浅析欧亨利短篇小说成功的秘诀.docx
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浅析欧亨利短篇小说成功的秘诀.docx
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浅析欧亨利短篇小说成功的秘诀
AnAnalysisoftheSecretsbehindtheSuccessofO.Henry’sShortStories
I.Introductiontotheauthorandartisticfeaturesinhisshortstories
A.Introductionoftheauthor
O.HenrywasthepseudonymoftheAmericanwriterWilliamSydneyPorter(September11,1862—June5,1910).HewasborninGreensboro,NorthCarolina,thesonofphysicianAlgernonSidneyPorter.HismotherdiedwhenPorterwasthreeandhewasplacedinthecareofhispaternalgrandmother.Heleftschoolatfifteenandbeganworkinhisuncle'spharmacywherehebecamealicensedpharmacist.HelatermovedtoHouston,andthentoAustin,Texas.Afteraseriesofjobs,in1891hebecameatellerwiththeFirstNationalBankinAustinwherehewaschargedwithembezzlingfunds,achargesomestillquestion.Leavinghiswifeanddaughter,PorterfledtoNewOrleans,thentoHonduras,butreturnedbecauseofhiswife'sdeterioratinghealth.ShediedshortlybeforePorterwasconvictedofembezzlementandsentencedtofiveyearsinprison.WhileinprisonPorterstartedtowriteshortstoriestosupporthisdaughterMargaret.UsingthepennameO.Henry,hisstory,WhistlingDick'sChristmasStockingappearedinMcClure'sMagazinein1899,adozenmorestoriesfollowed.Afterservingthreeyearshewasreleasedfromprisonin1901.HemovedtoNewYorkCityin1902wherehewroteastoryaweekfortheNewYorkWorld.Hisfirstcollection,CabbagesandKingswaspublishedin1904.ThesecondTheFourMillion,publishedtwoyearslaterincludedthefamous;TheGiftoftheMagi.TheequallyfamousTheRansomofRedChief,wasincludedin‘Whirligigs’publishedin1910.O.Henrypublishedtencollectionsandover600shortstoriesduringhislifetimegainingworldwideacclaimasAmerica'sshortstorywriter.Henry'slastyearsweretroubledbyalcoholism,illhealth,andfinancialproblems.HediedofcirrhosisoftheliverinaNewYorkhospitalalmostpenniless.TodaytheO.HenryAwardsareanannualrecognitiongiventooutstandingshortstories,theO.HenryPun-OffWorldChampionshipsareheldeachyearinAustin,Texashostedbythecity'sO.HenryMuseumandacleveruseoftwistendingsinanystoryistermedan‘O.HenryEnding.’
B.Artisticfeaturesinhisworks
1.Apreliminaryintroductionofhisworks
InO.Henry’sworks,sometimeswecanseetherealityofhumanliving,goodandevil,thevalueandmeaningoflife,thedarknessofsociety,aswellasbittertearswithsmile.ButsuchworksofO.Henryaretoofew,hisworks,amonghalfofthemcannotberegardedasmasterpieceswhileafewaredifficulttoread.Ithink,thisisprobablybecauseO.Henryhaswrittentoofastandtoomuch,causingthoseunevenworks.What’smorewecouldfindsomeplotsinhisworkswherethewriterrepeatedhimselfandhumoredonlyforthesakeofhumor.However,inordertomakeliving,O.Henryhadtowritequickly,whichisreallysuchabadthing----probablytheworkConfessionsofHumorististheportrayaltothissorrowfulrealitybyO.Henry.
MorethanhalfofO.Henry’snovelsarerealism,buttherearealsosomeworksinadifferentstylesuchastheTheDreamwhichwasnotfinishedbeforehepassedtheworld.ThemainroleMurrayhasbeenputintoprisonwhenhewasdreaming,beforetobesentencedtodeath,thereasonforthispenaltyisthat“Murray,thecriminalaccusedandconvictedofthebrutalmurderofhissweetheart-amurderpromptedbyjealousrage,”and“–atfirstfacesthedeathpenalty,calm,and,toalloutwardappearances,indifferenttohisfate.”atthistime,“Ashenearstheelectricchairheisovercomebyarevulsionoffeeling.Heisleftdazed,stupefied,stunned.Theentiresceneinthedeathchamber–thewitnesses,thespectators,thepreparationsforexecution–becomesunrealtohim.Thethoughtflashesthroughhisbrainthataterriblemistakeisbeingmade.”(Henry734-735)
Thisnovelonlyownstwopageswhilethestyleistotallydifferentfromhispastworksandlookslikeamodernisticwork.Andwhentalkingaboutcreationintention,O.Henryoncesaidlikethis:
IwanttoshowthepublicthatIcanwritesomethingnew–newforme,Imean–astorywithoutslang,astraightforwarddramaticplottreatedinawaythatwillcomenearermyideaofrealstory–writing(Henry734).
WhatagreatpitythatwecannotappreciatethetwistendingmethodofO.Henryinthisworkforever.
AnotherspecialworkisRoadsofDestiny,thoughithasthesimilarstructurewithArabianNights,fable-stylebrushwork,buttakingawholelook,itcanberegardedasapaperinthestreamofconsciousness.
TheiterateddescriptionbetweendreamsandrealitiesinthenovelTheMagicKiss,makingthework’sstyleclosetothestreamofconsciousness,oritcanberegardedasthestreamofconsciousness.Buttheideologicallevelofthelevelisrathercommon.
InthepartofArtandLiteratureinTimes,thereisanEssayfromCollectionsofO.Henry,whichrecords12poemsandsomeletters.Buttheselettersarebasicallysatirewithlitterartisticvalue.Hislettersareveryhumorousandsomeareasinterestingashisnovels.Thereisonethingwehavetonoticethathementionedhiscreationtheoryinaletter.Thefollowingissomeabstract:
Iwanttowriteastoryofaperson----notaspecialperson,butakind----while,atthesametime,Iwantthispersontopresent“thekindofnaturalhuman”,ifsuchapersonreallyexists.Thenoveliswithoutlessons,withoutmoralspeechandwithouttheorydevelopment.
Iwantittobe……theideaofaperson,atruerecordofunfortunateandadventure.
Thetruthdoesnotindisguisedobjectivelyunderthenameofsomething.Ireferthat,forthemainrole,everythingistrueopinionandevaluation.
IwanttoleteveryoneseehowGodputhimintoimpasse……Iwanttoleteveryoneknowwhathecandoforthis(Xiao12).
O.Henry’sshortstoriesarewellknownfortheirwit,wordplay,warmcharacterizationandclevertwistendings.Inthisthesis,IwanttomakeapreliminaryanalysisonthesuccessofO.Henry’sshortstoriesfromthefollowingparts:
dramaticscene,characterization,useofpuns,surprisingendings,thebeginningandsomeotherproofs.
2.Reasonforthethesis
ThereasonwhyIwanttodoaresearchofO.Henryisthatfirstlyhereallyownedahighstatusintheworldliterature.Hisworkshasbeenwidelyspreadthroughouttheworld.Thenitismypersonalloveofthewriter.IwasdeeplyimpressedbyhissurprisingendingwhenIfirstreadthestoryTheGiftoftheMagi.AndthefiguresinO.Henry’sworksareallverylovelyandkindandalsorememberbyreadersaftertheirfirstreading.
II.DramaticscenesinO.Henry’sshortstories
A.DramaticsceneinPsycheandtheSkyscraper
O.Henryissuchawriterwhoisgoodatseizingtypicallydramaticsceneswhichareinterestingandfullofphilosophy.InthestoryPsycheandtheSkyscraper,thechiefactressDaisyislovedbytwoboysatthesametime.OnceshegoestotheroofoftheSkyscraperforgreatsightswiththephilosopher.ThephilosophertalkedtoomuchabouttheknowledgehegainedfromencyclopediasuchasthedistancebetweentheSunandtheEarth,theorderlinessandmovementofstarsetc.Toanaveragereader,theseshouldberathersimpleandcommon,whileinDaisy’seyes,thesearetotallyshockingandseemslikeaswindlemadebythephilosopher.AtlengthDaisychoosestheotherpersonasherhusband.Inthestory,thewritersharplycriticizedtheignoranceofthosepeoplewholivedatthattimeinanironicaltone(Shen24).
B.DramaticsceneintoSeeaDoctor
SuchtypicaldramaticscenesareverycommoninO.Henry’works,inthestoryToSeeaDoctor,theleadingactorhasgotadistractednervousbreakdown,duetotheover-therapymethodofthedoctorinthecity,e.g.thedoctortakestheleadingactortomadhouseforrecuperation;lethimdocoordinatedmovementandtrainingthatareimpossibletoendure;orlethimdietaccordingtospecialrecipe.Throughthoseafflictions,thepatientbecomesfullofambivalencewhiletheillnessbecomesworseandworse.Laterhelearnedthatthereisaspecialkindofherbcancurehisstubborndiseasewhileitisverydifficultforattaining.Inordertocurethedisease,Tatumtakestheleadingroleintothemountainforamonthandsearchfortheherb,allthepeopleinthevillagesaythatthediseasehasturnedoutbetter.Atthemomenttheleadingrolecompletelyunderstandsthatactuallytheso-calledherbsdonotexist,thevillagedoctoronlywantstotakethepatientforclimbingmountainsandenjoyingbeauties,makingaclosecontactwiththenature,thusyouwillrelaxyourmindandbody.Thewriterexpressedhiswisdominanexaggeratedandhumorouswaybetweenthelineswiththought-provokingphilosophies.
Whenreadingthisstory,whenhuntingfornovelty,weshouldalsohaveascanatlifeinO.Henry’seyesandlearntojudgebetweentruthandfalsehood.Onlyinthiswaywecanunderstandthenovelclearly,thenholdingtheessenceandhistoricalvalueofthenovel.
III.Characterization
AsIhavementionedbefore,IlovethefiguresinO.Henry’sshortstoriesandtheyareallkindlovelyandhonest.Inthissection,Iwillmakeanintroductionofthesefigures.
A.Kindness
KindnessisoneofthebiggestcharacterizationsinO.Henry’sworks.ThefiguresinO.Henry’worksareallreluctanttohelpothersnomatterhowdifficultthesituationisorhowgreateffortstheywillmake,suchasthemainroleBermanintheshortstoryTheLastLeaf.Bermanisatypicalrepresentativeforthepoorintheartisticcircleandhisactionrevealsthepreviousfriendshipexistedbetweenthosepeoplewhoareleadingapoorlifebutwillingtohelpothers.Andhisactionsalsoareareflection
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