On The Recovery of Human Goodness in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road Based On Wordsworth’s View of Children_英语论文

摘要

科马克·麦卡锡是美国著名的小说家和剧作家，他被誉为当代最伟大的美国作家之一，其代表作《路》自问世以来受到学界的广泛关注。本论文将从“儿子”形象入手，探讨麦卡锡小说中的儿童对成人善良品质的影响。

本文将从华兹华斯的儿童观出发，结合孟子的性本善论分析麦卡锡笔下儿子这一人物形象的独特性，探讨儿童对于成人的影响以及末世之中人性善良的复苏。麦卡锡的笔下，儿子与父亲之间戏剧化的对白是用于深刻解析人物内心世界的方式,通过挖掘其人性的本质,从而得出人性不灭,善心永存的观点。而后对小说主人公父与子的行为活动和沟通的分析则旨在阐释人性本善的外在表现，尤其对孩子这一形象的象征意义进行了分析,以说明孩子本身就代表着尚未泯灭的人性、善良与希望。

本文也从后人文主义的视角来分析麦卡锡的《路》。后人文主义是对人文主义的反思,修正与超越。通过探讨小说中两位主人公和其他人物对生命和非人类的态度,他们的价值取向和道德抉择,本文指出,就是儿子与父亲所追求的后人文主义生存方式拯救了即将毁灭的世界并让世界充满爱与希望。本研究旨在对当代社会中人类生存状态和儿童与成人的关系问题提供借鉴。

关键词:  科马克·麦卡锡  《路》  儿童观  后人文主义   末世   善良复苏  

Abstract

As a famous American novelist and playwright, Cormac McCarthy is regarded as one of the greatest contemporary American writer. His representative work The Road has been widely concerned by the academic circles since its publication. The author of this thesis will start from the image of “the son” and explore the influence of children on the good quality of adults in McCarthy's novel.  

The author of this thesis will employ Wordsworth’s view of children, Mencius’s concept of human goodness to analyze the son’s uniqueness, the influence of children on adults and the recovery of human goodness in the doomsday. McCarthy applies the dramatic dialogues between the son and the father to highlight his view on innate human goodness, which is adequate for us to believe that the goodness is the eternal essence of humanity. The analysis of the physical behaviors and the interactions between the son and the father contribute to manifest the goodness of humanity. Specifically, through the analysis of the symbolic image of the child, we can find that the child himself is a manifestation of the goodness and hope in the humanity that is not depraved.

The author of this thesis also analyzes The Road from the perspective of post humanism, which is a modern reflection, correction and transcendence over philosophical humanism. With the examples of the two protagonists and other characters in The Road in terms of their different attitudes toward life and nonhumans, values orientations, moral choices and humanity, this thesis argues that it is the post humanistic lifestyle by which the father and the son seek to live that redeems the deserted world and makes the world full of love and hope.This thesis aims to provide insights into the survival of human beings and the relationship between children and adults in contemporary society.

Keywords:  Cormac McCarthy  The Road  view of children  post humanism  doomsday  recovery of human goodness

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Cormac McCarthy and The Road 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.3 Theoretical Framework 4

1.4 Thesis Structure 6

2 The Influence of Children on Adults 8

2.1 McCarthy’s View on Innate Goodness of Human 8

2.2 The Interaction between the Son and the Father 8

2.3 The Symbolic Meaning of the Son 10

3 The Recovery of Human Goodness in Doomsday 13

3.1 McCarthy’s Post Humanism in The Road 13

3.2 The Right Moral Choice of the Son and the Father 14

Conclusion 16

Acknowledgements 18

References 19