Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Adams, Robert Don

Abstract

While literary critics acknowledge the amoral and criminal behavior of Thomas Ripley, the antihero in Patricia Highsmith’s Ripliad series, many critics fail to recognize Highsmith’s parables in connection to ethical responsibility to the Other and guilt because of falling into complete despair. By examining Ripley’s character through an ethical lens, I contend that Ripley’s inability to connect with others disallows him from engaging in moral behavior that would establish basic responsibility for others. This results in a repetitive cycle of criminality that leads to inner turmoil and a sickness of the spirit. This thesis analyzes the parables in Highsmith’s novels by applying Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics in relation with Soren Kierkegaard’s conception of human existence. Ripley lives a lonely existence because he is unaware of his ethical dilemma, covets wealth at all costs, and fails to recognize that his division from society is at the root of his infinite despair.

Extent

75 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00013695

Format

pdf

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