浅析欧亨利短篇小说成功的秘诀.docx

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