earticle

영어

Exit Ghost is one of Philip Roth’s most interesting works in that Nathan Zuckerman, Philip Roth’s ‘alter ego’ who kept a certain imaginary distance from the author and closely traced his personal life and history as a Jew American, makes his final appearance. This study examines the novel’s characters’ reactions to the American political and social atmosphere in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks and the successful 2004 re-election of George W. Bush, who maintained a hardline stance on Middle East policy. In particular, a young intellectual couple, Jamie and her husband Billy, criticize the Bush administration strongly and express a strong desire for change in American society. In Exit Ghost, Zuckerman is now an old man, sapped by illness, doubting his own talent, but determined to never give up his mission as a writer. Through tracing the anecdote of Amy and Richard Kliman, this paper tries to reveal Zuckerman’s attachment and anguish of life. This study argues that Zuckerman’s choice in the last part of Ghost Exit to ‘become a ghost’, that is, to live a life that disappears forever, is an expression of the author’s dilemma that he cannot express the truth or suggest a direction for life in the age of terror and treachery. In other words, Zuckerman was disillusioned with real politics and skeptical of the idea for the establishment of the United States, so he expelled himself and wanted to remain as an eternal ghost with a powerful message strategically as a writer.