Vulgar or not A Probe to the Style of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer1

1、粗俗与否?试析汤姆索亚历险记的艺术风格vulgar or not? a probe to the styleof the adventures of tom sawyercontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.21. about the author.22. overview of the themes in mark twains novels2ii. literature review.4iii. plot overview.5iv. character.61. tom sawyer .6v. language and style.8 co

2、nclusion.10references.11vulgar or not? a probe to the style of the adventures of tom sawyervulgar or not? a probe to the style of the adventures of tom sawyerabstract: mark twain, breaking out of the narrow limits of local color fiction, described the breath of american experience as no one had ever

3、 done before, or since, and he created in the adventures of tom sawyer, a masterpiece of american realism that is one of the greatest books of world literature. mark twain was honored as “lincoln in literature world” in american. it was he that combined the ordinary peoples light humor with the seri

4、ous literature. it was he who made the common people or even vulgar people become the hero in the literature work. it was also he who made the dialect even jargon and slang stepped onto the stage of elegant literature, and finally assured the significance of the dialect in american literature work.

5、the wonderful using of dialect also shaped many unforgettable characters such as: tom sawyer, aunt polly and huckleberry finn. his creations combined the depiction of realism with expression of romanticism perfectly and harmoniously. key words: language; realism; characters; style摘 要：马克吐温突破了地方主义色彩的狭

6、窄局限，描写了真实的美国社会。这些都是前无古人后无来者的。汤姆索亚历险记是他创作的美国现实主义的一部杰作，也是世界文学最伟大的书籍之一。马克吐温被誉为美国“文学界的林肯”是他把普通百姓的轻幽默和严肃文学结合起来。也是他将普通甚至是粗俗的人物变成了文学作品中的主人公。更是他让方言、土语和行话登上了高雅文学的大雅之堂，从而最终确立了方言在美国文学作品中的重要地位。方言的绝妙运用塑造了好多令人难忘的文学形象。如：汤姆索亚、波莉阿姨和哈克贝利芬等。马克吐温的创作将现实主义的描写和浪漫主义的抒情进行了完美和幽默的结合。汤姆索亚历险记是马克吐温的四大杰作之一。关键词：语言；现实主义；人物；风格i. int

7、roduction1. about the authormark twain, the pen-name for samuel langhorne clemens (1835-1910), drew his identity from life along the mississippi river during the years immediately preceding the civil war, which inspired the characters and incidents in his best known works, including the adventure of

8、 tom sawyer (1876) and the adventure of huckleberry finn (1884). born in florida, missouri, but raised in hannibal, clemens first was trained as a printer, but in 1857 he became an apprentice pilot on the great river. at the start of the civil war, he went to nevada with his brother orion, and was b

9、riefly involved in mining ventures before taking up a journalistic career (under the name mark twain), which eventually carried him to california and hawaii, experiences recounted in roughing it (1872). he next traveled to europe and the holy land with an excursion party, the basis for the innocents

10、 abroad (1869), a humorous narrative that quickly established his reputation and launched his career as a cosmic lecturer. after marring olivia langdon in1870, clemens abandoned the lecture circuit and moved to hartford, connecticut, where he wrote most of the books by which he is known, in a period

11、 of great prosperity that was ended in 1894 by bankruptcy resulting from incautious investments. he wrote three works expressing his acute pessimism: the man that corrupted hadleyburg (published in 1900), the philosophizing treatise what is man? (published in 1906) and the mysterious stranger (publi

12、shed posthumously in 1916). from this time until his death, he maintained a bitter skepticism life, which relieved at times by outraged commentary on world affairs, notably on belgian atrocities in the congo and american behavior in the philippines. his last years were saddened by personal bereaveme

13、nt. returning to the lecture circuit, clemens recovered his fortune but his later life was darkened by tragedy, including the death of his favorite daughter, suzy, and his wife. in 1906he started preparing material for his autobiography, and in 1907 received an honorary doctorate of oxford universit

14、y. he died at redding, connecticut, on april 21, 1910, at the age of seventy-five.2. overview of the themes in mark twains novelssociety hypocrisy is the main aspect which twain criticizes in his novels. in the adventures of tom sawyer twain shows that social authority does not always operate on wis

15、e, sound or consistent principles that institutions fall prey to the same kind of mistakes as individuals does. the most satire scene is the one that when the judge visit the sunday school. everyone shows off their ability. children make little tricks to recite more passages of the bible in order to

16、 gain the praise from the judge. the teacher sit there pretend to be respectfully. but when he finds tom can not answer his question before the judge, his angry exposits his real intention. twain shows parental love and indulgence when he refers to family. aunt polly attempts to punish tom, but he a

17、lways goes soft because of her love for her nephew. as the novel proceeds, a similar tendency toward indulgence becomes apparent in the broader community as well. the community shows its indulgence. when toms dangerous adventures provoking out concern. the community is perfectly ready to forgive tom

18、s wrong if it can be sure of his safety. twain ridicules the ability of this collective tendency toward generosity and forgiveness to go overboard when he describes the towns sentimental forgiveness of the villainous injun joe after his death. in the adventures of huckleberry finn, which tells the s

19、tory of the white boy huck running away with the black man jim. they divagate in the river of mississippi. twain stirred the blindness and falsity of region, criticized the imbrutement of fighting between feudatories families, disclosed the irrational of lynch, exposit the follies of slavery, pied a

20、 tribute to the goodly trait of the black slavery. so this book is considered as the epoch-making of realism. superstition in an uncertain world is the other main theme showed in twains novel. as twain said himself: the superstition activities in the adventures of tom sawyer are very strange, but th

21、ey were popular among the children and slaveries in the west america. twain fist explores superstition in the graveyard, where tom and huck go to try out a magical cure for warts, from this point forward, superstition becomes an important element in all of the boys decision making, the convenient th

22、ing about tom and hucks superstitions beliefs is that there are so many of them, and they are so freely interpretable. that tom and huck can pick and choose whichever belief suits there needs at the time. in this regards twain suggests superstition bears a resemblance to religion at least as the pop

23、ulace of st. petersburg practice it. the humorousness of the boys obsession with withes ghosts and graveyards papers over, to some extent, the real horror of the things to which the boys are exposed, grave digging murder, starvation, and attempted mutilation, the relative ease with which they assimi

24、late these ghastly events into their childish world is perhaps one of the least realistic aspects of the novel. the boys negotiate all this horror because they exist in a world suspended somewhere between reality and make-believe, their fear of death is real and pervasive. for example, but we also h

25、ave the sense that they do not really understand death and all of its ramifications. in the adventures of huckleberry finn, jim preyed when he knew that huck lied in order to get rid of the search of the owner of jim. he thought that they would be punished, so he begs the forgiveness from god. huck

26、clings to the idea that if he lets go the slave, he will be damned to go to hell. and when the “king” sells jim for money, huck decides to inform jims master. after he thinks of the past good time when jim and he are on the raft where jim shows great care and deep affection for him, he decides to re

27、scue jim. and huck still thinks he is wrong while he is doing the right thing. iiliterature review the research on learning the book of the adventures of tom sawyer and the author began in the late 19th century. all this research was mainly concerned about the themes, motifs, symbols, characters, la

28、nguage and significance in the literature history. there are many studies on this novel; here i will name some ones: stanley brodwin is professor of english at hofstra university. he has published articles on nineteenth-century american authors primarily, but especially on mark twain and the theolog

29、ical imagination. his article is mark twain as an american icon in which he has summed up the eternal influence of the american icon and the impresses he had made on social of every aspect. such as: education, industry, advertisement and agriculture. twain charms millions as the magic flutist of nos

30、talgia for childhood in a simple, nicer, time. most full-page displays of his snowy head devote a corner to two boys on a raft; surely he still reminiscing about them. the dictionary of culture literacy grants an entry only to the adventures of tom sawyer among his books. its two sentences on the au

31、thor slot him as “famous for his settings along the mississippi river.” this alert us to recognize that illustrators take care to suggest an obviously wide, long river, which adds depth to the rafting and appeals to the american passion for the movement and, subliminally, evokes the mythic qualities

32、 of water, cool running water, the haze of nostalgia is thinned by humor. having typed tom as a “wily and adventurous boy,” the dictionary of culture literacy rounds off:“in one famous episode” he “tricks his friends into whitewashing a fence for him by pretending it is a great privilege and making

33、them pays to take over the job.” that is the most famous episode, easily outclassing the scenes in the classroom, graveyard, or cave. though the novel glosses it pompously, illustrators spread on the humor very broadly; adult readers also enjoy its implicit cynicism about what fools we mortals be. o

34、nly academic egoists can discuss twain for long without breaking into a smileas he would have done himself at any detailed poof that humor weaves inseparably through his writings, character, and body language. nell schmitz is professor of english at the state university of new york. he is the author

35、 of of huck and alice: humorous writing in american literature (university of minnesota press, 1983). his article is mark twain civil war: humor reconstructive writing in which he elaborated how mark twain used humor to construct his work, and humors significance in his book. myra jehlen is board of

36、 governors professor of literature at rutgers university. his article is banned in concord: the adventures of tom sawyer and classic american literature. in this article he concluded the relationship of this book to the classic american literature: that is the adventures of tom sawyer is a classic n

37、ovel and it also made contribution to the classic literature. he jieying is a professor in english in the wuhan university of technology. his article is an analysis of the artistic features of mark twain childrens novels (journal of wuhan university of technology). he analyzed the features in mark t

38、wains childrens novels. such as: humorous, romantic, light and attractive. zhang xiaoling co-authored with wang xiling of the article the romantic and lucky tom sawyer and the realistic and unlucky huckleberry finn in which these two little boys were compared in many aspects: family, relatives, and

39、the impression of their in peoples mind, their belief, and their pappy loves. all in all tom is the opposite side of huck. other writer compares the style of mark twain to the chinese writer lu xun on the aspect of satire and humor. he draws the difference and similarities between american and chine

40、se.iii. plot overviewtom sawyer, a plain american boy, lives with his younger brother sid and aunt polly in st.petersburg, a remote town on the banks of the mississippi river. sid is a “model” boy. he is obedient, demure and sneaky. he led a tedious life, fully satisfied with his school and the mono

41、tony of the little town. mark twain was especially good at humor and satire, which made him exactly to the point and unreserved they experienced many adventures in order to get rid of the dull classes, hypocritical doctrines stereotyped environment.tom is quite the opposite of his brother. the stifl

42、ing atmosphere of the well-bred petty-bourgeois family is too close for him and he always on the alert to do some mischief. at school he disobeys the cruel and unjust teacher, mr.doddins, and busies himself with outside matters at the lessons. toms bosom friend is huck finn; a boy deserted by his dr

43、unkard father, and looked upon as an outcast in the town.but tom is not only engaged in mischief. he has read many books and wants to make his life just as bright as it is depicted in the storied. he devises games in which the boys play the role of brave outlaws, and warlike red indians who are the

44、terror of the rich and the oppressors.one night, while testing their pluck in a graveyard, the boys involuntarily witness the murder of dr. robinson. an innocent man is charged with the crime. but on the day of the trail tom fearlessly exposes the real criminal the indian joe who escaped the real cr

45、iminal. he escapes through an open window of the courtroom.fearing revenge and pursuit, the boys go through a lot of scares, but are lucky in all their emprises. they sally out several times at night to dig for hidden treasures near a dilapidated house three miles from town. there they almost fall i

46、nto the hand of the murder that accidentally finds a box filled with gold coins.shortly after the incident tom goes to a picnic with judge thatchers daughter: becky. tom behaves like a brave boy, calms beckys fears and finds the way out of the cave. in a few days time, tom and huck return to the cav

47、e. they find the dead body of their pursuer, the indian joe, and the hidden treasures. although the boys become rich, they are still possessed with the idea of piracy.iv. character1. tom sawyerthe novels protagonist, tom is a mischievous boy with an active imagination who spends most of the novel ge

48、tting himself, and often his friends into and out of trouble. despite his mischief, tom has a good heart and a strong moral conscience. as the novel process, he begins to take more seriously the responsibilities of the role as a leader among his schoolfellows. when the novel begins, tom is a mischie

49、vous child who envies huck finns lazy lifestyle and freedom. as toms adventures proceed, however, critical moments show tom moving away from his childhood concerns and making mature, responsible decisions. these moments include toms testimony at muff potters trail, his saving of becky from punishmen

50、t, and his heroic navigation out of the cave. by the end of the novel, tom is coaxing huck into staying at the widow douglass, urging his friend to accept tight collars, sunday school, and good table manners. he is no longer a disobedient character undermining the adult order; but a defender of the

51、respectability and responsibility. in the end, growing up for tom means embracing social custom and sacrificing the freedoms of children.yet, toms development isnt totally coherent. the novel jumps back and forth among several narrative strands: toms general misbehavior, which climaxes in the jackso

52、ns island adventure; his courtship of becky, which culminates in his acceptance of blame for the book that she rips; and his struggle with injun joe, which end with tom and hucks discovery of the treasure. because of the picaresque, or episodic, nature of the plot, toms character can seem inconsiste

53、nt, as it varies depending upon his situation. tom is a paradoxical figure in some respects for examples, he has no determine age. sometimes tom shows the naivet of a smaller child, with his interest in make-believe and his superstitions. on the other hand, toms romantic interesting in becky and his

54、 fascination with hucks smoking and drinking seen more the concerns of an adolescent.whether or not a single course of development characterizes toms adventures, a single character trait- toms unflagging energy and thirst for adventure- propels the novel from episode to episode. disobedient though h

55、e maybe, tom ends up as st.petersburgs hero. as the town gossips say,” tom would be president, yet, if he escaped hanging.“oh, come, now, you don not mean to let you like it?”the brush continued to move.“like it? well i don not know see why i ought not to like it, dose a boy get a chance to whit was

56、h a fence everyday?” that put the thing in a new light. ben stopped nibbling his apple. tom swept his brush daintily back and forth- stepped back to note the effect- added a touch here and there-criticized the effect again-ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more a

57、bsorbed, presently he said:” say, tom, let me whitewash a little.” (the adventures of tom sawyer 2.4) this interchange between ben rogers and tom occurs during the whitewashing episode from chapter 2. one of toms earliest exploits in the novel, the whitewashing scan gives us a thorough initial look

58、at toms ingenious character. most evident is this dialogue with ben rogers is toms consummate skill as an actor and his instinctive understanding of human behavior. in these moments of prankish virtuosity, tom always keeps one step ahead of his victims, anticipating their reactions and cornering them verbally into the response he desires. in painting these scenes, twain draws on the american folk tradition of t