小镇畸人中的人物分析.docx

小镇畸人中的人物分析.docx

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小镇畸人中的人物分析

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Iwishtoexpressmysincerethankstolotsofpeoplewhohavecontributedtothisthesis.

First,IshouldthankalltheteachersofForeignLanguageDepartmentfortheirexcellentandpatientguidanceduringmystudyinZaozhuangUniversity.MysincereanddeepappreciationalsogoestomysupervisorGeXiaoxiaforherconstantencouragementandvaluableguidanceforme.Shehaswalkedmethroughallthestagesofthewritingofthisthesis.Withoutherconsistentandpatientinstruction,thisthesiscouldnothavereacheditspresentform.

Meanwhile,mythankswouldgotomybelovedfamilyfortheirconsiderationandsupportallthroughtheseyears.Withoutmyparents’patienceandlove,Icannotendurethehardshipandpaininmylife.

Besides,IamgratefultoallmyfellowclassmatesandroommatesfortheirhelpandcarewhenIhavedifficultiesinwritingthethesis.

ABSTRACT

AndersonSherwood（1876-1941）isoneofthemostinfluentialAmericanwritersintheearlytwentiethcentury.HeearnsanimportantplaceinAmericanliteratureforhisfamousshortstories.Winesburg,OhioisAnderson’smostsuccessfulandfamousworkthatconsistsoftwentyfiveinterrelatedbutindependentstoriesconcerningtownspeopletermedbyAndersonas“grotesques”.

Thispaperconsistsoffivechapters.Chapteroneintroducestheauthorandthenovel.Chaptertwoanalyzestheimagesofthegrotesquepeoplewhoarepainfullystrugglingintheplightofloneliness,frustrationandrepression.Thisanalysishelpstounderstandtheircharacterandweirdbehaviors.Chapterthreediscussesthefundamentalreasonsofpeople’sgrotesqueness.Theyareexploredmainlyfromtheexternalandinternalaspects.Chapterfourintroducesthewaystosalvationofgrotesques.Althoughtheyareunacceptablebythecommonpeople,theydonotthoroughlyfeelhopelessandtheynevergiveuptheirpursuitofunderstandingandlove.Chapterfivemakesaconclusionofthethesis.Theanalysisofthegrotesqueshelpstofullyunderstandthenovelandthesocialbackground.Throughanalyzing,theliteratureandsocialsignificancecanalsobewellcaptured.

Theearlytwentiethcenturyseesatransitionalperiodfromanagriculturalsocietytoanindustrialone.Asaspokesmanofthisperiod,Andersonshowsusthefateoftheunknowngrotesqueswithhiskeenobservation.Theylongforloveandfreedombutusedtoisolatethemselves.Theyhavethemostintenseemotionandfeelingbutfailtoexpress.Theindustrializedsocietyandtheflawsintheircharacterbringthemconfusion.Theybegintosaystrangewords,dooddthings,andfinallybecomegrotesques.

KeyWords:

AndersonSherwood,Winesburg,Ohio,Grotesques

摘要

舍伍德·安德森（1876-1941）是美国二十世纪初期最具影响力的作家之一。

安德森卓越的短篇小说作品奠定他在美国文学史上重要地位。

《小镇畸人》是安德森最成功也是最著名的一部作品。

这部作品由二十五个互相关联又相对独立的故事组成，作品中的人物则是被安德森称为“畸人”的小镇居民。

本文主要有五部分，第一部介绍了作者及所处时代背景。

第二部分是分析畸人形象，了解畸人的行为心理特征，他们行为言语怪异，心理扭曲，心情压抑、消沉。

第三部分是分析畸人形成的原因，既有外在的社会原因又有内在的个人问题。

第四部分是分析畸人的救赎之路。

虽然他们不被常人所接纳，但他们始终对自己抱有希望，用实际行动进行对爱与理解的追求。

第五部分是对论文做出总结。

本论文对畸人进行分析，对于全面理解小说，深入了解作品创作的时代社会背景，以及作品的文学意义和社会意义有一定帮助。

二十世纪初的美国正经历从农业社会到工业社会的转变，作为社会转型时期的代言人，安德森以其敏锐的观察力向我们展示了不为所知的畸人的命运，他们渴望爱与自由却往往自我隔离，拥有最强烈的感情而疏于表达。

这种自身性格方面的缺陷和对工业文明的无所适从，让他们困惑迷茫、言行怪异，最终成为时代的畸人。

关键词：

舍伍德·安德森，《小镇畸人》，畸人

CONTENTS

ChapterOneIntroduction

1.1IntroductionofAndersonSherwoodandWinesburg,Ohio

AndersonSherwoodisanimportantfigureinmodernliterature.HiswritinghasdeeplyinfluencedmanywriterssuchasHartCrane,ErskineCaldwell,ErnestHemingway,HenryMiller,WilliamFaulknerandNathanaelWest.WilliamFaulkneroncesaidthathecouldonlywritesimplepoemsandamateurstuffbeforehemetAnderson.It’sAndersonthatgavehiminspirationandledhimtoacorrectroadofcreation.InthemagazineParisReview,FaulknerdeclaredAnderson’sstature,“HeisthefatherofmygenerationofAmericanwritersandthetraditionofAmericanwritingwhichoursuccessorswillcarryon”（Malcolm,1971）.

AndersonwasborninClyde,Ohio,asmallandpoortownthatwasexperiencingatransitionalperiodfromtheoldhandicraftstomodernmachines.TheIncreasingwealthandmaterialproductionmadepeoplefeelemptyandrepressiveinpsychologyandthedecliningagriculturemadenumerouspeoplefeelmoremiserable.Duetopoverty,inhisearlytwenties,AndersonwenttoChicagotomakealiving.Throughmanyyears’hardworking,Andersonbecameamemberofmiddleclass.Butwealthdidnotbringhimtruehappiness.Hedeterminedtoabandonhisbusinessandbeganliterarycreationthatheliked.Specialexperiencemadehimhaveadeeperunderstandingandinterpretationofhumanity.Hepaidattentiontoportrayinghumanemotion,catchingthemomentaryfeelingsofthefigures,torevealingthepersonalityofthecharactersandthemysterieshiddenintheirinnermost.In1919,AndersonSherwoodpublishedWinesburg,Ohio,ashortstorycycle,inwhichAndersonwellappliedthiswritingstyleandthisnovelmadehimagreatsuccess.

Winesburg,Ohioismadeupof25shortstoriesanddepicts23grotesquesinthetownWinesburg.Thesestoriescanbelinkedtogether.Theyhavethesamesetting:

anAmericanMid-westerntownandthesametheme:

loneliness,alienationanddesireforcommunication.Meanwhile,eachofthestoriescanalsobeseenasanindependentbiographyofagrotesque.Thedeformedcharactershavedifferentawkwardappearancesandoddbehaviors.Forexample,WingBiddlebauminthestory“Hands”wasafatoldmanwithtangledhair.Healwaysputhistremblinghandsinhispocketorbehindhisbackbecausehecouldnotcontrolthem.Almosteveryevening,hewalkedanxiouslyonthehalfrottenporchwaitingforGeorge.HeexpectedGeorgetocomeandconversewithhim.In“PaperPill”,thecharacterReefwasanolddoctorwithwhitemustache,bignoseandbighands,stayinginhisemptyclinicallday.AliceHyndmanin“Adventure”wasanoldmaidwhonakedlyranonthestreetinasnowynight.ComparedwiththesuccessfulpeopleinWinesburg,thesegrotesquesaregraduallyforgotten.Althoughthegrotesquesareweirdandunacceptablebycommonpeople,theyneverstopthepursuitforothers’understandingandacceptance.Nomatterwhatthelifeislike,theyalwayspossesstheirvaluabledreams.WingBiddlebaumoncetoldGeorgethatheshouldstartdreaming.Inaway,theyareagroupoflovelypeoplethatdeservetobeunderstoodandrespected.

1.2LiteratureReviewofWinesburg,Ohio

Winesburg,OhioisconsideredasAnderson’smostoutstandingnovelwhicharousesmanycritics’attention.Somecriticstendtoregarditasbeingnaturalisticorrealistic.TheythinkthatAnderson“attemptstoexpoundthetheoryofauniverseofmechanisticforcesoperatingonhispeople.Hetriestofocusontheconstantandcarefulaccumulationofrealisticdetails”（Ferres,1966）.SomecriticsdiscussitfromageographicalpointofviewforAndersonsetsthebackgroundinaMid-westerntown.TheyputAndersoninthesamefieldwithMarkTwainwhoisthemasterinthenativeAmericanmodernliterature.

Andmorerecently,manycriticsanalyzetheworkfromamorepopularsociologicalpointofview.Theworktendstobeinterpretedwithreferencetosuchwordsasloneliness,frustration,repressionandsoon.Theyholdthat“Winesburg,OhioisasystematicexplorationofMid-westerners’livingsituationduringthetransitionalperiodinAmericanhistoryfromthepastoralsocietytotheindustrialsociety”（Simolke,1999）.Theyfindthatwiththecomingofthemachineage,theoldagrarianeconomygraduallydisappearsinthetownandthetownspeoplewhoarestrugglingintheindustrializedworldbecomedeformedphysicallyorspirituallymoreorless.ThroughexploringthedeformedcharactersinWinesburgOhio,thepapercangetadeepappreciationofAndersonSherwoodandhisgrotesqueimageswhicharesoimportantinAmerican1iterature.Theresearchonthegrotesquecharactersinthisnovelcanalsoenlightenthemodernpeoplewhoareinthesameplightinanindustrialworld.

ChapterTwoTheImagesoftheGrotesques

2.1TheConceptofGrotesque

Theoriginoftheword“grotesque”canbetracedbacktoItalian“grotto”.Itreferstodecorativeornamentssuchasrocks,pebblesandmedallionssphinxes.Inliteraryfield,itusually“signifieswhatisridiculous,bizarre,orunnatural”（Crowley,1988）.Itdeviatesfromdesirablestandardofharmony,balance,andproportion.Itisoftenusedforcomicandexaggeratedsarcasticeffectsinphysicalandbehavioralcaricature.InOxfordAdvancedLearner’sEnglish-ChineseDictionary,“grotesque”isdefinedassomethingstrangelydistortedandunnaturalsoastogiverisetolaughterorfear.

GrotesqueholdsauniquepositioninAmericanliteraryhistory.DieterMendelremarksinhisAmericanFictionandtheMetaphysicsoftheGrotesque,“ThegrotesquepresentsallimportantandlargelyunexploredaspectofthegrowthanddevelopmentofAmericanfictionandendowsAmericanfictionwithatradition,orcontinuityofthediscontinuous”（Dieter,1991）.Thistraditiongreatlyanddeeplyaffectsmanyfamousliterarywriters.Accordingly,numerousexcellentgrotesqueworksappearinAmericanliterature.ThedevelopmentofgrotesqueliteraturegreatlyinfluencesandshapestheliteratureoftheUnitedStates.TherearemanymasterswhoareskilledindepictinggrotesquesinAmerica,andamongthemAndersonSherwoodisaneminentone.

InWinesburg,Ohio,Andersonevolvestheconceptof“grotesque”tomakeclearwhathasmadehispeoplephysicalstrangersandspiritualoutsiders.Forinstance,in“PaperPill”,DoctorReefwasastrangeandlonelymanstayinginhisemptyclinicwiththeneveropenedwindowhungwithcobwebs.Herarelysteppedoutandhealwaysworethesameclothes.Hishobbywastoputscrapesofpap