欧亨利短篇小说鉴赏英语文学赏析论文.doc

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1、摘 要: 作为世界三大小说家之一，欧亨利及契诃夫和莫泊桑齐名。他的作品因奇巧的艺术构思，出其不意的结尾而著称。本文以欧亨利的三篇著名短篇小说为例，主要分析了“意料之外情理之内”的“欧亨利式结尾”的处理方法，包括营造出人意料但又符合情理的结尾效果的不同方法，以及这样的结尾方式如何能更深刻的表达人物的情感及小说的主旨。关键词：艺术手法，人性，社会现实，欧亨利式结尾Unexpected and reasonale endingA Brief Comment on O Henrys Short StoriesAbstract: O. Henry, one of the three most famou

2、s short-story writers in the world, enjoys equal status with Chekhov and Maupassant. Exquisite plot, wry humor and twist ending dominate his works. Those surprising but logical endings are the most brilliant in all of the highlights. This thesis mainly analyses O. Henrys surprising but logical endin

3、gs of his famous works such as The Gift of the Magi , The Last Leaf an and The Cop and the Anthem.These O. Henry-style endings impress readers ,and at the same time ,help him express his ideas completely and vividly.So this thesis mainly analyses how O Henry set the plot to achieve the desired endin

4、g effect,and how the twist ending help idea-expression.Key Words: artistic styles; humanity; social reality; O. Henry-style endingContents1. Introduction 12. Unique O-style ending method 22.1 Improbable coincidence 32.2 Sharp contrast 42.3 Repetition and change 63. Conclusion 8Bibliography 91. Intro

5、ductionO. Henry, originally named William Sydney Porter, is a distinguished American storywriter. He wrote more than 300 short stories in his life. His stories are full of colorful characters. He creates an original, typically American democratic form of short stories with, at its best, a valuable c

6、ritical awareness of life and society tellingly expressed through humor. Therefore, some critics call him “the founder of American stories”. Being gifted with humor and a keen awareness of details, he objectively shows us what America looks like. All his stories putting together constitute a true pa

7、norama of American life. This thesis mainly emphasizes O. Henrys unique twist ending. The ending of an article has long been considered as a conclusion or just a summary of the whole passage. However, O. Henry illustrates a new way, the so-called twist ending or sometimes the O. Henrys ending. It me

8、ans that at the end of an article the mental status or the fate of the character has changed greatly. But the whole passage is suddenly endowed with a great charm because of the ending. The author has your nerves all a quiver until the last sentence. The surprise comes quickly and the story is finis

9、hed. O. Henry is such a master of the unexpected ending that one must admire his skills.2. Unique O-style ending methodO. Henrys trademark is the surprising ending that each of his stories contains. He sets a story moving in one direction, and just when the reader is convinced of the general directi

10、on of the narrative, the story will be completely reversed.This kind of ynexpected but reasonable ending which called O.Hernrys ending may be a little sorrowful but it still gives the readers some hope,which is so-called “O.Henrys humor(smile with tears)”. And if we look back to the total story, the

11、 ending seems logical and plausible. As a “plot-maker”, and designer of incident, he is an amazing genius. No one can do better than him to holds the reader in “suspense”. More than that, the reader scarcely knows that he is suspended until the very close of the story. Just as turns on the lights an

12、d the whole tale is revealed in its entirety. He uses this device of dramatic and humorous effect in the short story collection The Four Million which including “The Gift of the Magi ”, and “The Cop and the Anthem”, “the Service of Love”, “The last Leaf.” He often stresses on something important but

13、 not the most important in his works.The most important part always seems to write incidentally,which eben the most circunspective reader may ifnore it.When the stories end in a totally unexpected but reasonable way ,we can do nothing but cheer for O.Henrys literary talent.2.1 Improbable coincidence

14、 (The Gift of the Magi) The novel “The Gift of the Magi” is about a young couple that is short of money but desperately wants to buy each other Christmas gifts. Unknown to Jim, Della sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy platinum as the chain for Jims watch; unknown

15、 to Della, Jim sells his most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Dellas hair.In the end ,both gifts became uselessshort-haired Della got a comb and Jim got a chain for an already-sold watch. What a surprising coincidence! However, when we look back, we can find that O.Henry had

16、 already given us some suggestions.” Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jims gold watch that had been his fathers and his grandfathers. The other was Dellas hair.” This description is related to how they got the money for gi

17、fts and what they bought for each other. The auther used a casual and vague tone deliberately so that few people would think over its meaning before seeing the ending. So the ending turns out to be unexpected but reasonable.This coincidence is filled with complex emotions. People feel touched by the

18、 longlasting true love between the young couple and at the same time ,pity for them for their “unwise” gifts and their cruel bitter life. Though confronted with cruel reality and dull daily routine, Della and Jim can never change their eagerness toward love. To them the most valuable material posses

19、sion is so slight and insignificant ,when compared with the spiritual possession of love romance.Perhaps the gifts were unwise as the author says, but, as he further writes, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest.”In The Gift of the Magi , we feel so pity that Della has

20、 her precious long hair cut. But to our surprise ,Jim has sold the watch to buy the jeweled tortoise-shell combs for her wifes hair. O.Henry does not end on the note of irony and surprise but gives to what he calls his uneventful coincidence of two foolish children the appearance of a little parable

21、 with a significant meaning. The magi , he reminds the reader ,were wise men who brought gifts to the Christ child. As for Jim and Della, the are the magi. This is the ending of the story with O.Henrys own style. 2. 2 Sharp contrast (The last leaf) In this story, Johnsy and Sue are artists who move

22、into Greenwich Village in New York City. As Winter approaches and the weather gets colder, Johnsy becomes ill with pneumonia. She gets so sick that she believes that when the last leaf falls from the vine outside her window, she will die. An old artist, named Behrman, who lives in the same building

23、as the girls, braves a storm one night to paint a leaf on the wall a leaf that will never fall. Cold and wet from painting in the icy rain, he catches pneumonia and dies. This gives Sue the hope to survive her illness, and it also creates the masterpiece Behrman had always dreamed of painting.After

24、reading the novel,we can find that Behrman rarely appears and O.Henry spent few words on him .We only know that he is a bad-tempered old painter. “ He was past sixty and had a Michael Angelos Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along with the body of an imp.” “Behrman was a failure in

25、art”. Behrman earned little money by serving as a non-professional model and was a terrible alcoholic who sometimes “talked of his coming masterpiece”. He was “a fierce little old man, who scoffed terribly at softness in any one”. To be honest, Behrman was not a traditonal pleasing hero at all. He w

26、as fierce in personality , poor in money and untalented in painting.However, it is exactly him who saved Johnsy in a silent and artistic waypainting a leaf on a wall. This leaf gives Sue the hope of living, making her realize that: “It is a sin to want to die”.O.Henry did not tell how he helped Sue,

27、 how he painted his masterpiece and why he chose to do it deliberately but readers knew it from the conversation between Sue and Johnsy indirectly . Many details point to a truth that the old artist sacruificed his life to restore Sues will to live. All these things took place in a cold storming nig

28、ht and Behrman told no one about his plan. It shows that he did it not for praise, but just for saving a young girl.Behrman, given few show-ups and descriptions by the author , was rarely concerned by readers in early plot.Many people even think he is just an unimportant supporting role.But when we

29、see the ending and know the truth, we find we were completely wrong. Behrman was a hero and a savior who did not only save a persons life, but successfully saved an American dream for all the people who seek freedom and peace, connecting the social reality of that time. “The last leaf” is the symbol

30、 of hope, life and faith. Behrman seemed more alive than dead. This Sharp contrast strenthens the theme of love and sacrifice. Behrmans behavior seemed more praiseworthy and inspiring after readers psychological change . Thats what O.Henry wants to achieve. Though the touching ending makes us absorb

31、ed in sadness, the readers can still find gleams of hope and desire out of despair.2.3 Repetition and change(The Cop and the Anthem)In the story The Cop and the Anthem, Soapy, a homeless tramp, deciding to be sent to the prison on the Island which he called his winter quarter against the rigor and t

32、he hunger, attempted to practice several illegal activities for the purpose of “wooing capture”; but the cop, who stood nearby when Soapy was trying to attract his attention by his anti-law behavior, paid no special attention to Soapy every time, even “seemed to regard him as a king who could do no

33、wrong”. Developing up here, the story must give the reader the conclusion that Soapy had to go back disappointedly to his homea park bench. On his way, the sweet music of anthem from the church played by the organist and the beautiful moonlight scenery “wrought a sudden and wonderful change in his s

34、oul”, he made up his mind to “pull himself out of the mire” and “make a man of himself again”. Moving like this, the plot is not completely understandable at once. When the reader is puzzled about the use and meaning of growing plot, and just while Soapy was planning his tomorrows action for being “

35、somebody in the world”, an unforeseen plot, and just while abruptly: he was arrested because a policeman thought him doubtful, and the next day he was sentence to “three months on the Island”. The story stops here suddenly in spite of the readers not immediate understanding. But after a moment of co

36、nsideration, the readers surprise turns into admiration for his astonishing contrivance of tricky ending which reveals rigorously the real facts of reversal between truth and falsehood in capitalist society which confuses right and wrong.In this short stories, the plot develops as Soapys various ant

37、i-law behaviors being ignored by the cop time and time again. This kind of repetition may disappoint and bore readers in some degree.However, its exactly the highlights of the story. The more such repetition occurs the more confused and curious readers become. They cant help wondering, “Why did all

38、these happen again and again? What followed next? How will Soapy finally become?”and so on. Then there comes the change,which is also the climaxSoapy was inspired by the anthem from the church, but before he can truly make a brand new start in his life ,he got arrestted just because he looked like a

39、 criminal. With those repetitions in early times, the final ending seems so ironic and unexpected. Soapy seems more suffered being born in that rough-and-tumble age.3. Conclusion Totally speaking, in O. Henrys works, the events of some short stories are arranged in the specific order which exceed re

40、aders normal expectation to the arrangement of those events in his works, make the ending unpredictable and strange. O. Henry deliberately designs the little tricks with words, for he is a master of language and not its slave. These unexpected but reasonable endings, in many conditions ,are the most

41、 remarkable parts in the novel. They also engage something profound in the human psyche and reflect sociel reality in that age .Bibliography1 Medrick, Fred. An introduction to American literatureM. Henan University Press, 19852 Hudson, Long. O Henry The Man and His WorkC. New York:Russell and Russell, 1969 3 O, Henry, Heart of the WestM. New York: McClure, 19074 O, Henry, The Four MillionM. New York: Dobleday, Doran and Company. 1906 5 O, Henry, 欧亨利短篇小说6 李国宁. 欧亨利式结尾的艺术魅力7 赵书颖. “含泪的笑”及“含笑的泪”浅析欧亨利的主题8 赵丽， 黄春妮. 欧亨利作品导读M. 武汉: 武汉大学出版社 2003 P39 欧亨利. 四百万M. 北京：外语教学及研究出版社，19888 / 8