米奇·阿尔博姆《你在天堂里遇见的五个人》中的存在主义_英语论文

Albom’s Existential Ideas in The Five People You Meet in Heaven

摘要

米奇·阿尔博姆是美国著名专栏作家。《你在天堂里遇见的五个人》是其在2003年出版的一部小说。作为一部情感疗伤佳作，该作品于2004年年底被改编成电视电影，热播全美。作者以小说主人公爱迪的死亡结局为开端，以爱迪在天堂的际遇为主线，用平常的故事和平淡的语言讲述了爱迪在天堂的经历，并由此回顾生前，感悟出深刻的人生哲理。

《你在天堂里遇见的五个人》自出版以来，国内外评论家和学者都从不同的视角对小说进行分析，解读和研究，并取得了丰硕的成果。这其中有侧重于作品价值和意义的探讨;有关于作品主题的思考，认为死亡不是终点而是开始。但是，从存在主义的视角对作品进行研究却不是很多，缺少对人与人之间相互联系，互相影响，密不可分的必要性的深度解读。本课题主要分析了作品中的存在主义思想，探讨主人公进入天堂之后遇见的与他生前息息相关然而自己熟悉或陌生的一些人的故事。蓝皮人和小姑娘带他回忆童年，面对自我;妻子和父亲让他领悟了爱情与亲情的伟大，它们永远不会逝去。这些人让爱迪明白了生命是相互关联的，就像河底的鹅卵石，一个牵连一个，死亡把一个人带走的同时，也留下了另一个人，在被带走和留下的短短距离中，生命改变了存在的载体，你的生命由他人为你延续。阿尔博姆通过爱迪在天堂的经历意欲阐明爱将会永远存在以及自我救赎对每个人的必要性。

关键词：阿尔博姆；《你在天堂里遇见的五个人》；爱迪；存在主义

Abstract

Mitch Albom is a well-known American columnist, and The Five People You Meet in Heaven is one of his novels published in 2003. As an emotional healing masterpiece, this excellent work has been made into movies and TV series by the end of 2004, which hit the whole America. Albom starts the story with the death of the protagonist, Eddie, and tells the story of Eddie’s visit to the heaven as the main line. He uses common stories and plain words to give an account of Eddie’s experiences   in heaven, which gives Eddie another chance to recall the days before his death and gain his philosophical understanding of life.

Literary critics and scholars home and abroad have been taking great interest in studying The Five People You Meet in Heaven since its publication and have achieved considerable progress. Some of them study the value of the book, and the writing techniques. There are also a few discussions on the themes of the work, holding the view that death is not the end but the beginning. However, there are very few discussions on the perspective of existentialism obviously reflected in the book and almost none touches the topics such as the connections between people and the close reading of how we influence other people whom we barely know about. The present paper analyzes the existential ideas, which explores the inspiration that Eddie drew after meeting with the people in heaven. Blue man reminds him of his childhood; Tala, the little girl, makes him face himself; father and wife enable him to realize the greatness of love, which he believes will never fade away. Through Eddie's experiences in heaven, the novelist aims to convey that love exists forever and self-redemption is always necessary for everyone.

Key words: Mitch Albom; The Five People You Meet in Heaven; Eddie; existentialism

Contents

Acknowledgementsi

Abstract & Key words in Englishii

Abstract & Key words in Chineseiii 

Introduction 1

1.  A brief introduction to existentialism2

  1.1 Martin Heldegger’s existential theory.2

  1.2 A general view of Albom’s existential thought 4

2. Albom’s existential ideas reflected in The Five People You Meet in Heaven4

  2.1 Eddie’s epiphany through captain’s and Tala’s death.5

  2.2 Eddie’s initiation through his father’s sternness and wife’s love6

3.  Revelations of Eddie’s experience in heaven8

  3.1 Truth of love 9

  3.2 Necessity of self-redemption 9

Conclusion 10

Notes 12

References 13