Regarded as an artistic genius

Philip Roth earned a place beside W. B. Yeats and Henry James for his aesthetic relentlessness. As a great modernist novelist

he created masterpiece after masterpiece

many of which deal with the conflicts of an individual with his family

society

conventions and his self ego. This paper focuses on the tragic fate of the protagonist Coleman Silk in The Human Stain

who struggled in conflict under the impact of society

beliefs and prejudices

from two aspects

the preface of the novel and the implication of his name. In the conclusion part

it is pointed out that the desire for freedom and the aspiration for success impelled Coleman to re-establish his identity and in his faked identity

with his wisdom and power

he spent his life in a conflicting struggle; but his shattered life was an actual revelation that he was a tragic hero in a contrived myth

which was inevitable.