欧亨利小说的结构艺术特色.doc

苏州大学本科生毕业论文苏州大学应用技术学院2008级学士学位论文A Study of Structural ArtIn O. Henrys Short Stories简析欧亨利短篇小说中的结构艺术专业：08英语学号：0816420053姓名：周俊导师：房红梅2011.12.10Acknowledgements 摘 要欧亨利是美国最著名的短篇小说家之一，曾被评论界誉为美国现代短篇小说之父。他善于戏剧性的设计情节，做好铺垫，最后在结尾处让人物命运陡然逆转，从而形成独特的艺术魅力。近些年来有不少关于欧亨利小说的探索研究，但多关是于欧亨利小说语言的幽默和小说的结尾，这样不免过于片面。本次论文主要通过概述了美国短篇小说的一些特色，与前人对于欧亨利小说结构内容编排的研究。再通过分别列举欧亨利著名小说中的经典片段研究欧亨利小说中的独树一帜的开头与小说那些出人意料的戏剧性结尾，还有欧亨利小说中从头至尾的双线结构艺术。主要通过这三方面的论述欧亨利小说的结构特色。关键词：欧亨利；结构艺术；双线索AbstractOHenry, one of the most famous short story writers in the world, has been known as the father of the modern American short stories. He is good at designing plot theatrically, lays down the foreshadowing, and finally shows the unexpected endings which make the readers suddenly see the light, joy after sorrow. Processing novel ending is OHenrys most creative contribution, thus cause him to enjoy the great reputation in American and in the world history of literature. OHenry is a unique artist of short stories. In recent years, there are many researches about OHenrys short stories, but most of them are based on the humor language and the endings of his works. But it is too one-sided. This thesis mainly analyze the fiction structure art of OHenry. The thesis is divided into 6 chapters. The first chapter is an introduction of O. Henry. The second part is the literature review. The third chapter is an analysis of the diversified openings of OHenrys works: opening with description; opening with comment; opening with allusion. The fourth part is about the unexpected endings, also from three aspects: happy ending; ridiculous ending; sorrowful ending. The fifth part is the dual-clue structure. The sixth part is the two clues crossed more than twice and two clues crossed once. The final chapter is the conclusion.Key Words: diversified openings; unexpected endings; dual-clueContentChapter 1 Introduction11.1 Significance of the Study11.2 Structure of the Thesis1Chapter 2 Literature Review32.1 The Overview of Short Stories32.2 The Plot in O. Henrys Novels4Chapter 3 The Diversified Openings63.1 Opening with Description63.2 Opening with Comment73.3 Opening with Allusion8Chapter 4 The Unexpected Endings94.1 The Happy Ending94.2 The Ridiculous Ending104.3 The Sorrowful Ending10Chapter 5 The Dual-clue Structure125.1 The Two Clues Crossed More than Twice125.2 The Two Clues Crossed Once13Chapter 6 Conclusion14Appendix15 16Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Significance of the StudyOHenry, one of the most famous short story writers in the world, enjoys the equal status with Chekhov and Maupassant. He is known as the father of American contemporary short stories. Some critics are not so enthusiastic about his works, but the public love them very much. OHenry is a prolific American short story writer, a master of surprise endings. Processing novel ending is OHenrys most creative contribution, which made him enjoy the great reputation in American history of literature. Many critics in America and other countries comment on OHenry and his work respectfully. People speak highly of the ingenious arrangement of his works, the typical characters and plots, and the critical implications of his works. Critics often regard him as a writer who puts moral judgment and social criticism into his unique style with humor, satire, burlesque and obvious comic inclination.There are many comments on O. Henry and his works. Opinions on OHenrys works from the aspects of theme, tone, object of vision, and plot to that of language and style were all found. The comment on various aspects of OHenrys works are quite essential and necessary for us to understand the writer and his works.Like his endings, OHenrys openings are very outstanding. OHenrys short stories have diversified openings. In OHenrys works, the openings and endings are mainly the following types, opening with description, opening with comment, opening with allusion and surprise endings, ridiculous endings and sorrowful endings. The dual-clue structure is also an interesting element in O. Henrys works.By studying some most famous stories of O. Henrys, the thesis attempt to provide a new and more objective interpretation of O. Henry and explore his unique writing style. 1.2 Structure of the ThesisThe thesis consists of 6 chapters. The first chapter makes a general introduction to O. Henry, points out the necessity for the study, and further clarifies the aims and significance and structure of the thesis. Chapter 2 presents the overview of American short stories and some others study of O. Henrys works. Chapter 3 is mainly about the analysis of the O. Henrys diversified Openings.In Chapter 4, I will study the O Henrys unique endings, which will divide into 3 parts. The dual-clue structure analysis is in Chapter 5. The final chapter gives the conclusion of the thesis. Chapter 2 Literature Review2.1 The Overview of Short StoriesAuthors such as Charles Dickens, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Nathaniel Hawthorne, Virginia Woolf, Dino Buzzati, Rudyard Kipling, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, P. G. Wodehouse, H. P. Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway were highly accomplished writers of both short stories and novels. Short stories have their face in oral story-telling traditions and the prose anecdote, a swiftly sketched situation that quickly comes to its point. With the rise of the comparatively realistic novel, the short story evolved as a miniature version, with some of its first perfectly independent examples in the tales of E. T. A. Hoffmann. Other 19th-century writers well known for their short stories include Nikolai Gogol, Guy de Maupassant. Some authors are known almost entirely for their short stories, either by choice or by critical regard (short-story writing is thought of as a challenging art). An example is Jorge Luis Borges, who won American fame with The Garden of Forking Paths, published in the August 1948 Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine. Another example is O. Henry, for whom the O. Henry Award is named. American examples include Flannery OConnor, John Cheever, and Raymond Carver.The art of storytelling is doubtlessly older than record of civilization. Even the so-called modern short story, which was the latest of the major literary types to evolve, has an ancient lineage. Perhaps the oldest and most direct ancestor of the short story is the anecdote and illustrative story, straight to the point. The ancient parable and fable, starkly brief narrative used to enforce some moral or spiritual truth, anticipate the severe brevity and unity of some short stories written today.Short stories tend to be less complex than novels. Usually a short story focuses on one incident; has a single plot, a single setting, and a small number of characters; and covers a short period of time.In longer forms of fiction, stories tend to contain certain core elements of dramatic structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation and main characters); complication (the event that introduces the conflict); rising action, crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and his commitment to a course of action); climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point with the most action); resolution; and moral.Because of their length, short stories may or may not follow this pattern. Some do not follow patterns at all. For example, modern short stories only occasionally have an exposition. More typical, though, is an abrupt beginning, with the story starting in the middle of the action. As with longer stories, plots of short stories also have a climax, crisis, or turning point. However, the endings of many short stories are abrupt and open and may or may not have a moral or practical lesson. As with any art forms, the exact characteristics of a short story will vary by creator. When short stories intend to convey a specific ethical or moral perspective, they fall into a more specific sub-category called Parables. This specific kind of short story has been used by spiritual and religious leaders worldwide to inspire, enlighten, and educate their followers. 2.2 The Plot in O. Henrys NovelsThe typical feature of O. Henrys stories is a twist of plot which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance. His ultimate achievement was to create a new kind of short story with a novel ending-surprising ending”, or twist ending, which wins him a great fame.The real charm of O. Henrys tales lies in his reversal of the narrative. He would arrange a story moving in one direction. And just when reader was going to be convinced of the general direction of the narrative which he took for granted, the story would be completely reversed. With respect to the theory of prose fiction, the central formalist distinction is that between the story and the plot, An author is Sid to transform the raw material of a story into a literary plot by the use of a variety of devices that violate sequence and deform and defamiliarize the story elements; the effect is to foreground a narrative medium and devices themselves, and in this way to disrupt what had been peoples standard responses to the subject matter.Usually in a literary work, the temporal order of succession of the events in the story and the pseudo-temporal order of their arrangement in the narrative is different according to authors intention when they present one work to the public. To Tzvetan Todorov, a French narratologist, the relation between the time of the story and the time of the discourse is subtle. Furthermore, there is temporal distortions; infidelities to the chronological order of events; relationships of linking, alternation, or embedding among the different lines of action that make up the story with aesthetic value (Forster, 1974:85-88).In order to understand later sections of any narrative, readers must connect their content with that of the earlier sections, thereby establishing reflexive reference on the level of events, character features, etc. Especially in O. Henrys works, the events of some short stories are arranged in the specific order of occurrence by distorting the natural order in which they occurred which exceed readers normal expectation to the arrangement of those events in his work, then exert the effect of defamiliarization to make his works new and strange.(张秀娟 2007;3)Chapter 3 The Diversified OpeningsOHenrys short stories start with varying openings. Most of his stories do not begin immediately with an action, but the readers are supplied with a background of both time and place, and then, the hero is introduced. OHenry is good at foreshadowing in the opening of the story. In OHenrys works, the varying openings are mainly the following types:3.1 Opening with Description Usually, OHenry begins the story with some descriptive sentences to introduce the environment or describe the dress and personal adornment of the character, giving readers a very distinct sense of being led only gradually into the story. For example, The Count and the Wedding Gust begins as follows: One evening when Andy Donovan went to dinner at his second boarding-house, Mrs. Scott introduced him to a new boarder, a young lady, Miss Conway. Miss Conway was small and unobtrusive. She wore a plain, snuffy-brown dress, and bestowed her interest, which seemed languid, upon her plate. She lifted her different eyelids and shot one perspicuous, judicial glance at Mr. Donovan, politely murmured his name, and returned to her mutton. Mr. Donovan bowed with the grace and beaming smile O. Henry. Selected Stories. Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1977. p.184 Here the writer draws the readers whole attention to the two people in the apartment. OHenry uses a lot of words to describe the actresss appearance. The readers were supplied with so many details, for example, the actresss clothing, figure, even the action details. The actor was described in the same way, even with the facial expressions. In a general way, the descriptive sentences were used to express feelings, render atmosphere and foil characters. In OHenrys The Count and the Wedding Gust, the opening was a serious of descriptive sentences. This series of detail description were designed to leave the readers an impression that both the actor and the actress are good mannered, and both of them belong to the upper class in society。 Actually, in the beginning, the description about Miss Conway is a prediction. The lady is in black, and she is too young to be a widow. The questions will came to the readers, and they will go on reading the story eagerly. That is the sagacity of OHenry.3.2 Opening with CommentDuring the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, OHenrys openings were popular. Many of his short stories open with comment, for example, in OHenrys An Unfinished Story：We no longer groan and heap ashes upon our heads when the flames of Tophet are mentioned. For, even the preachers have begun to tell us that God is radium, or ether or some scientific compound, and that the worst we wicked ones may expect is a chemical reaction. This is a pleasing hypothesis; but there lingers yet some of the old, goodly terror of orthodoxy. Ibid. , p. 60Here, the writer starts the story with a comment with a point of view about religion. Then, the author showed the dream about lamented bar-of-judgment theory. But after reading the whole passage, the readers will realize the Capitalists lived extravagant life, their income and workers incomes formed a striking contrast. The capitalist is very cruel to the workers. In the story, in the lamented bar-of-judgment theory”, the capitalists should be punished.There is another example of opening with comment. The story is opened with comment on the work itself. Springtime la Carte begins just like that:Never, never begin a story this way when you write one. No opening could possibly be worse. It is unimaginative, flat, dry and likely to consist of mere wind. But in this instance it is allowable. For the following paragraph, which should have inaugurated the narrative, is too wildly extravagant and preposterous to be flaunted in the face of the reader without preparation. Ibid. , p. 51Here, the authors dialogue with his imaginary readers is only one of many ways in which OHenry foregrounds the gap between art and life that conventional realism seeks to conceal.This kind of beginning is an expression of the authors or the narrators feelings, ideas, also the thoughts which contain the philosophical ideas. Sometimes readers will admit that kind of opening, because it is very likely to lead the readers to the deep heart of the author. It is nevertheless true that many great authors have used it and used it well. OHenry is such a one.3.3 Opening with AllusionThe distinguish feature of the beginning with allusion lies in that before the character appears in the story, the narrator comes on the stage to present some other stories which will be alluded to in this one. By telling the allusion, the narrator will forebode the ending, offer hints of the personality of character, symbolize the theme or draw an analogy between the tow. Such beginning is like an actors opening to a drama or film, which can arouse the readers curiosity and enthusiasm. Moreover, the allusion adopted often contains certain knowledge derived from famous works which are informative and instructive, thus broadening the readers horizon. For example, the beginning of The Enchanted ProfileThere are few Caliphesses. Women are Schehherazades by birth, predilection, instinct, and arrangement of the vocal cords. The thousand and one stores are being told everyday by hundreds of thousands of viziers daughters to their respective sultans. But the bowstring will get some of em yet if they dont watch out.I heard a story, though, of one lady Caliph. It is not precisely an Arabian Nights story, because it brings in Cinderella, who flourished her dishrag in another epoch and country. So, if you do not mind the mixed dates (which seem to give it an Eastern Flavor, after all), we will get along. Ibid. , p. 530In The Enchanted Profile, before telling the things he really wants to present, OHenry refers to Caliph who will be alluded later in the story to contrast with the heroine, Mrs. Maggie Brown, who was greedy. If readers want to know how on earth the two are alike, they will go on reading the story eagerly. By alluding, OHenry holds the readers interest freely. Chapter 4 The Unexpected EndingsOn the other hand, endings are important too, especially for short-story writers. OHenry obviously devoted special care to his “unexpected ending. Many of his unexpected endings have been conceived with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, and then he invented such incidents, after that he combined such events which may best aid him in establishing his preconceived effect and achieve it.4.1 The Happy EndingIn OHenrys short stories, strict words were used quite often, but in the story A Service of Love, he used a lot of words to speak highly of the character. The author tells a beautiful love story which has a happy ending. The story has an unexpected ending like other stories written by OHenry, but this one ended with happiness.“I couldnt get any pupils, she confessed.” And I couldnt bear to have you give up your lessons; and I got a place ironing shirts in that big Twenty-fourth Street laundry. My purchaser from Peoria, said Joe, and General Pinckney are both creations of the same art-but you wouldnt call it either painting or music”And they both laughed, and Joe began:When o