Title: Philip Roth's View of Death

Abstract: In his later works, Philip Roth shows his preference for the theme of death, which is closely related to his cultural background and personal experience. His deep thinking about death is similar to that of Ernest Becker, an American cultural anthropologist. They both believe that death is inevitable. People generally feel fear when facing death and resist the approach of death. When facing the threat of death, one always tries to escape it through Yi Qing (transference of feelings). Whether it is in Roth’s own reflection on life, old age, sickness, and death in real life, or in the descriptions of them in his novels, he shows a calm, positive, and optimistic attitude toward aging and death. What’s more, Roth achieves a transcendence over death with his lifelong writing experience and his relentless pursuit of art.

Keywords: Philip Roth, view of death, Yi Qing (transference of feelings)

Author: Wenyu Xie, Associate Professor, Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China; Rou Li, Foreign Studies College, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan, China.