Abstract:

Bildungsroman also called initiation novel, originated from German, has been very popular among American and British novelists. Therefore it has a very important position in American and British literature. Many famous writers have famed in creating initiation novels, for instances, English writers Charles Dickens and Daniel Defoe and American writers William Faulkner and Mark Twain. Great Expectations is Charles Dickens’ later work, an excellent education initiation novel. The story is about a poor little boy Pip who has experienced many ups and downs during the early part of his life, learned how to pursue true happiness and finally understand the meanings of friendship and love. In the end, he becomes a man of maturity. Barn Burning, a short story of William Faulkner’s, tells about a ten-years-old boy named Sarty, who faces his father’s principle only of blood ties and his so-called righteousness of using violence to solve all his problems. Sarty abides by the inner voice of justice and betrays his father. William Faulkner let litter Sarty make a correct choice from the sense of family justice and blood relationship, through which the author aims to express that there is inherent goodness deep in one’s heart and human nature is basically beautiful.
  Pip lives at the end of the 19th-century Britain, and Sarty experiences poor life in the American South after the Great Depression. Although Pip and Sarty live in different times, from different countries and totally different family backgrounds, they experience many different ups and downs, taste joy, anger, sadness, awakening disillusion and grow up .Their growing-up patterns have universal reference.

Key words: initiation novel; Charles Dickens; Great Expectations; William Faulkner; Barn Burning

摘要：

成长小说虽源于德国，但这个体裁深受英美小说家的青睐，因此成长小说在英美文学史上占有很重要的地位。许多文坛大师都有著名的成长小说，如英国的查尔斯·狄更斯，丹尼尔·笛福以及美国的威廉·福克纳，马克·吐温等。《远大前程》被认为是狄更斯晚年写成的一部优秀的教育小说，故事讲诉的是贫苦孤儿皮普在经历了人生的大起大落后明白了怎样去追求自己的幸福，懂得了友谊，爱情的意义，并最终成为一个更加成熟的人。《烧牲口棚》是福克纳早期的一个短篇小说，故事讲诉一个十岁的孩子萨蒂在面对父亲用暴力解决一切的处事原则时选择听从自己内心正义的呼声而做出背叛父亲的抉择。福克纳让小萨蒂在在家庭观念，血缘关系与仁义，公道，正派等处事规则的冲突中做出正确的道德选择，其实他想表明人的内心深处有着自然向善的本性和与生俱来的美好人性。 
    皮普生活在19世纪末的英国，而萨蒂在经济大萧条后的美国南方经历着赤贫生活，他俩在不同的地域，不同的时期，不同的家庭背景下经历着既相似又不同的喜怒哀乐，觉醒，顿悟，并不断的成长起来，他们的成长历程具有普适性的借鉴意义。

关键词：成长小说；查尔斯·狄更斯 ；《远大前程》；威廉·福克纳；《烧牲口棚》