Michael K’s Survival Predicaments: An Existential Interpretation of Life and Times of Michael K

John Maxwell Coetzee, recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, stands as the first author to win the Booker Prize twice. One of his representative works, Life and Times of Michael K, narrates the journey of a solitary gardener struggling to survive in a South African town ravaged by war and apartheid. With assistance of existential theory, this thesis aims to examine the Michael K’s survival predicaments and pursuit of freedom in terms of absurdity, alienation, and freedom of choice in Life and Times of Michael K. The novel reflects Coetzee’s contemplation on the absurdity and contingency of the South African, the alienation and predicaments of characters, and Michael K’s choice of the freedom. Aligned with Sartre’s existentialism, which emphasizes free choice and the quest for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world, this paper analyzes existential themes in Life and Times of Michael K from three aspects. A conclusion is reached that although Michael K lives in adversity, he does not succumb to it but instead courageously takes action and defies his fate. This study not only provides a comprehensive evaluation of Life and Times of Michael K but also deeply understands Coetzee’s reflection on the survival conditions of ordinary people.