英语本科毕业论文-通过《热爱生命》的四个艺术特色解读主人公的顽强精神.doc

本科毕业论文 题 目：通过热爱生命的四个艺术特色解读主人公的顽强精神学 院： 外 国 语 学 院 专业班级： 英 语 0601 班 学 号： 2006344010108 学生姓名： 指导教师姓名：指导教师职称： 副 教 授 二O一O年 六 月 十 二 日 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained from Four Artistic Features of Love of Life A Graduation Thesis Submitted by Xue JingIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsForThe Degree of Bachelor of ArtsIn the Subject of English Language and LiteratureToCollege of Foreign LanguagesOfAgricultural University of HebeiSupervisor: Liu Ji June 12, 2010Candidate Supervisor Table of Contents Acknowledgementsi摘 要iiAbstract.ii1 Introduction12 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained from Four Artistic Features of Love of Life22.1 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained by Setting the Distinctive Environment22.1.1 The Perilous Atmosphere Constructed in the Novel22.1.2 The Heros Strong Spirit Shown in the Perilous Atmosphere32.2 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained with Delicate Psychological Descriptions42.2.1 Reflections on Life and Death52.2.2 Reflections Conjured up by the Deer Bones52.3 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained by Using Skilled Satire52.3.1 Satire Shown by Contrasting the Hero and His Companion6() Different Attitudes of the Hero and Bill towards Friends6() Different Attitudes of the Hero and Bill towards Gold72.3.2 Satire Expressed with Detailed Descriptions82.4 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained by Applying Flexible Symbolism82.4.1 Mankind Represented by the Hero82.4.2 The Dangerous Survival Environment Represented by the Wolf92.4.3 Life Represented by the Match103 Conclusion12Bibliography13AcknowledgementsFirst of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Liu Ji for her warm-hearted encouragements, valuable instructions and thoughtful comments for this thesis. Her guidance and encouragement have made this thesis a better one than I can ever possibly produce.And I am also extremely grateful to all the professors and teachers who taught me and enlightened me in the past years of my study at the Agricultural University of Hebei. Their lectures have laid the solid foundation for this thesis.Then, I would also like to give my special appreciation to my classmates and roommates for their patience in helping me collect materials without which my paper would not be finished so smoothly.Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank my family members who have given their support and encouragement during the four years of my undergraduate study. Xue Jing June 12, 2010 【摘 要】在热爱生命中，杰克伦敦精心设置了独特的环境，一方面它创造了小说惊险的气氛，另一方面激发了主人公在这种气氛中的斗志，从而展现了他的勇敢和坚强的意志力。文中的主人公没有一句对话，但是他执着的信念却通过细腻的心理描写淋漓尽致地表现了出来。同时杰克伦敦又对主人公的同伴自私贪婪进行了辛辣地讽刺，反衬出了主人公面对困难时的善良、勇敢和果断。作者在文中灵活地描写了一些具有象征意义的事物，读者通过对这些具体的事物展开丰富的想象力，更加深刻地体会到了主人公坚持不懈的精神力量。本文主要从环境的设置、心理描写、讽刺和象征这四个艺术特色来解读杰克伦敦热爱生命中主人公的顽强精神。【关键字】 环境；心理描写；讽刺；象征；精神【Abstract】Jack London meticulously sets the distinctive environment in Love of Life. On the one hand, it creates the perilous atmosphere. On the other hand, the heros fighting spirit is aroused in this atmosphere which shows his bravery and strong will. Although there is no dialogue of the hero in the novel, his persistent belief is vividly expressed by using the delicate psychological descriptions. And Jack London bitingly satirizes the greed and selfishness of the heros companion. By comparison, the hero is portrayed as a kind, courageous and determined person. The author flexibly describes several specific objects with symbolic significances in the novel. The readers are given full rein to their fertile imagination and deeply understand the power of the heros indomitable spirit to overcome difficulties. The passage mainly explains the heros strong spirit in Love of Life by Jack London from the four artistic featuresthe setting of environment, delicate psychological descriptions, satire and symbolism. 【Key Words】 environment; psychological description; satire; symbolism; spiritiii1 IntroductionJack London (1876-1916) was a very popular author in America in the first years of the twentieth century. He came from the bottom of the society and, through hard work and study and sheer will power, he made his way up to the summit of the social hierarchy. He created a lot of works during his life time, and shaped a lot of strong characters in his works which made him bring a new era to modern American short novels. In the wild nature, the main characters could succeed in fighting against various obstacles with a strong will, include The Call of the Wild (1903), The Sea-Wolf (1904), Love of Life (1905), White Fang (1906), The Iron Heel (1907), Martin Eden (1909), and Burning Daylight (1910).Jack London continued to write until he died in 1916, widely supposed to have committed suicide. He had not, moreover, reconciled his contradictory views of mans nature and destiny. But Londons stories of man in, and against nature continued to be popular all over the world. In his stories, London stripped everything down to the symbolic starkness of dream, to a primordial simplicity that had a strange and compelling power of ancient myth.Love of Life is one of the most famous short novels in Jack Londons works. It is the story of a lonely gold-digger who bravely fights against hunger, coldness, ache and wild animals in a break and desolate land and survives at last with his indomitable belief. There is no strange and complicated plot. There is no relaxed and lyric tone. But the sadness and happiness of the hero are fully expressed in the novel. It cant be separated from the excellent artistic features used in the novel. Jack London places the hero in a hostile environment, and makes him struggle with hunger, coldness, ache and wild animals, which reveal the perilous atmosphere in the novel. And the heros strong spirit is subtly shown in the perilous atmosphere. Secondly, the heros complex feelings are vividly expressed with delicate psychological descriptions when he faces all the threats the nature gives him. Whats more, the use of satire and symbolism clearly portray the heros iron will and strong desire for life. Thus, the heros indomitable spirit in the face of difficulties is successfully explained by the four artistic features in the novel. 2 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained from Four Artistic Features of Love of LifeJack London skillfully applies four artistic features to reflect the heros strong spirit. The distinctive environment creates the perilous atmosphere to show the heros indomitable fighting spirit. The delicate psychological descriptions subtly delineate the inner world of the hero. Satire is created by comparing the hero and his sole companion, which vividly expressed the heros great strength of will. For the flexible symbolism in the novel, the author arranges the specific objects to contain deep meanings. They make the readers inspire the imagination and keenly realize the heros firm conviction. So the heros strong spirit is successfully explained from the four artistic features. 2.1 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained by Setting the Distinctive Environment The setting of distinctive and dangerous environment is one important artistic feature in this short novel. It can be obviously found that the distinctive and dangerous conditions mainly refer to the cold natural environment near the Arctic regions. On the one hand, it shows the wilderness that is cold and dangerous. On the other hand, it highlights the hero of the existence of persistence and the life of persistence under the pressure that the nature gives him, and reflects the people of the invincible power and indomitable fighting spirit. So the special environment plays a major role in constructing the atmosphere in the story and showing the heros strong spirit.2.1.1 The Perilous Atmosphere Constructed in the NovelWriters often use descriptions of the nature to create a particular atmosphere in their novels and to enhance the authenticity of the story. Jack London can be regarded as an expert in this field. In Love of Life, it can be found that a remarkable feature is the description of the nature to construct perilous atmosphere. There is full of coldness, cruelty, mystery and scare. The wild nature is vividly presented by using the realistic and delicate descriptions. So this is a typical place near the Arctic regions and the dangerous environment can not be easily imagined. After the hero is abandoned by his companion, he is surrounded by the break and desolate land which is described as： Again his gaze completed the circle of the world about him. It was not a heartening spectacle. Everywhere was soft sky-line. The hills were all low-lying. There were no trees, no shrubs, no grasses - naught but a tremendous and terrible desolation that sent fear swiftly dawning into his eyes. (Jack London, 2000: 5-6)A dreary scene of the wild nature is shown in front of the hero. It is a vast, miserable and lonely place. And the terrible desolation also indicates there are full of unexpected difficulties and dangers. Thus, this brief description of the break and desolate land gives a clear explanation of the hero living condition. Here he is lonely and helpless, and also deeply feel a great pressure that the dangerous atmosphere gives him.And Jack London describes the snow in the extremely cold wilderness like this：There was no sun. The gray of earth and sky had become deeper, more profound. A raw wind was blowing, and the first flurries of snow were whitening the hilltops. The air about him thickened and grew white while he made a fire and boiled more water. It was wet snow, half rain, and the flakes were large and soggy. At first they melted as soon as they came in contact with the earth, but ever more fell, covering the ground, putting out the fire, spoiling his supply of moss-fuel. (Jack London, 2000: 24)A desolate scene is presented on all sides. The cold weather in the terrible desolation is precisely shown from the words of “Raw wind” and “wet snow, half rain”. “Putting out the fire, spoiling his supply of moss-fuel” also vividly draws the merciless wildness. The moss-fuel is spoiled and the fire is put out by the raw wind and the wet snow at the surface of the description. Actually the author wants to indicate the bad weather puts out the hope of the survival. It can be seen that the atmosphere sends the hero into depths of despair.2.1.2 The Heros Strong Spirit Shown in the Perilous AtmosphereThe author sets the hero in such a difficult environment to make the environment test him, which expresses the heros the great and strong personality in the struggle with the difficulties the wild nature gives him. After tempered by this particular environment, the heros soul has been baptized. So from this short novel it can be found that people should not yield to the difficulties and their fate, and should bravely fight against them, which shows peoples courage and determination.He cowered in the midst of the milky water, as though the vastness were pressing in upon him with overwhelming force, brutally crushing him with its complacent awfulness. Then he proceeded, slowly and carefully, wincing with pain, to the bank. (Jack London, 2000: 6)The heros eyes are wild with terror. From the above, it can be seen that the hero is facing difficulties. There is pain form twisted foot, heartache from abandoned by his companion and fear that the break and desolate land gives him, which are the three big mountains that oppress him at that time. In such a hostile environment, the hero is not easily frightened, and he goes step by step towards victory, which obviously express the heros persevering and indomitable spirit, invincible strength and the persistence for life.It was tender, and his teeth sank into it with a crunch that promised deliciously of food. But its fibers were tough. It was composed of stringy filaments saturated with water, like the berries, and devoid of nourishment. He threw off his pack and went into the rush-grass on hands and knees, crunching and munching, like some bovine creature. (Jack London, 2000: 20)When the lonely gold-digger is hungry, he only eats bitter muskeg berries and tasteless rush-grass with the size of shingle-nail. At last he is so hungry that his stomach loses consciousness. In the vast wilderness, he is extremely hungry, and the worst thing is that he can not find anything to eat any more. However, he doesnt lose his confidence. In spite of what has happened, he knows that he shouldnt lose the will to live. It clearly shows that the hero deeply loves and cherishes his life. As long as the idea of life remains in his mind, he wont easily give up his life, and he firmly believes that he can be reborn in such a difficult position. This short novel gives the readers chilling feelings after reading. The heros strong spirit is subtly created in the dangerous scene, which makes the novel step by step come to a climax and play a victory song of people overcoming difficulties. Therefore, Jack London successfully portrays the gold-digger as a strong image in Love of Life that plays fearlessly against coldness, hunger, fear and wild animals and shows a strong willpower and desire to survive. There are two reasons for the success of Love of Life in this part. One is that this novel shapes the distinctive environment and the heros strong spirit. But the more important one is that the author is meticulous in arranging the specific environment for a special purpose. Jack London places the hero in the difficult positions, which forces him to fight the coldness, fear, hunger and wild animals, and the hero survives by his sheer determination, great strength of will and indomitable spirit when he meets these difficulties.2.2 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained with Delicate Psychological DescriptionsThough the author doesnt tell the readers the name of the gold-digger, nor a dialogue, the author gives the hero life and makes him flesh out. One reason is the detailed description of the delicate psychology. In the novel, Jack London vividly reveals the inner world of the main character and depicts him as glamorous and attractive. It also shows the hero the pursuit of life and eulogizes human indomitable fighting spirit and tenacious will. 2.2.1 Reflections on Life and DeathIn the late afternoon the hero comes upon scattered bones, he deeply feels：Such was life, eh? A vain and fleeting thing. It was only life that pained. There was no hurt in death. To die was to sleep. It meant cessation, rest. Then why was he not content to die? But he did not moralize long. He was squatting in the moss, a bone in his mouth, sucking at the shreds of life that still dyed it faintly pink. (Jack London, 2000: 38) It is apparent from the psychological description that the hero thinks on the life and death. He questions about the existence of life: death may be relief. Because hunger, coldness and ache tightly wrap him, and in the struggle with them he always fails. He even thinks about giving up. There is no hurt in death. To die is to sleep. It means cessation and rest. But the survival instinct doesnt promise him give up the hope of living. The hero relies on his strong will and determination to fight the wild nature and conquer his own weaknesses. Eventually he overcomes all of these, and becomes a superman with great will and persistent spirit.Although the hero is very weak, the firm conviction and sheer persistence still support him. He will never give up if only he had a breath. He is not afraid of difficulties and obstacles in his life. So the course of the decision in the novel is a clear manifestation of the peoples strength, tenacious belief and indomitable spirit. 2.2.2 Reflections Conjured up by the Deer BonesThe debris had been a caribou calf an hour before, squawking and running and very much alive. He contemplated the bones, clean-picked and polished, pink with the cell-life in them which had not yet died. Could it possibly be that he might be that ere the day was done! (Jack London, 2000: 38)This is the heros monologue in face of hunger. The environment where he lives is very dangerous and the wild animals appear suddenly. He thinks if he is like the caribou calf in an instant from a live life into the pile of bones, which indicates that the heros feelings are mixed. The hero gets frustrated and weak in the struggle with the perilous atmosphere that truly reflects his some fragile components in his inner world. However, he doesnt easily accept his fate with resignation. Finally, all the difficulties are defeated by the hero in the help of his strong spirit.2.3 The Heros Strong Spirit Explained by Using Skilled Satire The use of satire in the Love of Life is a bright spot in the artistic features. And the satire is created from two points. One is the comparison of the hero and his sole companion and the other is detailed descriptions. It can be easily found that they successfully make the satirical effects reach a perfect step. The hero plucks up the great courage and determination to overcome difficulties. His decision to continue shows great strength of will. 2.3.1 Satire Shown by Contrasting the Hero and His Companion Satire is created from comparing the two