白先勇小說與《紅樓夢》的關係相當深遠，不只是寫作技巧筆法方面受到影響而已，更多的是人生觀，也就是對人生感悟與思考方式的啟發。本文採取的方式是觀察白先勇小說各階段的特色與演變，並試圖解釋《紅樓夢》在其中扮演的角色；而白先勇各階段的小說與他的身世遭遇、人生觀感、身份認同的問題皆無法切割。在本文中，白先勇將小說分四個階段：一、寂寞的青少年；二、孤獨的異鄉人；三、雙重的想像與聲音；四、認同與回歸。除了某些人物、對話、環境、動作、服飾的描寫相仿之外，《紅樓夢》影響白先勇寫作最深的是感嘆人生的癡迷眷深但一切總成空（好了歌）之主題思想的發揚，以及後四十回衝突激烈的戲劇化情節之安排手法。

Red Chamber Dream has a far-reaching influence on Bai Xian-yong, not only in the technique of writing, but also in the outlook on life. This paper will make a survey of the characteristics and development of different stages of Bai's novels, and try to explain the role Red Chamber Dream plays in them. Bai's novels maintain flesh-and-blood ties with his life experience, his outlook on life and his identification. Bai's novels can be divided into 4 stages: 1. a lonely teenager, 2. a solitary stranger, 3. twofold imagination and sound, 4. identification and return. The most influential parts of Red Chamber Dream are the Song of Hao and Liao, and the dramatic means and skills of the last 40 chapters.