【英语论文】论《警察与赞美诗》中反讽的运用The use of irony in The Cop and the Anthem

1、论警察与赞美诗中反讽的运用the use of irony in the cop and the anthemcontents摘要.abstractintroduction.11. brief introduction of the author and the novel.21.1 brief introduction of the author.21.2 the authors writing style.22. the statement of irony.43. the use of irony in the cop and the anthem.73.1 soapys way of

2、wintering and his thoughts7 3.2 soapys six backfired actions.93.3 cops duty and peoples view of cops. 113.4 soapys view of cops irresponsibility.133.5 soapy has been influenced by anthem and decide to turn over a new leaf, but is arrested.14conclusion .17notes.18bibliography 19acknowledgements 摘要 情景

3、反讽作为一种主要的描写手法在欧亨利警察与赞美诗中的运用成功地推动了小说情节的发展，增加了小说的戏剧性悬念，使小说的人物形象更加丰满。本文将剖析小说中的情景反讽的实例，以指出小说中情景反讽的反复运用表达了欧亨利对当时美国资本主义社会中不合理的现象的抨击，还表达了作者对下层劳动人民的同情。作者将情景反讽贯穿于故事的开头、发展和结尾，揭露了资本主义社会的矛盾虚伪和黑白颠倒的本质。关键词：情景反讽；警察与赞美诗；美国资本主义社会abstractthe adroit manipulation of situational irony by o. henry in his masterpiece the

4、cop and the anthem contributes first effectively to the unfolding of the plot. next it increases its suspense of the plots. last, it enables the characters vivid. in this paper i will analyze examples of situational irony in that story. the repetition of the use of situational irony expresses o. hen

5、rys attack on irrational phenomena in the american capitalist society at that time and also his sympathy for the lower class. the author applied the situational ironies in the beginning, development and the end in order to reveal the contradictory, hypocritical and topsy-turvy essence of the capital

6、ist society. key words: situational irony， the cop and the anthem， american capitalist society introductiono. henry is considered as “father of american modern short stories” and “manhattan critics crown prose writer”. his work is full of humor, his stories are amusing, flippant, flat, biting and ar

7、e filled with irony, sentiment, and pathos. one of his famous works, the cop and the anthem is the most typical one. this paper will reveal its rhetoric beauty and the darkness of the society in o. henrys time in the way of analyzing the use of irony in the cop and the anthem.the paper falls into th

8、ree parts. the first part gives brief introduction of the author and his writing style. the second part is the statement of irony, such as its definition and classification. the third part, which is the core of the paper, illustrates the use of situational irony in the cop and the anthem from five p

9、erspectives as follow: 1. soapys way of wintering and his thoughts; 2. soapys six backfired action; 3.cops duty and peoples views of cops; 4. soapys view of cops irresponsibility which disappoints soapy; 5. soapy has been influenced by anthem and decide to turn over a new leaf, but is arrested. this

10、 thesis mainly helps to learn about the use of irony in o. henrys time.1brief introduction of the author and his writing style1.1 brief introduction of the authoro. henry whose real name is william sydney porter，is most commonly associated with the short story and masterful ironic “o. henry twist” (

11、surprising ending). he has been hailed as “father of american modern short stories” and “manhattan critics crown prose writer”. during his lifetime he worked in various jobs， including a bookkeeper, a drugstore clerk, a texas ranger, an accountant, a draftsman, a bank teller and a newspaper columnis

12、t，so he knew the common peoples life style well.1.2 the authors writing styleirony is one of writing styles of traditional american literature. washington irving is the first one to employ this writing style with slight irony to make his stories funny but meaningful. mark twain is a good successor w

13、ho unveiled the truth in life by describing exaggerated images humorously and colloquially. yet irving shaws humor focused on the depiction of characters personality. in the influence of those writers, o. henry followed their style. his work is full of humor, his stories are amusing, flippant, flat,

14、 biting and are filled with irony, sentiment, and pathos but is quite different from theirs, filled with depressed, miserable and bitter laughter. his major ironic works are the chair of philanthromathematics, the cop and the anthem, the four million, confessions of a humorist and so on, among which

15、 the cop and the anthem is the most exemplary. irony runs throughout the whole story.2the statement of ironyirony is a figure of speech in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense. it is a broad term referring to the recognition of a reality different

16、from the masking appearance. for example, “for years the hospitable blackwells had been his winter quarters.” as we all know, blackwell is a rough prison that common people are afraid of going to. here o. henry describes the prison with “hospital” which is completely opposite to what it really is. t

17、hus the strong sarcastic irony effect is reached. if the writer uses “rough”, there will be no such effect at all.as irony realizes its effects by means of exaggeration, understatement and sarcasm, it can be subdivided into verbal irony, drama irony and situational irony. first is verbal irony. verb

18、al irony is a figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words which carry the opposite meaning. it contains two levels of meaning. what it actually means is not decided by its literal meaning but the context, e.g. you are eloquent as an oyster. in fact an oyster is wordless, so her

19、e “eloquent” is intended to mean “silent”. in this way, the speaker can satirize someone whos always taciturn. second is drama irony. drama irony has a special meaning, referring to knowledge held by the audience but hidden from the relevant actors. ill show you an example. “i hope toms better off w

20、here he is”, said sid; “but if hed been in some ways-” “sid!” tom felt the glare the old ladys eye, though he could not see it. “not a word against my tom, now that hes gone!”in the scene, tom is hiding under the bed, which is clear to audience except sid and toms aunt. because of that, toms aunt re

21、acts so strongly. in ordinary days, tom is a naughty boy and his aunt always complains about him. its funny that toms aunt is so emotional compared with the fact that tom is still alive. the last one is situational irony which is the ironic spirit applied to event, and situation. the actual developm

22、ent of one situation is just opposite to the expression. for example, several vacationers at the luxurious richelieu apartments there held a hurricane party to watch the storm from their spectacular point. richelieu apartments were smashed apart as if by a gigantic fist, and 26 people perished.in ti

23、me of danger, people still soaked themselves in visual enjoyment rather than running away. the result was that 26 people were killed which was absolutely out of their expectations. there are a sea of ironies in the cop and the anthem, especially situational ironies. detailed analysis about the situa

24、tional ironies used in this novel will be given next.3the use of irony in the cop and the anthemit is the situational irony that is used in the cop and the anthem. because it is applied throughout the beginning, the development and the end, an unexpected effect has been achieved. the analysis and th

25、e understanding of situational irony can help enable readers to enjoy literature better, to know more about the temptation for the authors and to improve their taste in literature. here is the detailed analysis about the situational ironies in this novel.3.1 soapys way of wintering and his thoughtst

26、he hibernatorial ambitions of soapy were not of the highest. in them there were no considerations of mediterranean cruises of soporific southern shies or drifting in the vesuvian bay. three months on the island was what his soul craved. three months of assured board and bed and congenial company, sa

27、fe from boreas and blue-coats, seemed to soapy the essence of things desirable. 1 p65for all animals, it is certain that storing food and looking for a place for wintering before winter are excessively necessary, let alone for advanced human beings. as winter is around the corner, wintering in the p

28、rison is obviously not a noble and reasonable idea for people with four strong limbs like soapy, though he has no place to live without a cash in his pocket. whats more, everyone knows what a prison is used fora place for holding prisoners. a prison only could provide the prisoners with the most bas

29、ic even quite bad accommodations, so a prison can never be a place men have been longing for. yet in the novel, its a big irony that the author compared soapys ridiculous idea to the essence of things desirable. we may know from the novel, at that time there is no lack of american aid agencies, and

30、philanthropists are not in a small number. thus it should be said that there is no need for soapy to live such an awkward life. nevertheless why would soapy rather go to prison than accept relief? it turns out that in soapys opinion the law was more benign than philanthropy. if not in corn you must

31、pay in humiliation of spirit for every benefit received at the hands of philanthropy. the conflict between soapys strange idea and the reality exposes the hypocrisy of the capitalists with philanthropists masks. once o. henry severely criticized those sanctimonious capitalists in the chair of philan

32、thromathematics. o. henry said: “when a man swindles the public out of a certain amount he begins to get scared and wants to return part of it. and if youll watch close and notice the way his charity runs youll see that he tries to restore it to the same people he got it from.” in another word, the

33、so-called philanthropists squeeze the money from the civilian population. the essence of charity is a cover for capitalists to give back some money for peace of mind. the ending of the chair of philanthromathematics also proved this point. even in doing philanthropy, philanthropists have not forgott

34、en exploitation and profit. 3.2 soapys six backfired actionssoapy takes altogether six chances to be arrested in this fiction. each time soapy ends up with a turn-up and each attempt contains a situational irony. first of all, soapy goes into a glittering caf on broadway and is ready to have a feast

35、 without paying. what a pity! as soon as he sets foot into the restaurant, the head waiters eyes fell upon his frayed trousers and decadent shoes. its natural that soapy is thrown to the sidewalk. the last sentence of this part is: “strong and ready hands turned him about and conveyed him in silence

36、 and haste to the sidewalk and averted the ignoble fate of the menaced mallard.” since soapy is poor, its a shame for the mallard to be eaten by soapy. it is thus clear that the discrimination against the poor and the concept of “money talks” is very severe. soapy turns off broadway and comes to a s

37、hop window. he takes a cobblestone and dashes it through the glass. its ridiculous that the cop doesnt regard him as a suspect at all. from this scene, we can figure out that cops in that times were not worth their salt at all. they might always arrest an innocent person, so truth is always far away

38、 from them. we can imagine how corrupt the officers are and how dark the society is! once more soapy goes into a restaurant but of no great pretensions. this time, soapy has got something to eat but waiters give him a sound beat without calling a cop. whenever a waiter face problems like that, he sh

39、ould have called a cop. its undoubtedly illegal to give soapy a sound thrashing by himself. this also reflects the corruption and of cops. people are willing to ask police for help because they know it turns out to be no use. the forth attempt is to molest a strange girl. “a young woman of a modest

40、and pleasing guise was standing before a show window gazing with sprightly interest at its display of shaving mugs and inkstands.” this part of description conveys information that the young woman must be a noble and well-educated lady, while god seems to play tricks on him on purpose. the girl turn

41、s out to be a prostitute who seems to wont let her “customer” go easily. finally soapy takes a great deal of effort to get rid of her. everything goes contrary to soapys wishes. after that soapy catches at the immediate straw of “disorderly conduct”. he really wants to break public orders because he

42、 really wants to be arrested, while once more a cop cares nothing for soapys behavior. things go on running in the opposite direction. “in a cigar store he saw a well-dressed man lighting a cigar at a swinging light.” “well-dressed” and smoking “a cigar” both indicate hes a rich gentleman, at least

43、not poor. soapy trys to irritate the gentleman by taking away his silk umbrella. unexpectedly the silk umbrella actually doesnt belong to the gentleman. he stole it that morning. as a result, he “returns” the silk umbrella to soapy. this is an ironic and hypocritical age. a prostitute might make up

44、like a noble lady and a thief might dress up like a rich gentleman. it is a society full of lies. in fact, each of soapys action will realize his “dream” without a hitch, while it is the ridiculous society with injustice and contradiction makes the reasonable possibility out of the question. the sit

45、uational ironies of six unexpected scenes sharply satire the darkness of the u.s. from multiple angles. in front of people, capitalists always repeatedly claim that everyone is equal before god, but the police react differently to soapy because they have mistaken soapys identity. when they see soapy

46、s ragged clothes, they ignore and even laugh at him; when they mistake soapy for a rich kid from yale university, they bear tolerance for all kinds of evil matters as much as possible. all of it reveals to people the essence of capitalist societythe paradise for the rich to enjoy themselves as they

47、wish but the hell for the poor to suffer much. 3.3 cops duty and peoples view of copsit is well known that a cops job is to make people obey laws and prevent or solve crimes. nevertheless we may find that the police have already forgotten their duty for a long time in this fiction. at first soapy br

48、eaks the shop window on purpose, while the cop directly runs after a man halfway down the block catching a bus rather than takes soapy as a suspect. by this token, police at that time seem to investigate the case at intuition rather than evidence. it must take a man some time to run over a half bloc

49、k. if the troublemaker didnt catch anyones attention until he had broken the shop window and run over a half block, how fast he were! whats more, it is in the day time and soapy tries to expose his crime, so there must be someone seeing what really happens. as long as the cop asks the men who is the

50、re, then there will be an answer. secondly, when soapy conduct disorderly at public place, the cop absolves him and even provides an explanation for him. i have thought of two reasons to explain this weird thing. one reason is that the cop actually has mistaken soapy for a rich student at yale unive

51、rsity. if so, the cop stands for all the police who bully the weak and fear the strong and police are lacqueys serving for the capitalists. in those cops eyes, people are divided into the poor and the rich or the gentle and the simple, which is the only criterion for them to decide who is guilty. th

52、e other reason is that cops are too lazy to undertake their duty. in order to reduce their workload, they turn a blind eye to their cases. it can thus be seen police at that age are always irresponsible. cops irresponsibility is also reflected in the scene of stealing umbrella. the time the well-dre

53、ssed gentleman admits himself taking the umbrella from other one, the cop turns around instead of arresting him. all those things go contrary to what should have happened, which result from the essence of copsflunkies of the capitalists and tools for the ruling class. after the ex-umbrella man retre

54、ated, the policeman hurried to assist a tall blonde in an opera cloak across the street in front of a streetcar that was approaching two blocks away. that is not a cops duty, but it seems that hes quite glad to do these unnecessary trifles. that is to say, polices job has been to do what they want t

55、o rather than what they have to. a series of ironies completely opposite to what ought to be severely condemn cops irresponsibility and inefficiency.as cops always neglect their duty, in peoples mind a cop is no longer what he used to be, to be more exact, but a kind of decoration. thus whenever the

56、y get into some troubles, they always try to resolve them in their own way though its legal to ask a cop for help. no wonder soapy has been thrown out of the restaurant as soon as he tells the waiter he has no money with him. in that age, people wont get what they deserve with the help of cops. whil

57、e cops still have the right to arrest someone whom they think of guilty, people seem to be afraid of them. usually people never do any illegal things to a cops face. if they want to, theyll do it behind his back. 3.4 soapys view of cops irresponsibilityamong soapys six failures of trying to get into

58、 prison, some failed because soapy is not lucky enough and meets some guys who are good at disguising themselves, while two cases failed because of the police. if cops were responsible, careful, righteous, or not running dogs of capitalism, soapy would have got success. in a crimes eyes, such uncaring cops who fail to distinguish right from wrong are obviously popular with him. nevertheless in this