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1、 分类号 编号毕 业 论 文THE SEEKING OF SELFHOOD UNDER THE SAME COLOR -THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE THEMATIC CONCERN IN INVISIBLE MAN AND THE HAIRY APE 同一“色彩”下自我本质的追求申请学位： 文学学士 院 系： 外国语学院 专 业： 英 语 姓 名： 学 号： 指导老师： THE SEEKING OF SELFHOOD UNDER THE SAME COLOR -THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE THEMATIC CONCERN IN INV
2、ISIBLE MAN AND THE HAIRY APE BySUPERVISORSubmitted toThe School of Foreign LanguagesIn Partial Fulfillment of the RequirementsFor the Degree of Bachelor of ArtsIn the Department of English毕业论文（设计）任务书院（系）：姓名学号毕业届别专业英语毕业论文（设计）题目同一“色彩”下自我本质的追求指导教师学历博士职称讲师所学专业英语具体要求(主要内容、基本要求、主要参考资料等)：同学的论文写作将从第七学期的第15周
3、到第八学期的13周周末结束。论文的长度至少4000字左右英语单词。论文应涉及有关同一“色彩”下自我本质的追求的内容。需充分利用图书馆及网络资源查阅相关材料。论文必须包括引言（Introduction）、正文、结语（Conclusion）。在整个论文写作过程中应与指导老师保持联系，按照外院英语专业本科毕业论文写作规范的要求以及老师的指导按时完成论文写作和提交论文。论文需立论正确，论据充分，结论严谨合理，文理通顺。论文应用电脑排版打印，按照封面、扉页、任务书、致谢、英文摘要、中文摘要、目录、正文、参考文献、指导老师评审表、评阅人评审表、毕业论文答辩评审表、封底的顺序装订好后提交论文指导老师。进度安
4、排：1 第七学期第十五周：学生提交论文题目。2 第八学期第一周：学生提交开题报告（中文）。3 第八学期第二周：学生提交论文提纲（英文）。4 第八学期第八周：学生提交论文初稿（不少于4000字）。5 第八学期第十三周末：学生提交定稿。6 第八学期第十六周末：学生论文答辩。 指导教师签字：2008年 2 月 20 日院（系）意见： 教学院长（主任）（签字）： 年 月 日备注：ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSFor the completion of my B. A thesis, first, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervi
5、sor, Prof. Zhang, who has given me the most valuable suggestions and advice, and made necessary corrections. Then I am greatly indebted to Prof. Gong for his advice on the format and help with my computerization and I also owe a lot to Ralph Waldo Ellison and Eugene ONeil who have shown much conside
6、ration for my composition and have provided me with some useful materials. CONTENTSAcknowledgementsABSTRACT1摘 要21Introduction32 Innocence in the Ideal Dreams 42.1The Blind Optimism of the Two Main Characters52.2Waking Up From the Dreams63 Tracing Back to the Individual Identity 73.1The Importance of
7、 the Individual Identity 83.2The Comparison of the Surbodinate Roles in the Two Works 93.2.1The Surbodinate Roles in Invisible Man 103.2.2.The Surbodinate Roles in Hairy Ape114 The Question of the Interrelationship Between the Self and the World.124.1 The Conflicts Between the Self and the World.134
8、.2 The Two Heroes of the Modern Society144.3 Raising of Themes to a Higher Level15Conclusion16Bibliography17 AbstractObviously, the Invisible Man and the Hairy Ape are written in different literary forms and times. However, we will find there are a lot of things in common among the themes, backgroun
9、ds and characters in the two different works. Actually, the seeking of selfhood in the two books is beyond the color or class. Finally the two great authors help us to find the only way to solve the universal problem of losing identity, that is, to establish a harmonious society. Invisible Man is mo
10、re than a “protest novel.” There is, on the one hand, good reason to read the novel as one African American book on racial discrimination, black-white relationship, and the rebellious stance that the African American protagonist evinces toward an unjust and repressive society. On the other hand, Inv
11、isible Man means much more than that. It covers a much more extensive territory of life, so that it transcends race and racial relations, and goes beyond protest to a new phase of perception in the evolution of the African American awareness. Seeking of the self identity is the main theme of this no
12、vel.The Hairy Ape is one of the most important plays written by Eugene ONeill. Through employing the figure, Yank, the writer has disclosed the theme of belongings of people in the society and exposed the miserable situation of lower class. The Hairy Ape also has the similar thematic concern that is
13、 seeking of the selfhood. So the two novels concern the universal problem the seeking of selfhood rather than the problem of racial or class discrimination. On the seeking of identity the two novels are beyond the color and class. When there is no difference between color and class, we can achieve t
14、he harmonious society and find our own identity. Key word： seeking; color; class; selfhood 摘要显而易见，无形人和毛猿写于不同的年代也属于不同的文学体裁，但是经过仔细阅读和思考两篇作品的主题，人物和社会背景之后， 我们会发现两部作品有着惊人的相同之处。实际上追寻自我本质在这两部作品中是超越种族色彩和阶级的。 两位作者在书中都找到解决自我迷失这一人类共性的方法是建立一个和谐的社会。 无形人不仅仅是一部黑人抗议小说， 而是一部探寻自我本质和实现自我理想的作品。一方面这部小说带有典型的黑人文学的色彩， 另一方面
15、黑人文学又不仅仅是种族歧视，黑人与白人关系及敌对立场等历史问题。因此，这部小说涵盖了更广阔的生命领域，也超越了民族和种族关系问题。更难能可贵的是作者把视角从种族问题的抗争上升到了提高自我意识追寻自我的层次上，自我本质的追寻成为主题。毛猿是美国剧作家尤金奥尼尔的一部重要作品。在这部作品中，通过对主人公扬克的形象刻画，作者指出了人在社会中的所属这一主题，同时也深刻揭露了资本主义社会中下层人物的悲惨境遇同时也反映出个人的自我迷失和失落。在这一点毛猿的主题与无形人不谋而合。所以两部小说是在鼓励读者追寻自我的主题方面是超越民族和阶级的杰出作品。小说也暗示我们只有没有种族和阶级的区别时才能实现和谐世界，才
16、能让每个发现自我和实现自我。关键字：追寻; 种族色彩; 阶级；自我本质1. IntroductionAfrican American literature attained to a higher degree of maturity in the spring of 1952 when Ralph Ellisons Invisible Man appeared in print. Invisible Man tells an archetypal existential story of modern times. The protagonist-narrator is nameless a
17、pparently because he is invisible. The very opening of the book states the existentialist crisis of modern man in explicit terms:I am an invisible manI am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me, Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I h
18、ave been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass, When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything and anything except me You often doubt if you really existYou ache with the need to convince yourself that you do exist in th
19、e real world. (Ellison, 6) Invisible Man is immensely interesting as a work of art; it is more than a “protest novel.” Shadow and Act ,Ralph Ellison(1964:65)Ellisons vision is too great and his taste is too catholic to allow his book remain merely on that level. “It covers a much more extensive terr
20、itory of life, so that it transcends race and racial relations, and goes beyond protest to a new phase of perception in the evolution of the African American awareness.” (Ellison, 85) In so doing, what happens to an African American becomes a metaphor, a formula, or even a paradigm for all humankind
21、. This is ultimately the reason why Invisible Man has appealed to its readers so much for so long.Eugene ONeill is the most outstanding representative of expressionist dramatists in the United States of America. “The Hairy Ape is the representative of his expressionist plays.”(Chang, 543)The protago
22、nist of the play, Yank, is a stoker who lives in the industrial environment is presented as toxic and dehumanizing; the world of the rich, superficial and dehumanized. Yank has also been interpreted as representative of the human condition, alienated from nature by his isolated consciousness, unable
23、 to find belonging in any social group or environment.胡铁生. 奥尼尔的社会悲剧观兼评社会悲剧毛猿吉林大学社会科学学报,2004 , (5) . Yank can not find his own place in the industrial world, so at this point, the self and the world conflict again. Judging from the two books we can find that one becomes suddenly aware that what Yank
24、has been talking about all along concerns the plight, not merely of an African American individual, not even of the American race alone, but of the modern existence of man as a whole. More specific, the subordinate roles in the two works are also playing an important part in the thematic concern of
25、the seeking of selfhood. For example, Mr. Norton (white school; president) and Mr. Bledsoe (dean of the school) in the Invisible man, Paddy (Yanks friend) and Mildred (daughter of the boss) in the Hairy Ape. Although they have different color and belong to different class, all of them have lost thei
26、r identity. By comparative study of the two different works by different writers and written in different times, this thesis finds some universal overlap and the way of seeking selfhood. The development of society has changed peoples life and living condition, however, we still have some spiritual p
27、roblems. Just like in the American literature the stoker and the black young man face the same trouble that is the self and the world, however, they lose themselves and can not find their belonging .Their position and identity can not be found by their struggle. Ellison and ONeil use different works
28、 to tell people the seeking of the self identity is important to all human beings and it is also a universal problem. However, at the end of the two books, the two great writers give us some similar suggestions to solve this universal problem - to establish a harmonious world. 2 Innocence of the Ide
29、al DreamsAt the beginning of the two books both main characters lived in their own ideal life and have confidence to the life right now and in the future. 2.1 The Blind Optimism of the Two Protagonists It described a free-for-all of blindfolded black boys at a stag party of the leading citizens of a
30、 small Southern town. Before being blindfolded the boys are made to stare at a naked white woman; then they are herded into the ring, and, after the battle royal, one of the fighters, his mouth full of blood, is called upon to give his high school valedictorians address. As he stands under the light
31、s of the noisy room, the citizens rib him and make him repeat himself; an accidental reference to equality nearly ruins him, but everything ends well and he receives a handsome briefcase containing a scholarship to a Negro college. From that time on the young man has optimistic attitude towards his
32、future life. He dreams to be the outstanding black just like he has mentioned in his speech. Moreover, he begins to follow the whites will to study and delivering speech. Although in Invisible Man the narrators first real glimpse at the cruel manipulation of white people comes when he is invited to
33、the local mens club to read the speech (sentence structure) he prepared for his high school graduation. He gives the speech and is rewarded with a briefcase and a scholarship to a black college “even an invisible man has a socially responsible role to play,” (Ellison, 225). The narrator goes off to
34、college and determines to model himself after Dr. Bledsoe, the colleges dean and a successful black man who is well respected in his community and his field. In short, the young man thinks he is visible in this society that is why he has confidence to his future. Meanwhile, the Hairy Ape tells the s
35、tory of a brutish, unthinking laborer known as Yank, as he searches for a sense of belonging in a world controlled by the rich. At first Yank feels secure as he stokes the engines of an ocean liner, and is highly confident in his physical power over the ships engines. Taking place in the stokehole,
36、where Yank and the other firemen are talking and singing drunkenly:All men are born free and equal. Thats in the bleeding Bible, mates. But what dithery care for the Biblethem lazy, bloated swine what travels first cabin? Themes the ones. They dragged us down til were only wage slaves in the bowels
37、of a bloody ship, sweating, burning up, eaten coal dust! Hits themes tar blamethe damned capitalist class! (ONeil, 56)Yank is shown to be a leader among them. So we can find that Yank is satisfied with his life in this environment. In his eyes, he has his own position in this world and there is noth
38、ing in this society can challenge his dream and confidence. 2.2. Waking Up From the Dreams Unfortunately, the narrator in the Invisible Man makes a dreadful mistake when he is chauffeuring Mr. Norton, a wealthy white man who gives great deal of money to the college. He inadvertently reveals the seed
39、ier side of the black race by allowing the man to stop and speak with Joe True Blood, a poor, black man ostracized from the black community because he got his own daughter pregnant. After the upsetting encounter with True Blood, the white man is feeling weak and needs a drink, so the young man takes
40、 him to the closest place he can think of, the local black bar and brothel. After a disastrous encounter with a mentally altered war veteran, the narrator takes Mr. Norton back to campus. Dr. Bledsoe is so furious with the narrators indiscretion and stupidity that he expels him. Dr. Bledsoe offers h
41、im some hope, however, by offering to write him several letters of recommendation to deliver to the schools trustees in New York. The dean tells the young man that if he makes enough money for tuition, he can come back to school. The young man sets out for the city unaware that the letters of recomm
42、endation are really a hoax just to get him quietly away from the school. Once he finds out about the letters” Keep this Negro boy running.”(Ellison, 235) , he is so broke that he loses heart to his school and hates Bledsoe so deep that he wants to kill him. At this time he begins to wake up from his
43、 own ideal dreams. In other words, he lost himself and wants to seek his self-identity in order to realize his goal and fulfill his grandfathers dream.While Yank is living in his own world something incidentally happened. In the stokehole, Yank and the other firemen have pride in their work. When Mi
44、ldred comes to visit the stokehole, the weak but rich daughter of an industrialist in the steel business refers to him as a filthy beast, (ONeil, 115).Yank is shocked and more importantly he is undergoing a crisis of identity. He felt very sad about the Mildreds words and .behaviors. He wants to rev
45、enge and even to kills that lady. All of his thought and actions show that Yank has also waken up from his own ideal dream and begin to have self awareness in the industrial society.Consequently, the two persons in the two different novels can have the same feelings about their misfortunes. They can
46、 not be accepted by the main stream society and even be laughed at by the world. They have realized that they can not find themselves. In the Invisible Man, the narrator becomes invisible; likewise, Yank in the Hairy Ape becomes a beast. So they begin to seek the selfhood and they begin to struggle
47、for their own position in the society. 3. Tracing Back to Individual Identity 3.1 The Importance of the Individual Identity In the Invisible Man the young black man comes across a lot of confusions and problems. For example, he could never forget his Grandpas words when he was dying but he was tricked by the black school president Mr. Bledsoe (dean of the school) and he also get help from the white in order to find a job. It seems that all of the problems come from the outside world. However, it reflects the universal problem of losing identity: Mr. Bledsoe has to make his
