While literary critics acknowledge the amoral and criminal behavior of Thomas Ripley, the antihero in Patricia Highsmith’s Ripliad series, many critics fail to recognize Highsmith’s parables in connection to ethical responsibility to the Other and guilt because of falling into complete despair. By examining Ripley’s character through an ethical lens, I contend that Ripley’s inability to connect with others disallows him from engaging in moral behavior that would establish basic responsibility for others. This results in a repetitive cycle of criminality that leads to inner turmoil and a sickness of the spirit. This thesis analyzes the parables in Highsmith’s novels by applying Emmanuel Levinas’s ethics in relation with Soren Kierkegaard’s conception of human existence. Ripley lives a lonely existence because he is unaware of his ethical dilemma, covets wealth at all costs, and fails to recognize that his division from society is at the root of his infinite despair. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (MA)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

(in English): This work will consist in an analysis of the antiheroes in modern French literature, especially in "Roman Noir". Before treating the topic of antiheroes in mystery fiction we will describe the history of this type of protagonists in world literatures, from the classic literature to the modern one. To be able to understand the problematics of antiheroes in Roman Noir, we will also describe the history of French mystery fiction. Regarding the analysis of antiheroes in this sub- genre of crime fiction, we will start with the character of Maigret. Although the novels of G. Simenon are not real Romans Noirs, we consider them as a "passage" of the detective novel - in the traditional sense - to the Roman Noir. Furthermore, in this work, we will analyze characters of real Romans Noirs; first, the crude and surprising behavior of Nestor Burma, a famous character of Léo Malet, then the mediocrity of protagonists of the novels Morgue pleine and Le Petit Bleu de la côte ouest of Jean-Patrick Manchette, and finally, Fabio Montale, an atypical investigator from a novel series of the late twentieth century written by Jean-Claude Izzo.