Sherwood Anderson.doc

Sherwood Anderson was born in Ohio in 1876. Though his childhood and youth in Clyde were scarred by poverty, he also knew some of the pleasures of pre-industrial American society. The town was then experiencing what he would later call “a sudden and almost universal turning of men from the old handicrafts towards our modern life of machines”, which is regarded as the prototype of the backgroud in Andersons novels. Young Sherwood, known as “Jobby”, showed his entrepreneurial spirit. In his twenties he moved to Chicago and worked in an advertising agency. At that time he served as a volunteer in the Spanish-American War. After that he enrolled at Wittenberg UniversityinSpringfield, Ohio. Eventually he secured a job as a copywriter in Chicago and became more successful. In 1904 Anderson married and moved to Elyria in 1907, where he managed a mail-order business and paint manufacturing firms. In 1912 occurred the great turning point in Andersons life, as he abandoned his commerce and became one of the rebellious writers in the group called the “Chicago Renaissance”. In 1919 he published the Winesburg, Ohio which was and immediate critical success and soon Anderson was being ranked as a significant literary figure. In 1921 the distinguished literary magazine The Dial awarded his its first annual literary prize of $2000(second recipient was T. S. Eliot), and it is the only prize Anderson gets. Later Anderson published many other novels and short stories, but most critics and readers grew impatient with his later writings; they felt he was constantly repeating his early writing styles. Anderson died inPanamaat the age of 64 while on acruiseto South America.Sherwood Andersons influence upon later American writers，especially whose who writes short stories，is enormous，and its literary voice can be heard in Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Thomas Wrolfe, John Steinbeck, Erskine Caldwell and othersHe is called “the tutor of great masters”, the father of the writers in that generation. Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner both praise him as a writer who brings a new tremor of feeling，a new sense of introspectiveness(内省) to American short storiesAs Faulkner puts it，Anderson is “the fumbling for exactitude”，the exact word and phrase within the limited scope of a vocabulary controlled and even repressed by what was in him almost a fetish of simplicity to seek always to to penetrate thoughts uttermost end.”And you can see touches of his approach, echoes of his voice in many younger writers who may not even be aware of Andersons influenceThough he is not one of the major figures in 20th century American literature and never received Nobel Prize as his students，he is for several reasons a writer of very considerable significanceHis effect on the development of the modern American short story as a genre is of great importance.(introducing works)(Catalog)Winesburg, Ohiois a collection of inter-relatedshort stories, which could be loosely defined as anovel. Altogether there are 22 short stories, and almost each of them tells the story of a different inhabitant.The work is structured around the life of protagonist George Willard from the time he was a child to his growing independence and ultimate abandonment of Winesburg as a young man; the style of the work progresses as the complexity of his life increases.Though its structure seems loose, Winesburg,Ohio is unified in time, place, character, theme, style, and formIts about the people who give life and identity to the townEach of them becomes the focal point and the substance of a story, as the nature of each is laid bare in a moment of Andersons insight into what makes his people grotesque. “The book is about extreme states of being, the collapse of men and women who have lost their psychic bearings and now hover, at best tolerated, at the edge of the little community in which they live.” Winesburg,Ohio is the milestone of Anderson which provides him the solid foundation of his literary reputation in times of disfavor as well as favor. It is not a book of rebellion as were his earlier works of fiction；instead, it is an affirmation of Andersons belief in human spirit and of the compassion that he felt was needed at the heart of human relations.Wing Biddlebaum talked much with his hands. The slender expressive fingers, forever active, forever strivng to conceal themselves in his pockets or behind his back, came forth and became the piston rods of his machinery of expression.The story of Wing Biddlebaum is a story of hands. Their restless activity, like unto the beating of the wings of an imprisoned bird, had given his his name.(p.8) (Hands)In the office he wore also a linen duster with huge pockets into which he continually stuffed scraps of paper. After some weeks the scraps of paper became little hard round balls, and when the pockets were filled he dumped theme out upon the floor.(p.15)On the papers were written thoughts, ends of thoughts, beginnings of thoughts.One by one the mind of Doctor Reffy had made the thoughts. Out of many of them he formed a truth that arose gigantic in his mind. The truth clouded the world. It became terrible and then faded away and the little thoughts began again.(p.15-16) (Paper Pills)The communion between George Willard and his mother was outwardly a formal thing without meaning.(p.19)“I think you had better be out among the boys. You are too much indoors,” she said, striving to relieve the embarrassment of the departure. “I thought I would take a walk,” replied George Willard, who felt awkward and confused.(p.21) (Mother)Alice went upstairs to her room and undressed in the darkness. For a moment she stood by the window hearing the rain beat against the glass and then a strange desire took possession of her. Without stopping to think of what she intended to do, she ran downstairs through the dark house and out into the rain.She wanted to leap and run, to cry out, to find some other lonely human and embrace him.“What is the matter with me? I will do something dreadful if I am not careful,” she thought, and turning her face to the wall, began trying to force herself to face bravely the fact that many people must live and die alone, even in Winesburg.(p.84-85) (Adventure)He wanted most of all the people of his own mind, people with whom he could really talk, people he could harangue and scold by the hour, servants, you see, to his fancy. Among these people he was always self-confident and bold. He was like a writer busy among the figures of his brain.(p.127) (Loneliness)All of his thought the children were involved with the thoughts of Hal and he thought the children were clutching at the younger man also. “They are the accidents of life, Hal,” he cried. “They are not mine or yours. I had nothing to do with them.”(p.159)“Its just as well. Whatever I told him would have been a lie,” he said softly, and then his form also dissappeared into the darkness of the fields.(p.160) (The Untold Lie)Some perspectives for analysis and reflection1 distortion of humanity caused by industrialisation; “spiritual wasteland”2 lonliness and alienation; failure of communication3 George Willards growth4 application of symbolism5 application of epiphany(顿悟)6 writing style: short sentences, a sparse vocabulary and uncomplicated syntax; simple but artful1 distortion of humanity caused by industrialisation; “spiritual wasteland”小镇畸人以一种开创性的松散结构始终如一地表达了工业文明对人性的扭曲以及爱的失落这一主题，“是第一次世界大战以后第一部在美国文学中表现荒原这一主题的作品。”安德森生活和写作的时期,正处于美国社会从农业社会向工业社会过渡,资本主义呈上升趋势的阶段。资本主义不仅在经济上彻底革命了自给自足的小农模式,同时也逐渐形成了相应的与过去任何时代都截然不同的文化意识。当机器生产无情地替代田园牧歌式的生活时，人们为了生存，只得舍弃人际关系中的脉脉温情，全力投入对金钱的攫取和占有。而那些踯躅不前，不肯放弃对宁静乡村美好回忆的人们则最终被隔离在社会之外，成为资本主义社会工业文明樊篱之外的流放者。安德森以诗人般的敏感体会到一个时代的一去不返和另一个时代的来临。在他的笔下便诞生了一群具有不平静灵魂的自我放逐者:他们终生寻找摆脱资本主义工业文明的阴影下人性破碎的恶运，但又苦于不能与环境做常态下的沟通。他们的激情被压抑，直到终于以某种反常夸张的形式渲泄出来，以致于震惊大众而被斥之为“畸人”(the grotesques)。工业化带给小镇沉闷和冷漠，带给人们永远的空虚和失落。2 lonliness and alienation; failure of communication在安德森看来，工业化的进程破坏了一度将人们和谐地维系在一起的社会，导致了人们日益疏远乃至隔离。当人们放弃了满足自己手工艺创作需要的工作，作为创造者的人自身就会丧失想象力和创造力，身体开始腐烂变形，思想也日渐委顿，最终必将被社会遗弃，变得孤独怪异，成为畸人。小镇畸人中的畸人虽怀有最美丽的梦想对自由、爱、幸福的向往，但他们活得可悲可怜可叹:他们埋在心中的种子永远也开不出花来。他们渴望理解和沟通,却无法走出竖在人与人之间高高的樊篱那是语言的樊篱。他们彼此隔膜得太久,竟忘记该如何表达自己的心声,好让心与心接近。他们的语言完全丧失了深层次交流情感的功能。如在纸团（Paper Pill）里，里菲医生就是一位追求高尚精神生活而朋友寥寥的人。因为缺乏交流对象，他只有将各种想法写在小纸片上放进衣兜里揉成纸团，无奈地舍弃这笔精神财产。他的纸团越积越多，口袋里塞不下时便用以弹击老友守林人斯巴尼亚德，恶作剧式的发泄心中的苦闷。3 George Willards growth如果把瓦恩斯堡的故事比作一颗颗珍珠，那么把它们串在一起的线无疑在乔治威拉德手中。对于小镇上的各色畸人而言，青春洋溢、充满朝气的乔治宛如黑暗中的一盏灯，照亮了瓦恩斯堡阴霾密布的天空。作为瓦恩斯堡镇上仅有的一家报纸瓦恩斯堡鹰报的唯一记者，乔治威拉德有机会与镇上的各式人物接触，并以他的年轻与单纯叩开他们的心扉，令他们倾吐内心的秘密、愿望和憧憬。随着瓦恩斯堡故事的发展，乔治也逐渐得以成熟。从肤浅到深沉，从愚鲁迟钝到充满温情，从妄自尊大到谦恭谨慎，乔治在明白个人的渺小和生命的无常的刹那间顿悟了人生的意义。安德森让少年乔治成长的经验和痛苦贯穿了在瓦恩斯堡的故事之中，以一种独特的抒情笔调述说小镇残存的温情，呼唤世人正视和接受外表怪异、内心痛苦的畸人，用爱的语言道出了现代社会爱的失落。这种主题的一致性也使得小镇畸人成为了一部前后连贯的长篇小说。4 application of symbolism作为具有开创意义的小说佳作，小镇畸人包含了多种创作手法，但主要应该是象征主义的：畸人们不仅是具体的存在，更是社会转型期人类所必须经历的痛苦的明证；瓦恩斯堡也不仅是美国中西部的一个小镇，它让所有经