Anxiety In Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint

After World War II,there emerged many excellent Jewish writers,such as Saul Bellow,Philip Roth,Bernard Malamud and so on.They all occupy important position in American literature.Having observed their works,readers may find out that there are differences in content but their respective characters have strong Jewish features.As for Bellow and Malamud,they emphasize the Jewish identity and pay more attention to Jews' livings and morality.While Roth carries out irony and criticism to Jewish tradition by shaping his characters.Additionally,these images reflect a similar phenomenon in different levels: their rooted Jewishness was impacted and assimilated by the ubiquitous American mainstream culture and values,then identity puzzlement and anxiety appear.The study of character's anxiety in Roth's work can make Jews' mentality clear during their wanderings in America as well as explore the distinction,connection,conflict,and combination between Jewish traditions and American culture,which is of great significance for the research of Jewish literature and every nation's identity.It is also meaningful for the study of contemporary American Jews' living condition and development.Philip Roth is one of the most excellent contemporary Jewish American novelists.He gained great fame with his first book Goodbye,Columbus(1959),which won the National Book Award in 1960.Compared with his contemporary writers,Philip Roth shows much concern about the Jewish in his works.On the one hand,he shows great respect and care for Jewish culture and tradition.On the other hand,he tries hard to seek for the approval of the mainsgtream culture in American society.Therefore,there never lacks Jewish's psychological descriptions in his works.It is just his unique characters he created and unusual plots he organized that caused wide attention and dispute to his works in American literature.Besides,the subjects Roth concerned are sensitive and sharp.For example,he involves a Jewish youth's sexual adventures in Portnoy's Complaint,he also sets American Civil RightsMovement and Anti-cultural Movement as the background of this novel,as well as the environment his characters live.Portnoy's anxiety and sexual adventure expressed in the novel reflect a characteristic of Jews' troubled situation in 1960 s,which stands for one of the most turbulent periods in American history and is full of instability and flamboyance.In 1969,the publishment of t Portnoy's Complaint caused a sensation throughout the American literary world,which won the international reputation for Roth.This autobiographical novel is about the recalls and monologues of a30-year-old Alexander Portnoy from his childhood.As a member of New York City Hall,he has a successful career,while his life is full of complaints.On the surface,Portnoy's complains his flabby father and domineering mother,as well as Jewish canons and disciplines rooted in his family.But Portnoy did not stop complaining after moving out of his parents' residence or abandoning the Jewish rules and precepts.Obviously,it is his anxiety behind his constant complaints.The whole thesis includes three parts: the first part is an introduction to the writer and the novel.It also includes the statement of research problem,a literature review,main points of thesis,summaries for every chapter and significance of this thesis.The second part can be divided into three chapters,which analyzes the reasons and expressions of protagonist's anxiety over different aspects: anxiety in his growth stages,anxiety in his sexual addiction,and anxiety in morality.The last part comes to a conclusion of the thesis.In a word,this thesis,by a comprehensive examination of Portnoy's anxiety,is aimed at digging out the deeper meaning of the novel itself and makes readers know more about Philip Roth's concern for the Jews' existence predicament,especially the general anxiety in their consciousness.