Ethical Conflict and Identity Crisis: A Postmodern Ethical Perspective on Steppenwolf

Abstract

In Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf, the protagonist Harry Haller, a middle-aged intellectual living on the margins of modern society, suffers from profound inner turmoil and spiritual confusion. Trapped between self-exploration and resistance to reality, he becomes deeply entangled in ethical dilemmas and an identity crisis. Adopting Zygmunt Bauman’s theory of postmodern ethics as the analytical framework, this paper focuses on the individual’s psychological struggles and quest for self-identity within a context marked by social fragmentation and moral pluralism. The analysis centers on how Harry Haller experiences identity disorientation in a fractured modern world, how he reconstructs the self through ethical interaction with the Other, and ultimately how he comes to accept multiple identities by transcending inner dualities. Through this exploration, the study aims to provide a critical reflection on modern ethical responsibility, the construction of subjectivity, and the relationship with the Other, offering valuable theoretical insight for ongoing literary ethical criticism.