摘要：

《一个人的朝圣》以描写为主，讲述了哈罗德只身探望患病的老友奎妮的遥远旅途的故事，给人以强烈的画面感。小说语言朴实凝练，活泼生动，深刻细致地刻画了人物的不同性格和特征。本论文从萨特存在主义理论角度，对蕾秋·乔伊斯的《一个人的朝圣》进行解读，并从“荒谬”、“他人”和“选择”这三个基本概念进行分析。鉴于以往学者多从翻译实践角度对《一个人的朝圣》进行研究，而从存在主义角度对此部作品的探讨较少，所以作者选取存在主义作为本论文的理论支撑，以探求出作品中所展现的荒谬与自由选择。最终揭示蕾秋·乔伊斯通过描述主人公哈罗德·弗莱的复杂经历以及所作的斗争，激励读者勇敢地面对生活中的荒谬、冲突和责任，并通过自身不断的反省和努力，作出自己的选择，追寻和实现生命的真正意义。

关键词：存在主义；荒谬；自由选择；责任

Abstract:

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a story of Harold who goes to visit his dying friend Queenie on foot, mainly by description, which makes the whole story capable of creating mental pictures. The language of the novel is plain, refined, and vivid, which emphasize the different features and personalities of the characters. And this paper analyzes Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry from the perspective of Sartre’s existentialism with three basic concepts, absurdity, complex relationship with others and freedom of choice. There are some researches about analyzing this book from the angle of the relevant theories in translation, but few of them are from the perspective of existentialism, so this paper develops its content based on the theory of existentialism to explore the absurdity and freedom of choice reflected in the novel. The aim of this paper is to reveal Rachel Joyce’s intention that encouraging readers to face the absurdity，conflicts and responsibilities in life bravely through the description of the protagonist’s experience and struggle. Most importantly, we need to make our own choices by continuous self-reflection and endeavor so as to seek and realize life meanings.

Key words: existentialism; absurdity; freedom of choice; responsibility

1. Introduction
Rachel Joyce is a famous British author. She has written more than twenty original afternoon plays for BBC Radio 4, and major adaptations for the Classic Series and Woman’s Hour, as well as a TV drama adaptation for BBC 2. In 2007 she won the Tinniswood Award for best radio play. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is Rachel Joyce’s first novel that published in 2012, which has been sold in more than forty countries, and it is also listed in “The Man Booker Prize 2012”. In the year of 2012, she was given the “New Writer of the Year” award by the National Book Awards for the excellent novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Rachel Joyce’s second novel, Perfect, was published on 4th July, 2013 to critical acclaim.