involved person, there is only one reality, that of his own thought processes, feelings and needs. The world outside is not experienced or perceived objectively, i.e. as existing in its own terms, conditions and needs.” (Fromm, 2009: 34) The narcissist’s world is narrow and they can only speak from their own point of view. They can’t see the world correctly.
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Chapter Three Caldwell’s Methods of Resisting Alienation .................... 36
3.1 Reconstructing Identity Cognition ............................ 36
3.1.1 Assuming Social Responsibilities ......................... 37
3.1.2 Confronting the Reality ......................... 38
Conclusion ................................ 47
Chapter Three Caldwell’s Methods of Resisting Alienation
3.1 Reconstructing Identity Cognition
The manifestation of losing identity recognition is the loss of life motivation. For alienated individuals, they cannot feel their own mental power in their actions. Their actions are not based on their own rationality. The disconnect between the individual and the sense of identity leads to a feeling of powerlessness.
Therefore, rebuilding a sense of identity is one of the reasons for Caldwell’s success in combating alienation. According to Fromm’s theory, a sense of identity is a necessity for the individual. “Man, being torn away from nature, being endowed with rationality and
imagination, needs to form a concept of himself, needs to say and to feel: I am I. Because he is not lived, but lives, because he has lost the original unity with nature, has to make decisions, is aware of himself and of his neighbor as different persons, he must be able to sense himself as the subject of his actions.” (Fromm, 2008: 59) As mentioned above, individuals need to feel that they are the subject of their actions.
Caldwell’s key to rebuilding a sense of identity is to feel spiritually powerful. On one hand, taking on more social responsibilities allows Caldwell to feel his subjectivity and spiritual power. Caldwell has the ability to overcome adversity. As a result, he no longer has to suppress his pain. Caldwell’s somatization disorder also disappears. On the other hand, Caldwell always seek to escape from reality through fantasy. But this fantasy is useless, and running away from reality changes nothing. After assuming social responsibility and facing reality, Caldwell feels his own subjectivity and sense of identity.
英语论文参考
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Conclusion
As one of the most outstanding contemporary American writers, John Updike has high accomplishment in writing skills, literary genres and narrative skills. And he also has great achievements in describing contemporary social phenomena and typical characters. Today, many ordinary individuals are facing various difficulties. In order to cope with the difficulties, they have to force themselves to adapt to social reality. The forced changes cause intense conflict between their subjective consciousness and the demands of society. If individuals choose to submit to the social norm, they will gradually lose their senses of self. Behaviors and consequences of behaviors become their masters of the individual. The loss of self-mind means alienation. Alienated individuals no longer feel their own power and will. They are no longer the center of their own world. The alienation has emerged as a significant issue that contemporary people have to confront. In The Centaur, Caldwell is a typical epitome of this phenomenon. Like many individuals in modern society, he also endures negative impacts of alienation.
Psychologist Erich Fromm notices the prevalent psychological problems in modern society. He conducts in-depth research on the basis of his predecessors and he points out that alienated individuals have distinct characteristics. They are pathological. Individuals who experience alienation exhibit distinct characteristics. They are often described as having pathological tendencies, marked by pervasive feelings of insecurity, powerlessness, and anxieties. Alienation has many negative effects on individuals’ lives. Initially, facing life difficult to change, individuals will feel powerless. The feeling of powerlessness may lead to an individual’s somatization disorders and escaping reality through fantasy. Additionally, individuals experience anxieties about their own value. Then, individuals react negatively to others and seek external authorities to fill their inner voids. Fromm believes that alienation could be overcome. First, by establishing a sense of self-identity, individuals feel their own sense of subjectivity and power. Individuals who gain a sense of identity can get rid of powerlessness originating from being unable to change their life. Second, by building relationships full of love with others, individuals are freed from anxieties concerning their own worth. Love is the only right relationship, which makes individuals transcend themselves.
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