| The Kitchen God’s Wife is the contemporary Chinese American writer,Amy Tan’s another masterpiece after the success of The Joy Luck Club.In the novel,the Chinese myth in The Kitchen God’s Wife is used to reflect the image of the heroine,Winnie,who is silent and alienated in the patriarchal society and finally realizes the personal freedom,happiness and personality independence,which deeply reflect the spiritual alienation and salvation.Existentialism emerged in Germany in the early 20 th century,spreading to France during the Second World War,and develops deeply in France,which permeates the field of literature,and then the existentialism is born.Based on the existentialism theory,this paper attempts to interpret the fate of the heroine in The Kitchen God’s Wife from the two important concepts of alienation and authenticity.Through the interpretation of existentialism in this novel,the author hopes to enlighten the people who have lost themselves in the dual cultural background or in the modern society,and let people think about the meaning of life as well as explore the true meaning of living in the fate of ups and downs.The opening of this thesis includes a brief introduction to the author,the novel The Kitchen God’s Wife,the research status of the novel at home and abroad,and the significance of the thesis.The body part first introduces the origin and influence of existentialism theory,and further explains the two concepts of existentialism,“alienation” and “authenticity”,and then analyzes the two stages of Winnie’s alienation and authenticity.In the first stage,this section focuses on the alienation of Winnie under the influence of the surrounding environment.Under the background of patriarchy,Winnie’s alienation is reflected in her family life in her childhood as well as in her subsequent marriage.In order to escape the status quo,Winnie chooses to endure,however,the choice makes her even more loss of self,and exacerbates her alienation.In the second stage,this section analyzes the pursuit of “authenticity” in the process of finding the meaning of self-existence.In the end,she finds the way to—live in the alienated world＿to pursuit of authenticity.Finally,the arguments of this paper are presented,and the existentialism theory in The Kitchen God’s Wife has important guiding significance for human survival. |
