-外国语《蝇王》的现代性启示人性的自赎学士学位论文.doc

蝇王的现代性启示：人性的自赎Modernity Revelation of Lord of the Flies:Humanity Self-salvationHuang Fen Under the Supervision ofLi LiqinSchool of Foreign Languages and CulturesPanzhihua UniversityMay 2009Contents Abstract.IKey Words.I摘要 .II关键词.IIIntroduction.1I. The Tragic Vein of Lord of the Flies.2A. Analysis on Simon.2B. Piggys Tragedy.3C. Dialectical Tragedy of Jack.3 II. Factors Attributed to the Tragedy Juvenile Delinquency.5A. Blame of the Society.5a. Influence of War.5b. Poor Juvenile Justice System.5c. Family Environment and Education.6B. Psychological Problems of Adolescents7a. “Ostrich” Psychological.7b. Adolescent Rebellion.7c. Material Desires.8III. Measures to Achieve Salvation.10A. Changes of the External Factors.10B. Improvement of the Inherent Factors.12IV. Modernity Significance of Humanity Self-salvation.15A. Promotion of Humans Development.15B. Social Evolution.15Conclusion.17Acknowledgements.19Bibliography.20AbstractLord of the Flies by the English contemporary writer William Golding is a philosophical novel about human nature. It is Goldings masterpiece created under his decision to help human beings face the darkness of their hearts by revealing the evil side of human nature in his work. This paper begins with an analysis of the tragic fate of three typical characters in the text, and then talks about an existing social problemJuvenile Delinquency, reflected by these tragedies. Next, the causes of such problem in civilized society are found in a complex of psychological and social factors, and the necessity to control its pervasion is to be emphasized as well. The following part is to be the concrete measures put forward to by the paper to prevent and solve the problem of Juvenile Delinquency. Last, this paper talks about how the restraint of Juvenile Delinquency embodies humans self-salvation, and then the modernity significance of humanity self-salvation to humans development and social civilization brings this paper to an end. Key WordsLord of the Flies; tragic fate; Juvenile Delinquency; humanity self-salvation摘 要 英国当代作家威廉戈尔丁的小说蝇王是一部探索人性的哲理性小说。戈尔丁决定通过自己的作品揭示人性中邪恶的一面，帮助人类面对自己心灵深处的黑暗，作为其代表作，蝇王正是在这种思想指导下创作而成。本文通过剖析文本中三个典型人物的悲剧命运，反映出一个现存的社会问题青少年犯罪。然后，本文从社会环境和青少年自身素质两方面去追溯造成文明社会中这一现象的根源，引申出遏制其蔓延的必要性。进一步提出了预防和解决青少年犯罪问题的具体措施，从而探讨了青少年犯罪的遏制如何体现人性的自赎。通过阐述人性的自赎揭示其对人类自身发展和社会进步具有的现代意义。关键词蝇王；悲剧命运；青少年犯罪；人性的自赎IntroductionWilliam Golding set his novel Lord of the Flies at a time when Europe was in the midst of nuclear destruction. A group of boys, being evacuated from England to Australia, crashed lands on a tropical island. No adults survived the crash in the story, and those boys were descent into chaos, disorder, and evil. Lord of the Flies has attracted an immense amount of criticism since its publication. Bernard F. Dick believes that the books strength is grounded in its mythic level by tracing the influence of the Greek dramatists, especially Euripides, whose play The Bacchae Golding himself acknowledged is an important source of his thinking. Dick notes that The Bacchae and Lord of the Flies both portray a bipolar society in which the Apollonian (represented by Ralph) refuses or is unable to assimilate the Dionysian (represented by the hunters). Diane Andrews Henningfeld, a professor at Adrian College of U.S.A., explores how Goldings novel can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. While it is possible to read Lord of the Flies as an allegory, the work is so complex that it can be read as allegorizing the political state of the world in the postwar period; as a Freudian psychological understanding of human kind; or as the Christian understanding of the fall of human kind. In his essay, professor Guan Jianming talks about that due to the existence of the theme of salvation, the revealing of human evil points out reversely the way for human beings tendency to be good and get salvation in the dialectical level. Professor Jin Xins essay tries to explore the modern revelations from the aspects of avoidance of freedom, crazy pursuit of materials and influence of the war. This paper puts emphasis on the existing social problemJuvenile Delinquency. The first part is to analyze the tragic fate of the three typical characters in the novel. The second part is to search for the factors attributed to the issue from the aspects of social environment and adolescents qualities. And then some countermeasures are put forward to so as to help prevent and solve the problem in the third part. This paper pays attention to overcoming the psychological problems of human beings from the adolescent period to achieve humanity self-salvation. Since childhood is an emblem of the innocence of humankind, it is necessary and significant to restrain the perversion of human evil from childhood for humans development and social evolution.I. The Tragic Vein of Lord of the FliesAll characters of Lord of the Flies are children, who are supposed to be closest to a state of innocence and artlessness. However, instead of cheerful and happy air, the tragic color is throughout the novel.A. Analysis on SimonPerhaps the most symbolic character in the story, Simon represents the religious prophet or seer who is sensitive and inarticulate yet who, of all the boys, perhaps sees reality most clearly. Simons special powers are signaled early in the story when, even though he is not one of the bigger boys, he is chosen by Ralph to join him and Jack to explore the island. Among all the boys, Simons behavior is perhaps the most exemplary during the first part of the story. He is Ralphs faithful helper in building the shelters. Simon alone recognizes that “maybe its (the beast is) only us” (Golding: 82) or just a “pigs head on a stick.” (Golding: 132) Simon, for all his sensitivity and fears, knows that the only way to deal with fear is to face it. When no one else wants to climb back up the mountain after seeing the “beast from air,” it is Simon who proposes just such a climb. “What else is there to do?” (Golding:119) he reasons. And even after Simon imagines the beast telling him, with the “infinite cynicism of adult life,” that “everything was a bad business,” (Golding: 130) he answers, “I know that.”(Golding: 130) Ralphs vision of how things are going is all too-human and clouded compared to Simons, though Simon must periodically retreat to the candle-budded trees in the forest to restore and maintain this clear-sightedness. Yet even Simon faints with weakness and disgust after seeing the beast and imagining it saying, “You knew, didnt you? Im part of you? Im the reason why its no go? Why things are what they are?” (Golding: 133) When confronted with the realization that he is isolated and cut off from the others in his special knowledge, and just as afraid to die as any of them, Simon begins to lose the vision that had made him a potential savior of the group.A ritual and make-believe killing of the pig at the beginning as a way of celebrating a good hunt now becomes a real ritual murder. Simon, in an attempt to tell the others about his discovery of the “man on the hill,” accidentally stumbles into a ring of littluns and is killed in the confusion. The incident marks an important turning point in the story, for it is the first time that the boys have deliberately killed one of their own.B. Piggys Tragedy Similarly as Simon, Piggy also died. Piggy is an intelligent and rational boy whose excess weight and asthma often make him the butt of the others jokes. Yet because of his scientific approach to problems, Piggy is a voice of reason without whom Ralphs leadership would have been undermined far sooner. It is Piggy who not only recognizes the significance of the conch but whose spectacles enable Ralph to start the fire, whose smoke is their only chance of being saved. It is Piggy who realizes that building the shelters is at least as important for their long-term survival as keeping the fire going. It is Piggys understanding of the depths of Jacks hatred for Ralph that forces Ralph to confront his despair at their prospects for getting along. And it is Piggy who makes the brilliant, however simple, suggestion that the fire be moved down to the beach away from the “beast from air.”For all his intellectual powers, however, Piggy is basically ineffectual without Ralph. Piggy is a man of thought, not of action, and he is physically weak because of his asthma. Without his spectacles, he is blind and helpless. After Jack has broken one lens of his glasses and stolen the other, Piggy is doomed in a society where irrational fears and physical strength are more respected than science, law, and dialogue. It is significant that Piggy and the conch are both destroyed at the same time by a huge rock rolled down a cliff by Roger, who has been freed by Jack from the taboo of the old life under the protection of parents, schools, policemen and the law to unleash his savage instincts. Of all the children, Piggy is the most adult in his appearance, behavior, and beliefs. His thinning hair, which never seems to grow, and his frequent appeals to “what grownups would do” (Golding: 129) suggest his maturity and wisdom. In the closing lines of the book, Ralph weeps not only for “the end of innocence, the darkness of mans heart,” (Golding: 186) but for “the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy.” (Golding: 187)C. Dialectical Tragedy of Jack In contrast, Jacks tragedy is dialectical. Jack Merridew would have preferred to be called Merridew, his last name, rather than a “kid name.” This attitude may suggest the “simple arrogance” that causes Jack to propose himself for chief. After all, he exclaims, “Im chapter chorister and head boy.” (Golding: 19) It is true that Jack has the advantage of being tall; his direction of the choir is another sign of an “obvious leader.” As a political animal, however, Jack recognizes that choir conducting will not get him far on a deserted island. His decision to turn the choir into a group of hunters with himself as leader shows that he can be a wily strategist. In other ways, however, Jack is careless and destructive, as he accidentally steps on Piggys glasses and breaks a lens. Moreover, Jack becomes so fixated with hunting that he neglects the fire, which goes out before the boys can signal a passing ship. As Ralphs civilized world disintegrates, Jacks savage society becomes more distinct and powerful. Jack separates his group from Ralphs when the group fails to dethrone Ralph and recognizes Jack as leader. Then Jack sets about wooing away the other boys to his group. One way is by inviting everyone to a pig roast. Another is by painting his hunters bodies and masking their faces, thus turning them into an anonymous mob of fighters who can wound and kill without fear of being singled out as guilty. With Jacks successful theft of Piggys last glass lens, the hunters raid on Ralph and Piggys fire, the capture and defection of Sam and Eric, and finally Piggys death, as engineered by Jack and Roger, the “savages” power is almost absolute. At last, it is Jacks order to use fire to destroy Ralphs hiding places, and even Jack himself can not control the forces of evil that virtually destroys the island.It is Jack who changes the fire from being a signal for rescue to a lethal scourge. His tragedy lies in his lose of morality. He fails to recognize a moral code where law and cooperation is the best and killing is wrong. As the author once commented, the moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system. . Factors Attributed to the Tragedy Juvenile DelinquencyAlthough these tragedies are different, they all reflect an existing social problemJuvenile Delinquency. Simon, Piggy, and Jack are all the direct or indirect victims. The following are the factors attributed to the problem from tow aspects.A. Blame of the Societya. Influence of the WarWhat comes first to blame for the Juvenile Delinquency is the influence of war in that particular time. The time when Golding wrote Lord of the Flies was the postwar years of World War II. As he joined World War II in person, Golding deeply experienced the evil of human nature and the cruelty of war. For Golding, war is an explosion of human evil accumulating to a certain degree. War is the main clue throughout the novel. It is war that had these boys marooned and isolated on an island; it is war that brought a corpse of a pilot that deepened childrens fear of the beast; it is war that forced these children to face the cruel reality after being rescued. The act of slaughtering Simon and Piggy is actually an epitome of the slaughtering scene in real war. The ambition to be a leader among the boys determines the inevitable conflict between Ralph and Jack. It ultimately leads to the destruction of both their partners and the whole island. In fact, it is not a real war, for the characters are all children, but it can be regarded as a war in the sense of development. The death of Simon and Piggy is the right consequence of the war.b. Poor Juvenile Justice SystemThe other factor responsible for Juvenile Delinquency falls to the poor juvenile justice system. Without the restraint of certain disciplines, the primary civilized society symbolized by a conch shell on the small island turned to disorder and chaos. As the conch shell was smashed, the evil power dominated the whole island. They killed Simon and Piggy without being published, so they continued to hunt Ralph, the representative of social order and civilization.Accordin