An Analysis Of Natural Emotion And Moral Emotion In The Dying Animal

Philip Roth(1933-2018)is a well-known contemporary American novelist who has won the Pulitzer Prize,the National Book Award,and the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement in fiction.Published in 2001,The Dying Animal is the final installment of the Kepesh trilogy by Philip Roth.It is about the unusual erotic relationship between a professor in his sixties and his student.It is Roth’s yet another daring literary experiment.Guided by ethical literary criticism put forward by Professor Nie Zhenzhao,this thesis interprets the natural emotion and moral emotion of the three main characters in the novel and explores the ethical enlightenment as well as moral teaching contained in it.First of all,this thesis selects the narrator of the novel,Kepesh,as the object of analysis.The thesis interprets Kepesh’s views on life and desire under the impact of the ethical environment and analyzes that as a husband and teacher,how his choice to submit to natural emotion has affected his family and his personal life.Secondly,this thesis explores the son,Kenny’s struggle between natural emotion and moral emotion.The blood connection between father and son makes Kenny produce a natural dependence on Kepesh,but his moral emotion leads him to condemn his father’s indulgence.Kenny wants to be a responsible husband but cheats in middle age,thus causing ethical disorder in his family.Finally,this thesis analyzes the moral emotion of the heroine Consuela.Even in the free environment of the United States,she still respects Cuban traditions,attaches great importance to family affection,treats love rationally,and bravely pursues the fit of spirit and soul rather than the pleasure of sex.Consuela’s breast removal at the end of the novel symbolizes the author’s criticism of American sexual freedom:love is not equal to desire,it also requires the participation of morality and responsibility.Roth’s works have a clear ethical orientation,showing not only the individual’s choice between desire and morality but also interpreting the conflicting ethical concepts of tradition and modernity.Through Kepesh’s monologue,Roth describes the struggle between love and desire,the thinking of body and spirit,which implies the author’s call for beautiful humanity and the desire for the return of true love.This thesis analyzes the natural and moral emotions of the characters in The Dying Animal from the perspective of ethical literary criticism,providing some ethical enlightenment for dealing with love and desire,family and responsibility in contemporary society.