In Quest Of The Genuine Childhood Innocence

The Child in Time marks the beginning of the British writer Ian Russell Mc Ewan’s reflective writing. The novel,which won the Whitbread Award, focuses on looking for a lost child and conveys implied meaning. As a metaphor, “Child” symbolizes childhood innocence. The capitalist society represses human innocent nature. So the loss of the child symbolizes the loss of childhood innocence, and looking for the lost child is retrieving the lost childhood innocence and the spiritual sustenance to resist alienation of the adult world. Based on Sartrian Existentialist theories, this thesis reveals the genuine childhood innocence by making a contrast between the two protagonists, Stephen and Darke, in terms of their different approaches to childhood innocence.The process of the protagonists’ quest of childhood innocence mainly unfolds as follows: firstly, childhood innocence is alienated by the Other— the patriarchy and the government authority; secondly, the protagonists indulge in the illusion of the idealized romantic childishness; finally, the protagonists’ alternative of getting out of confusion ends up with two different results—Stephen’s regaining childhood innocence after awakening and Darke’s falling into disorientation and committing suicide.By comparison, the thesis proves the existentialist significance of Stephen’s final choice. At the beginning, they are alienated by the Other. Yet later, they are negatively indulged in their imaginary world in order to escape from reality. Falling into Bad Faith causes their essence to precede existence. In the end, instead of getting trapped like Darke, Stephen determines his own essence by making free choice and taking responsibility.The thesis analyzes the consequent mental confusion when adult’s childhood innocence is alienated by the Other and idealized by subjectivity. It is revealed that childhood innocence is neither an object to indoctrinate, nor a perfect ideal to worship, but the authentic existence of human nature. The thesis finds out that childhood innocence can be kept and the peace of mind retrieved only by shaking off Bad Faith, making free choice and realizing “existence precedes essence”.