廖素云 定稿1

1、北京理工大学珠海学院2020届本科生毕业论文On Symbolism in A Rose for Emily学 院： 外国语学院专 业：姓 名：指导老师：商 务 英 语廖素云学 号：职 称：161005103799赵晓明讲 师中国珠海二二 年 五 月毕业论文诚信承诺书本人郑重承诺：我所呈交的毕业论文On Symbolism in A Rose for Emily是在指导教师的指导下，独立开展研究取得的成果，文中引用他人的观点和材料，均在文后按顺序列出其参考文献，论文使用的数据真实可靠。 承诺人签名： 日 期： 年 月 日On Symbolism in A Rose for EmilyAbstr

2、actFaulkner is one of the modern American novelists, and is famous all over the world. As one of the best storytellers in the United States and even in the world, William Faulkner is a great and successful avant-garde experimenter of modern literary skills technology. He seemed more interested in th

3、e source of tragedy or suffering, rather than the tragedy or suffering itself. In A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner appropriately used the method of archetype images and themes, integrated with the symbolic method of metaphor, and effectively expressed his creative thoughts and emotions. This artic

4、le takes A Rose for Emily as the research object, and analyzes the application of symbolism in this book. It is not difficult to see that each part of the narrative in A Rose for Emily emphasizes death . The novel begins with death and ends with death. Death symbolizes the declining and irreparable

5、demise of the old traditions of the American South. Keywords: A Rose for Emily, symbolism, deathI献给艾米丽的玫瑰的象征意义分析摘 要威廉福克纳是世界上著名的美国现代小说家，作为美国乃至全世界最好的叙述者之一，福克纳是现代文学技巧的成功创新者。他关注的是悲剧或苦难的根源，而不是悲剧或苦难本身。在献给艾米丽的玫瑰，福克纳恰当地运用了原型意象和主题的方法，并结合了隐喻的象征技术，有效地表达了福克纳的创作思想和情感表达。本文以献给艾米丽的玫瑰为研究对象，分析了象征主义在本书中的应用。不难看出，献给艾米丽的

6、玫瑰中叙述的每个部分都强调“死亡”。小说以死亡开始，以死亡结束。死亡象征着美国南部古老传统的衰落和无法弥补的破坏。关键词：献给艾米丽的玫瑰；象征；死亡 IIContentsAbstractI摘 要IIIntroduction11 Literature Review21.1 The Definition of Symbolism21.2 Literary Background31.3 Relevant Research on A Rose for Emily42 The Symbolism in A Rose for Emily62.1 Symbolic Meaning of Death62.2

7、 Symbolic Meaning of Other Characters82.3 Symbolic Meaning of Color102.4 Symbolic Meaning of Emily113 Symbolic Analysis of Emilys Tragedy15Conclusion18References19Acknowledgments20IntroductionSymbolism was a literary movement that emerged in France in the second half of the 19th century and spread r

8、apidly in most parts of Europe. It had a great influence on many British writers, especially poets, in the 20th century. Symbolism is also a noteworthy method, which is closely connected with the Gothic theme of the story. For symbolists, an abstract emotion is uncertain, so it is difficult to commu

9、nicate. Therefore, instead of expressing meaning directly, they suggest meaning and emotion through emotionally powerful symbols. Their symbols are not precise equivalents of thoughts or emotions, but with more vague and mysterious meanings. Broadly speaking, all art is language, and all languages a

10、re symbols. For most artists and writers, the material world is a medium for expressing intangible ideas and emotions. Without the connection of these two elements, art cannot exist. These two elements are the non-material passion or reflection, and the physical manifestation of the former through t

11、he senses of human instinct, wisdom and imagination. This connection is a symbolic thing which represents other things, such as an idea or quality.11 Literature Review1.1 The Definition of SymbolismAs we all know, symbolism is a literary term referring to the use of symbols, or a group of related sy

12、mbols. A symbol is an entity, and it implies more than literal meaning. Any object, place, person or behavior is meaningful in itself, but it represents something bigger than itself. A ring is a symbol of love; the cross means atonement; a rose means love, purity, beauty, pride and triumph; water ma

13、y suggest spirituality; spring signifies hope and youth while winter stands for hopelessness and old age; skull is often a symbol of death; the lion is a typical symbol of courage; moon shows earth protector and guardian in night; morning star is the sign of courage and purity of spirit; a voyage or

14、 journey cams symbolize life; and ocean and land suggest time and eternity. In literature, almost anything can be symbolic objects, characters, scenes and actions. Symbolism is achieved through imagery, repetition, connotative language and other rhetorical means. Symbolism contributes to the implici

15、t meaning, but at the same time it is characterized by indirectness and compressibility (Liu, 2015). Therefore, a symbol is a word or object that represents another word or object. Things or words can be seen or invisible with the eyes, suggesting or representing a concept, concept, quality, belief

16、or value. For example, a dove stands for peace. The dove can be seen and peace cannot. In the story of Adam and Eve when Eve ate the apple, the symbol apple stood for sin. And now the word symbol may relate directly to the theme of a literary work. But symbolism, as a literary device or tool, must b

17、e distinguished from realism on one hand and from expressionism on the other hand. These distinctions arise from radical psychological differences in man. Symbolism refers to the situation when an object, person or event represents a larger, more important idea. It embodies abstract concepts, though

18、ts and emotions related or similar to the former through certain specific objects or images. Faulkner, as an outstanding representative of naturalistic symbolism, uses a variety of symbolic techniques in his works. So, it was difficult for him to read, because the way he explained the characters and

19、 the way he presented the background were intentionally ambiguous and difficult to understand. In his works, he almost always uses a symbolic method to study literature in order to find the true meaning of the human heart. He emphasized the symbolic relationship between characters and subjects. His

20、story is based on reality, but symbolism deepens the theme of the work and makes it more impressive.1.2 Literary BackgroundThe southern part of the United States is a unique region with plantation economy, slavery system and traditional gentlemen. According to its cultural characteristics, southern

21、literature is also different from literature in other parts of the United States. The cultural tradition suffered a lot in the civil war and declined in the subsequent Reconstruction period. Unlike Norths ambition to open up and reform for more benefits, Southerners deliberately isolate themselves f

22、rom the outside world and are stubbornly angry with traditional values. To make matters worse, it is difficult for confident southerners to accept failure. In addition, almost all traditional values have since disappeared. For these reasons, the southerners intend to adopt a hostile attitude towards

23、 the industrialism brought about by the northerners whom the northerners despise.The south was afflicted with poverty after the war and it took a long period of time for the Southerners to recuperate. Precisely because feeling uneasy about such alarming situation, some Southern writers of this time,

24、 who bear sincere concern for the South, spared no efforts to explore it and try their best to find a way to scrutinize both the past and the present of the South. Southern writers were fortunate enough to be endowed with keen minds which keep providing for them inspirations and they do begin to tak

25、e a fresh look. Among them William Faulkner is a particularly distinguished one. As a writer with a strong sense of responsibility，Faulkner was in a fever of telling the truth and stirring up love for life in all human beings, which was heavy enough to amount to create a burden deep down in his sens

26、itive and vulnerable heart. With this point of view, abnormal psyche is fully depicted and revealed in the characters which appeared in Faulkners works. In his works, he analyzes the psychological relationship between personality disorder and mental disorder, and describes the strange behavior cause

27、d by sexual deviation, revealing the influence of subconscious personality disorder on personality development and formation. However, Faulkner decided to devote his whole life to his writing career, which was a real happiness for him. Because he wrote his experience and inner conflict into his work

28、 in an indirect way, so that he was freed from spiritual torture and regained peace. More importantly, in this way, he successfully awakened people from chaos and encouraged them to change the world, making the world more normal, healthy and active. Many critics have noticed the similarities between

29、 Faulkner and Love in Hawthorn, Edgar Allan Poe is their close relative. Thats because Faulkner was deeply influenced by the southern literary tradition, especially American Romanticism. Faulkner appeared during the Southern Renaissance in the United States. His works are hailed as evil galleries an

30、d descendants of pathological cultural spirit. Therefore, grotesque makes him unique. Faulkner is hailed as one of the greatest horror novels in the South and is an important and influential writer in the South. His work follows the tradition of Gothic novels, and it was he who began to add psycholo

31、gical descriptions to the novels. He was deeply influenced by Allan Poe and Hawthorne. Being the pioneer of short stories and the criticism of literature-psychology, Faulkner had found grotesquery and the Gothic form as a useful means to express his own concerns about the Southern morality and manip

32、ulated it to explore the dark side of human psychology and the subconscious personality disorder. His abnormal psyche was not an isolated phenomenon, and was closely related with the rise of whole modern western literature.Literature is a mirror of the time. When people ignore the dark side of human

33、 nature and the distorted oppression, and even ignore disorder, the writer will use special weapons to awaken the reader. As long as sin depraves people, the power of spiritual and cultural values in literature will continue.1.3 Relevant Research on A Rose for EmilyA Rose for Emily is William Faulkn

34、ers most famous short story. The story is set in Jefferson, the central city of Faulkners Mythical Kingdom, and Emily Gleason is the central character of the story. Under the control of his fathers rigid social status, his daughter could not marry her followers in the town during her lifetime, and h

35、er father had no money after his death. Later, she fell in love with a Yankee named Homer Barron, and the whole town ignored her relatives. As a member of the stubborn Gleason family, Emily insisted on marrying Homer and arrogantly despised her family and community (Li & Chen, 2008). Unfortunately,

36、Miss Emily finds that Homer has no intention to marry her. Desperately, Emily kills her lover and keeps his body (Ouyang, 2012). Then, Miss Emily Grierson remains in voluntary isolation away and from the sunshine of the human world of normal affairs. She isolates herself from the outside world and l

37、ives alone in her dusty house until her death (An, 2013). The study of William Faulkners short story A Rose for Emily has mushroomed at home and abroad in recent years. An upsurge of scholars interested in the novel is found such as: David bowling (1989), Reed, J.R (1997), Xiao Minghan (1997), Shao

38、Jinti (1995), Huang Xue (1997), Zhang Deliu (1990), Wang Mingin (2002) and Guan Jianming (2003). The study can be divided into three aspects: from the viewpoint of feminism, Emilys tragedy is the consequence of the female sex and the female emotion being spayed both by the. Patriarchy and by the Lad

39、y System of the American South; from the view point of new criticism, William Faulkners writing techniques in A Rose for Emily express the whole significance of the story completely; from the viewpoint of modernism, Faulkners novel also consists of some modernist features.2 The Symbolism in A Rose f

40、or Emily2.1 Symbolic Meaning of DeathIn A Rose for Emily, the main line can be conveyed in death which is prevalent, both literally and figuratively, either at any place or at any moment. Four actual deaths are discussed or mentioned in passing. They are deaths of Emily, Homer, Emilys father and Col

41、onel Sartoris. There are obvious references to death throughout the tale. It is not too difficult for careful readers to find deaths which exist in every section, as follows: Section One -Emilys funeral Section Two -Emilys fathers death; the smell of the house Section Three-love affairs (Homer Baryo

42、ns death) Section Four -Emilys death Section Five-Emilys funeral; discovery of the corpse In Section one the story begins with death and the demise of a woman hints towards the withering of the old traditions of the past she personifies. And then the narrator reminisces that it is the death of Emily

43、s father that prompts Colonel Sartoris to remit her taxes into perpetuity and leads to the story of the aldermen attempting to collect taxes from Emily (Han, 2016). And her fathers death also foreshadows the demise of Homer. Emilys refusal of giving up her fathers body mirrors Homers death and her f

44、ear of the passing of time. Throughout the passage, Faulkner offers the reader images of decay as generations succeed each other. Both Emily and her house are described as decayed as if the great secret that has remained undiscovered in her bed has affected the house. Even the duplicitous servants v

45、oice was described as having: grown harsh and rusty; as if from disuse. It was like an old disused mechanism, which was decayed with age. These images of decay reach their pinnacle with the gruesome corpse of Homer in bed, which is unexpectedly horrifying. The townsfolk are duplicitous in the death

46、in many ways; they even surrounded her house with lime to counteract the smell. The hindsight shows that the smell is from Homers rotting corpse. It is interesting to note that lime is often poured into graves before a body is buried. Another death is about that of Colonel Sartoris who is a typical

47、representative of the South, which was full of Puritanism, ideas of slavery, racism, money-worship and Fatherhood and whose death also gives readers some hints of the Old Souths downfall. To sum up, the deaths of Emilys father, Colonel Sartoris indicate the old societys dying out while Emilys death

48、implies a kind of reluctance to leaving the Old South. However, what causes Homers death? The answer is loneliness and isolation from Miss Emily. What leads Emily into a state of loneliness and isolation? Surely, the main reason is his father and the society he stands for. Emilys father is a strong

49、influence on Emilys life, because he has her as a property all the time, even in a slavery way. In fact, it is because she is so seriously repressed out of fathers authority that Emily without a normal idea about the life cant have a husband like other women. Being still haunted by fear from her fat

50、hers death and being abandoned by Homer; Emily tries to hide her fear and frustration with that seemingly stubborn attitude. Emily plans to murder Homer, regardless of whether society, god or anyone else will agree with her. Actually, the murder is only a symbolic escape from the sad and lonely Life

51、 Emily always lives. Originally murder is a big crime that cannot be seen as normal, however before a murderer is judged, the investigation of the causes and circumstances that make him commit the crime should be made by Miss Emilys case, she would rather kill him than to be abandoned by Homer and b

52、e made alone again. The murder is mainly due to social circumstances, so instead of hating her, the reader feels pity for her. The 5th section is the most striking one in which Emilys terrible secret is revealed. The description of the section in Homers tomb serves not only to shock, but also to rev

53、eal more of Emilys character. The section of decay in Homers tomb is a symbol of the folly of Emilys refused to move on. The opening of the room reveals a stagnant world of decay which in many respects mirrors the decaying way of life at that time. That is how Faulkner deals with it marvelously. In

54、general, the tragic figure of Faulkner is so dominated by the physical fear of changes that they are forever isolated from the society, from environment, and from nature. Self-imposed isolation resulting from rejection of the changes of the outside world naturally leads to spiritual rootlessness ari

55、d alienated. In a way, she has fear to confront her reality and eventually she becomes alone, just with the Negro, her old honest servant. Therefore, it is easy to draw the conclusion, according to Sigmund Freud that when a human being is totally isolated like Emily, the spirit of the person is seri

56、ously damaged. So, the spirit of a person has to be in contact with other persons because when a person is isolated, the spirit gets, like in an Untouchable gate, very hard to open. 2.2 Symbolic Meaning of Other CharactersAs a matter of fact, it is precisely the open usage of symbolism and expert ut

57、ilization of foreshadowing that earns both William Faulkner and A Rose for Emily their places among the classics. Emily is tranquil and perverse, proud and aloof, a representative of traditional convention. And why does Faulkner present A Rose for Emily? During his visit to Japan in 1956, he was als

58、o asked this question. As for the implication of the storys title Faulkner said to the effect that there was a woman who experienced a miserable life. Her tragedy was unchangeable and nobody could help her. I showed my sympathy for her and presented a rose for her to pay my respect to her. Faulkners explanation is a very important clue to comprehend the theme of the story. This is