Abstract: This thesis is written with the purpose of exploring the Invisible Man’s search for his ethnic identity in the framework of existentialism. It starts with a brief introduction of the author and relevant researches concerning this particular novel. Then some existential terms will be explained, namely “existence precedes essence”, “alienation”, “facticity”, “absurdity”, “free choice”, which will make the theoretical foundation for the following discussion. The body of this paper will focus on the invisible man’s quest for his ethnic identity, which consists of three mains parts. The first part analyzes the protagonist’s loss of ethnic identity, both passively and positively. The second part interprets the protagonist’s reconstruction of his ethnic identity, and in the last part he finally regains his ethnic identity. The conclusion will give a brief summary of this thesis. Though a number of scholars have already conducted researches on this book from various perspectives, such as the initiation theme, analysis of writing techniques, racialism and so on, this thesis will analyze with existentialism the protagonist’s ethnic identity quest, as people are more likely to lose themselves in the fast-changing modern society. |
