《只争朝夕》用细腻和精妙的笔触描绘了犹太裔美国人汤米·威尔汉姆在现代社会中孤独,迷茫无助的生活状态。这部小说着力叙述了威尔汉姆可怕的一天及其对之前生活经历的回想。在这部小说中,主人公汤米·威尔姆,大学时受骗于星探,中年失业,与妻子分居,投资失败,分文无存,并且孤立无援,连父亲也不伸出援手。此论文运用异化理论对威尔汉姆与主流社会价值的异化,与其父亲和妻子的异化,以及与自身理性的异化进行分析,试图得出汤米·威尔汉姆悲惨生活的原因。 “Striving for the Day of the Day” depicts the Jewish American Tommy Wilhelm in loneliness and confusion in a modern society with delicate and exquisite brush strokes. The novel focuses on Wilhelm’s dreaded day and its remembrance of previous life experiences. In the novel, Tommy Wilm, the protagonist, is deceived by the scout at university, joins middle-aged unemployed and separates his wife from failing in his investment. He has no choice but to spare himself, even his father does not lend a helping hand. This dissertation uses alienation theory to analyze the dissimilation of Wilhelm and the mainstream social values, the alienation from his father and wife, and the alienation of his own rationality in order to find out the cause of the tragic life of Tommy Wilhelm.