Abstract This thesis mainly makes an analysis of the “anti-hero” in Alan Sillitoe’s novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning from the perspective of existentialism. It makes an emphasis on the text mainly from the following four sections. The first part focuses on Arthur Seaton’s pursuit of essence. His pursuit of essence implies Sartre’s existentialism in that “existence precedes essence”; the second part employs Sartre’s existentialism “the world is absurd, and life is painful” into exploring Arthur Seaton’s absurd life; the third part borrows the “free choice” of Sartre’s existentialism to analyze Arthur Seaton’s free choice; the final part uses Sartre’s “hell is other people” to analyze Arthur Seaton’s hellish interpersonal relationship. The analysis of “anti-hero” not only enables readers to have a better understanding of the social background and people’s living conditions at that time, but also warns us people who live in contemporary society that we should have definite goals and beliefs. 53807

Keywords: Alan Sillitoe; Saturday Night and Sunday Morning; existentialism; antihero

摘要本文从存在主义的视角探讨艾伦·西利托的作品《周六晚与周日晨》中的主人公亚瑟·西顿的“反英雄”人物形象，主要从四个部分来探讨：第一部分是主人公亚瑟·西顿的追求本质之旅，他的追求本质暗合了萨特存在主义的第一要义“存在先于本质”；第二部分是用萨特存在主义的“世界是荒谬的，人生是痛苦的”来探讨亚瑟·西顿的荒谬人生；第三部分从萨特存在主义的“自由选择”分析主人公亚瑟·西顿的自由选择；第四部分运用萨特存在主义的“他人是地狱”分析主人公亚瑟·西顿地狱般的人际关系。“反英雄”人物的研究分析使得读者对小说当时的社会背景和人们的生存状态有所了解，同时也希望给当代人予以启示——人一定要有正确的人生目标和信仰。

毕业论文关键词：艾伦·西利托；《周六晚与周日晨》；存在主义；反英雄

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Alan Sillitoe and His Works 1

1.2 Existentialism and Anti-hero 2

2. Literature Review 5

3. “Anti-hero” in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning 7

3.1 Arthur Seaton’s Pursuit of Essence 7

3.2 Arthur Seaton’s Absurd Life 8

3.3 Arthur Seaton’s Free Choice 10

3.4 Arthur Seaton’s Hellish Interpersonal Relationship 11

4. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction 

1.1 Alan Sillitoe and His Works

Alan Sillitoe is a famous British writer, and he is one of the representatives of “angry young men” of the 1950s. His two most famous masterpieces are the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and the short story The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. In his works, Alan Sillitoe depicts the blue-collar workers’ discontent and wrath towards the reality and the authorities. These two masterpieces were both adapted into films, and the films were very well received.  The novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is his debut. It immediately caused a sensation upon publication and later it won that year’s British novelist debut award. With the success of this work, Sillitoe became the first post-war British writer who reflected everyday life and emotional and psychological changes in working-class.