Volume III Issue I January-March 2023

Name of Author : Dr.P.Parthiban

Title of the paper : Rootless in a Crowded World: Existential Alienation and Moral Awakening in Arun Joshis The Foreigner

Abstract: Arun Joshis The Foreigner presents a modern urban world in which mobility, material comfort, and casual relationships fail to offer inner anchorage. The novels protagonist, Sindi Oberoi, passes through Nairobi, London, and New Delhi, yet remains estranged from every space and from his own emotions. A posture of detachment becomes his guiding principle, shaping his relationships with Babu, June, and Mr. Khemka and leading to moral failure. The present article studies The Foreigner as a narrative of existential alienation that gradually moves toward ethical responsibility. The discussion focuses on three related aspects Sindis self description as a foreigner everywhere, the role of death and guilt in dismantling his philosophy of detachment, and the final suggestion of a more engaged mode of life. This study employs textual analysis, which is supported by critical readings that place Joshi within Indian English fiction concerned with spiritual emptiness and moral choice. The article argues that the novel portrays foreignness not only as a political or cultural condition but as a deeper spiritual homelessness, and that Sindis hesitant movement toward responsibility signals Joshis hope for a more accountable self in a rapidly changing world.

Keywords : alienation; existentialism; detachment; moral responsibility

DOI :

Page No. : 152-155