英美小说论文

1、. The generation gap between immigrants the theme analysis of Old Rogaum and His TheresaIntroduction: Old Rogaum and His Theresa is a representative work of social realism in American literature, which shows the relationship between two generations of immigrants, which still exists nowadays. In the

2、following part, I will discuss some main points of this excellent story. There are two plot lines proceeding in this story: the death of the drunk woman and old Rogaums search for his losing daughter Theresa. Old Rogaum was so wrathful to his daughters unresponsive reaction to his constant calls for

3、 her that he decided to give her a lesson by locking her out just as he always shouted to her. Out of his expectation, Theresa chose to spend her night out with the well-known masher Almerting. As a result, he couldnt help looking for his daughter all night in the streets vainly. At the same time, a

4、 drunk woman suicide at the outside door of Mr. Rogaums home and the local cop had a brief research for her death, who was deserted by her lover. It was said that the dead woman went on the road to become a prostitute as she was locked out by her family before. The officers was alert to the joint mi

5、sery between Theresa and the woman. Therefore, he joined in the search for the losing Theresa. Finally, they found them in the garden and Theresa got back home safely. The appearance of the dead womans history created suspense to Theresas fate, as their nearly same age, their similar appearance and

6、same experience (they were both locked out by their family)cause readers to worry about Theresas fate. The juxtaposition and interaction of the two lines makes readers out of association and imagination successfully, which shows the writers craftsman, especially the novelty and interests.The occurre

7、nce of the whole story resulted from reaching the peak of contradiction of the father and daughter, which included the existing generations gap and the crash of the local culture and immigrants culture.Old Rogaum was one of thousands of immigrants to America as well as an ordinary father who tried t

8、o get control of his family his wife and children. He was responsible for his family and loved them deeply while he also had his defects obstinate, autocratic and bad-tempered. He went to bed regularly and also requested his children when they were called back. He didnt allow his Theresa to date wit

9、h streetboys. He always roared at Theresa for her being late and threatened to lock her out. All of these actions and talks showed his bad temper as well as his concern with them. What impressed us most was what he did while he was looking for his daughter. He roamed along the street with regrets an

10、d frustrating worries. When he got informed of his daughters safety, he went to meet Theresa overflowing with a mingled emotion which contained rage, fear sorrow and number of other things. All of these are testimony to his deep love to his daughter.However, as he was still an immigrant of German, s

11、till speaking half in German and half in English, he could not totally accept the American culture in his mind. He wanted Theresa to pick some nice sober youth from among other Germans he and his wife knew here and there at Lucheran Church rather than the typical youngster Almerting. He showed his d

12、islike by scolding Theresa everyday. While he was present with his daughter and Almerting, he tended to have a beating to him. Whats more, after returning home, he turned to swear the streetboy while Theresa was speaking in defence of her absence.Theresa was another culture, she was from New York an

13、d spoke perfect English. She was scared of the street boys or at night. She thought it was normal and wonderful to be out with them. She saw a different way of life than the one her father expected her to have. Even Theresa is home safe with her parents, other issue between her and her parents about

14、 staying out too late was not resolved. Her expectation toward love was mixed with her nature as a youth in revolt in the level of the generations gap. We can learn that from her reactions to old Rogaums autocracy. At first, she just spoke to herself complaining about his fathers unjustifiable actio

15、ns. Following that, in the night she was locked out, she acted as Diana, which was a new element not appeared in her life, the nature but nevertheless wholly Theresa was called in life. Her girlish rashness and anger dominated her. She decided to resist against her father and went away with her stea

16、dy. In the ending, she continued arguing with her father told him about the street boy Almerting, which showed her acceptance to the local culture.Their different attitudes toward the American culture resulted from their different experiences. Old Rogaum could not mingle with local culture due to hi

17、s early life in his hometown while Theresa was accustomed to the life in America and considered himself as a member of them. The writer implicitly expressed Rogaums attitude in use of symbolism. The butcher Rogaum held a shop in the Bleaker Street. There was a little portico stand out of the room wi

18、thin a second or final door, forming with the outer or storm door. The second door was always locked but the outer door was never locked, owing to the inconvenience it would inflict on Mr. Rogaum, who had no other way of getting upstairs. Actually, the second door was symbolized by the entrance to h

19、is inner world, which showed his rejective mood to the local culture. However, the outer door , which was never locked was a perfect place where his wife and children received the outside information and an implication of his other familys acceptance to the local place. He was inflicted by the outer

20、 door and thought it was unnecessary to lock the outer door as he had locked the inner door safely. All of these implied that he expressed his resignation to it and thought it useful to just lock his inner world but Theresas being locked out gave him a lot of unpleasant experiences and feelings. Thi

21、s was a real conflict of different cultures and he failed to some extent. In my opinion, the cultural fusion of different cultures is inevitable, especially for the immigrants.The story shows social realism by showing how things really are, in an everyday occurrence, not how society wants it to be.

22、Theresa does what she wants, following her desires, not what is expected of her. Roguam is not a perfect father, he shows flaws by not listening to his wife or his daughter, and punishing her harshly, but he reacts as a real father might react. The parents dialect contributes to its realism, as Drei

23、ser interweaves German with English. Roguam and his wife, being German immigrants, speak partially in German, especially when emotional. None of the events or characters in the story are romanticized. The characters in Old Rogaum and His Theresa are created in resemblance of Dreisers family. John Paul Dreiser, Theodore Dreisers father, was a German immigrant and the model for old Rogaum. Theresas love of the city matches Theo