《蝇王》中戈尔丁的悲剧意识

       《蝇王》中戈尔丁的悲剧意识                                          

          William Golding’s Tragic Consciousness in Lord of the Flies                                        

专    业                William Golding’s Tragic Consciousness in Lord of the Flies                                 

Abstract

Lord of the Flies (1954) is the well-known contemporary British novelist - William Gerald Golding’s (1911 - 1993) famous work and masterpiece, and it was for this novel that Golding won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1983. Intensively concerned with humanity, Lord of the Flies reflected Golding’s tragic consciousness, which can undoubtedly be traced back to his life experiences and the social background, and which was revealed deeply in the two conflicts presented in the novel with one between ideal and reality, and the other between morality and utilitarianism. Golding’s tragic text attained the artistic and realistic value in this novel mainly with writing techniques of irony and symbolism. The study of Golding’s tragic consciousness helps to reveal the theme of the evil humanity, and encourages people to explore solutions to the social problems, and to pursue a better and more enjoyable life.（删除）

Although many scholars have studied this novel, few of them pay attention to the tragic consciousness in Lord of the Flies. As an “aesthetic character of tragedy”, tragic consciousness is the reflection of tragic reality and culture, and is also the tragic aesthetic feeling. It means a correct understanding and grasp of the tragedy and it also shows how people survive difficulties in a mature way. Moreover, it expresses the author’s profound reflection on and deep concern about human destiny. Golding uses his tragic consciousness to make the readers hear, feel and see the innermost part of man himself. In this way readers can have a better understanding about the true face of the world and themselves. Guided by the plausible events and the profound significance, readers can ponder and form their own opinions about the world, nature, human beings and the methods to deal with the relationships among all these three.

Key Words: Lord of the Flies; Golding; tragic consciousness; causes; values

Contents

Introduction 1

1 Causes of Golding’s tragic consciousness 2

1.1 Personal factors 2

1.2 Social factors 3

2 Embodiment of Golding’s tragic consciousness in the novel 5

2.1 Conflict between ideal and reality 5

2.2 Conflict between morality and utilitarianism 6

3 Artistic skills used to reveal Golding’s tragic consciousness 9

3.1 Irony 9

3.2 Symbolism 12

Conclusion 14

Works cited 15

Acknowledgements 16