Neo-humanism and the Modern World: A Philosophical Perspective through the Lens of Philip Roth's Everyman

Abstract

Everyman by Philip Roth is a realistic work that covers the life of an unnamed Jewish American from childhood to adulthood in a bildungsroman style, slowly revealing mundaneness in every element of life and potentially being related to "Everyman" who exists in the world. An individual's self-centered focus and an abundance of ideas that examine his very existence and the proportion of significance he has had in the lives of those around him relate to the exciting phases of life that parallel the universal narrative of marriage, divorce, betrayal, sex, regret, emptiness, introspection, anxiety, ageing illness, and death. Everyman by Philip Roth makes many allusions to the memories and experiences of immigrants. It speaks to people who live lives torn between the past and the present, between freedom and religion, and between finding transcendence through humanism rather than via faith in God. It also talks on the ideological conflicts that have developed between dads and sons as a result of contemporary upheavals. The potential conclusion of the study is that modern humanism is founded on this through negation in the creation and consumption of texts, on the notion that human civilization is not monolithic but rather multifaceted and dynamic, meaning that understanding it requires a long gaze through immense time and the novel perspectives of modernity.