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英文论文《飘》对于斯嘉丽的生存能力分析

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英文论文《飘》对于斯嘉丽的生存能力分析英文论文《飘》对于斯嘉丽的生存能力分析 《飘》中斯嘉丽的生存能力分析 摘要 《飘》是女作家玛格丽特?米切尔创作的一部闻名世界的小说,由于该小说的成功,该书于1937年获得普利策奖。《飘》是以美国南北战争和南方战后的重建为背景着重描述斯嘉丽复杂的爱情故事。这部小说以斯嘉丽感情纠葛为线索,为我们刻画了一幅壮丽而生动的南方社会的生活画面。小说不仅有丰富多彩的生活内容,而且有纵横开阖的故事情节和跌宕起伏的矛盾冲突,这为刻画人物性格起到了重要的艺术作用。本文作者认为在作品塑造的众多富有特色的角色中,最成功的莫过于对女主人公斯嘉丽这...
英文论文《飘》对于斯嘉丽的生存能力分析
英文论文《飘》对于斯嘉丽的生存能力分析 《飘》中斯嘉丽的生存能力分析 摘要 《飘》是女作家玛格丽特?米切尔创作的一部闻名世界的小说,由于该小说的成功,该书于1937年获得普利策奖。《飘》是以美国南北战争和南方战后的重建为背景着重描述斯嘉丽复杂的爱情故事。这部小说以斯嘉丽感情纠葛为线索,为我们刻画了一幅壮丽而生动的南方社会的生活画面。小说不仅有丰富多彩的生活,而且有纵横开阖的故事情节和跌宕起伏的矛盾冲突,这为刻画人物性格起到了重要的艺术作用。本文作者认为在作品塑造的众多富有特色的角色中,最成功的莫过于对女主人公斯嘉丽这一矛盾、复杂于一体的核心人物的塑造。本文将主要想分析斯嘉丽在跌宕不安的社会环境中的生存能力。她能生存下来,不仅因为她能从挚爱的土地中获得无穷的力量,而且因为她对阿希礼执著的爱,以及为了达到目标,不惜一切代价,也因为她敢于直面残酷的现实并寄希望于明天。这些积极的思想根植于斯嘉丽的心中,不断的影响着她。 关键词:斯嘉丽;爱;生存能力;成功 I Abstract Gone with the Wind is one of the most famous American novels, which is written by Margaret Mitchell. In 1937, Gone with the Wind was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. It presents the perplexed love matter of Scarlett O‘Hara during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Age in the south. With the hint of a course of Scarlett‘s love pursuit, the novel depicts a wide and prosperous picture of the social life of the south. Not only the rich content of the novel but also the complex plots and the contradictions between the figures have an important artistic effect on shaping the characters. In the author‘s opinion, Scarlett is the most successful one who is full of conflicting and complicated features among all the roles. This essay analyzes the viability of Scarlett in the turbulent times. She survives because she can get endless strength from her beloved land. She survives because she falls in love with Ashley. She survives because she dares to face up to the reality and holds hope for the future. She survives because she can sacrifice everything to achieve her goal. These positive elements rooting in her character continuously influences the women in the twentieth century. Key words: Scarlett; Love; Viability; Success II Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................ 错误~未定义书签。 摘要 ................................................................................................................................ I Abstract .......................................................................................................................... II Table of Contents ............................................................................................................III Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 The Formation of Scarlett‘s Character ................................................................ 4 1 The Influences of Family ...................................................................................... 4 2. 2.2 The Influences Social Environment ........................................................................ 4 Chapter 3 Scarlett‘s Source of Strength ............................................................................. 6 3.1 Scarlett‘s Belief of the Land .................................................................................. 6 3.2 Tara: a Piece of Supernatural Land and the Supporter behind Her............................... 7 3.3 Love for Ashley: Petty Clothes but the Inner Power.................................................. 9 Chapter 4 The Development of Scarlett‘s Awareness of Survival .......................................12 4.1 The Awakening of Scarlett‘s Viability ....................................................................12 4.2 The Formation of Scarlett‘s Viability .....................................................................13 Chapter 5 Scarlett‘s Courage to Face the Reality ...............................................................15 5.1 Scarlett‘s Character .............................................................................................15 5.2 Scarlett‘s High Adaptability to New Surrounding....................................................15 5.3 Achieving her Success .........................................................................................16 Chapter 6 Scarlett‘s Hope ...............................................................................................18 Chapter 7 Conclusion ....................................................................................................20 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................21 III Chapter 1 Introduction Gone with the Wind, first published in May 1936, is a romantic novel written by Margaret Mitchell. In 1937 Gone with the Wind was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. This novel was proved to be a great success and the best seller for more than seventy years. Shortly after the book‘s publication, the movie rights were sold to David O. Selznick for $50,000, the highest amount ever paid for a manuscript at that time. Even today, Margaret Mitchell‘s tale is the one that is most deeply embedded in American culture. Margaret Mitchell was born in 1900 in Atlanta, Georgia where she lived all of her life. Margaret was a writer from the time she could hold a pencil and a storybook almost as soon as she could talk. From an early age, Margaret took an interest in Atlanta‘s history and the Civil War. She had an enduring connection and great love for Atlanta. She enjoyed discovering the history of Atlanta and Peachtree Street, where she lived. Parties and family gatherings supplied her with much Civil War history that she would later use in the writing of Gone with the Wind. Margaret recalled, ―When we went calling, I was usually scooped up onto a lap - told that I didn‘t look like a soul on either side of the family and then forgotten for the rest of the afternoon while the gathering spiritedly fight the Civil War. Cavalry knees had the tendency to trot and bounce and jog in the midst of reminiscences and this kept me from going to sleep, fortunately for Gone with the Wind.‖ She was one of the few eminent figures in literature who enjoy great prestige both at home and abroad for only one masterpiece. She spent ten years on Gone with the Wind and the publication of it made her famous over night. Gone with the Wind is about a woman who has to face several hardships in her life. She falls in love with Ashley, but he doesn‘t love her, he marries a gentle and nice girl named Melanie. Scarlet loves Ashley all the time, even though he marries to Melanie. In order to make Ashley angry, Scarlett immediately marries Melanie‘s younger brother Charles. Before long, the Civil War breaks out, Charles dies in the war. Scarlett becomes a widow. Scarlett loves her home, so she comes home after numerous difficulties. Arriving lonely at Tara, Scarlett finds her plantation is empty, and her mother is dead, the burden fells on her. In order to pay the tax money, she sacrifices everything to achieve her goal whatever it takes by stealing and marrying her sister‘s beau Frank Kennedy. The family‘s property is maintained. Before long, Frank is shot by the Union in a secret anti-government meeting. Scarlett becomes a widow again. This time Rhett helps her and proposes to her. He promises her he should give her good live, then she marries him and they live in a luxurious house. After a year, their daughter Bonnie is born. When Melanie is dying, Rhett has discovered Scarlett still love Ashley, and his heart is broken. Facing heart-broken Ashley, Scarlett realizes that she really loves Rhett and she really needs Rhett. But it is too late, he leaves Scarlett. Finally abandoned Scarlett decides to recreate her life. Gone with the Wind was set in the background of American civil war. The author used many stories she heard from her family, and she had experienced to weave this marveling novel. It is full of dashing, daring men and women, thrilling episodes and much romance. The heroine Scarlett, who is clever, coquettish, stubborn and diligent, is different from other aristocratic women. Before the Civil War broke out, Scarlett as well as other aristocratic young ladies in the south lives an easy, luxurious life which is full of barbecues, balls and flirting with beaus. For a young lady who has only got 16, the life for her just means to learn the arts and graces of being more attractive to men, which is also the south society‘s regulation of women. On one hand, by the diligent teaching of her mother and black mammy, the seed of the purity and tradition are buried in her mind. But on the other hand, her Irish father also influences her by the Irish stubbornness, arrogance. These two spirit conflicts frequently in the young girl‘s mind. Just like ―her spreading skirts, the demureness of hair netted smoothly into a chignon and the quietness of small white hands folded in her lap, her true self was poorly concealed‖ (Margaret, 2003:13). Through the war and during the reconstruction, Scarlett acts as a heroine. ―She survives trial by fire and hunger‖ (Dawson,1974:10). She takes cares of the wounded soldiers in hospital; she chooses to stay with Melanie in moments of crisis; she takes the responsibility of protecting her family and folks. In order to fulfill her promise, she becomes a ―murderer‖ by killing a Yankee. She becomes a ―thief‖ by stealing her sister‘s fiance. After the war, when people still dispute with each other on the right to vote, she has already concentrated herself on trade. To make more money, she even hires the prisoners and substitutes shoddy goods for good cargo. Until then, her real character has already completely exposed. What she has is ―man‘s eagerness to do well in everything and wild cat‘s cruelty‖ (Sun Yu, 2005). Although Scarlett seems self-centered, arrogant and cruel, she is a success for us to learn. We can learn her courage and the way to deal with problems. Chapter 2 The Formation of Scarlett’s Character 2.1 The Influences of Family Scarlett was born in a rich and luxurious family. Her mother was very nice and kind-hearted. She loved her mother very much, and she took her mother for moral example. She was very beautiful and was the eldest daughter, and her father loved her most. She and her father were as two affiliated friends. Her face were too sharply blended the delicate features of her mother, a coast aristocrat of French descent, and the heavy ones of her florid Irish father. Scarlett is a hybrid, who exhibited more of her Irish father‘s hard—headedness than her mother‘s refined Southern manners(Although initially she tried to behave prettily, her instincts rose up against social restrictions. Thus it was possible for her getting her love. Her action was not different from the girls at that time were taught, such things as:a hearty appetite would never catch a man(Thus, when they were going to a party, they would stuff themselves with food at home(Then they would be able to eat only few foods at the party. Also, women were taught to act ignorant, to hang on every word a man said as if she knew nothing herself in order to make him feel superior. They were never to say what they actually thought. Scarlett‘s mother El1en and Mammy also taught her all that gentle woman should know, but Scarlett never learned these. On one hand, by the diligent teaching of her mother and black mammy, the seed of the purity and tradition was buried in her mind. But on the other hand, her Irish father also influenced her by the Irish stubbornness, arrogance; he often told her ―It‘s proud I am that I‘m Irish. And don‘t you be forgetting, Missy, that you‘re half-Irish too. And to anyone with a drop of Irish blood in them, why the land they live on is like their mother. Oh, but there, there, now, you're just a child. It‘ll come to you, this love of the land. There‘s no getting away from it if you‘re Irish‖ (Margaret, 2003:2). 2.2 The Influences Social Environment The transition of the 1iving environment was the exterior reason for Scarlett‘s changing her character, which caused Scarlett‘s distinctive character(Before the war, Scarlett 1ived in the traditional and conservative plantation and the 1ife style formed her plantation masters character of loving 1and than anything else in the world and her rebellious character spontaneously(She 1ead an extremely poor life after the war, and that abominable environment molded her character to confront the reality bravely, and her independence and selfishness overcame so many difficulties. The rich life experience before war, the unstable life during the war and the extremely poor 1ife after war provide the foundation to form the character of Scarlett. And thus in such environment, Scarlett‘s character can be complicated( Chapter 3 Scarlett’s Source of Strength Scarlett inherits the belief of land from her father. And she regards Tara as the foundation of life and spiritual sustenance. Every time when she faces up with difficulties and frustrations, she can gather endless strength from the red land of Tara. 3.1 Scarlett’s Belief of the Land In the south of America before the civil war, there are many plantations. People there own slaves and live a rich and luxurious life. At that time, a man who is engaged in business is looked down upon, and a landlord can be proud of his occupation. That‘s because, ―just like the peasant in Europe, the southerners are the direct product of land‖ (Li Yang, 2006:61). Because of the factors related to the history and natural conditions, the south has been an area based on the agriculture. This kind of social system is helpful to the formation of the people‘s deep and mellow emotion to the land. ―Their intimacy with the land is driven by material needs undoubtedly, however, including more spiritual connotation. From the macroscopic view, it is not only the land that nurtures them, embodies the economy and use value and abounds in cotton, tobacco, sugarcane, but also the haven of their heart, a huge carrier of their spirit. It represents their glory, dream, history and emotion, which define their special status in American culture and give them intense sense of belonging‖ (Li Yang, 2006:61). The southerners attach much importance on the belonging of land. ―Family is the center of the south‖ (Xiao Minghan,1997:102). The close relationship between the south and the land gain a great of importance to the family. Tara is a rich and fertile land which suits to plant cotton. And the wealth it makes along with its product is inexhaustible and endless. That is known by Gerald O‘Hara through his own experience. Gerald O‘Hara, a little hard headed and bustle Irish man, is not well educated. He comes to America with no money in his pocket and wins a piece of land by poker and good luck. The land is the foundation of his career, the landmark of his success. His success of being accepted by the upper-class society and the marriage of Ellen, who is a coast aristocrat of French descent, is attributed to his beloved land. In his heart, the land is everything to him. And he begins to instill this kind of thought into Scarlett‘s mind since she was young. He tells her, ―Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything…for it is the only thing in this world that lasts, and don‘t you be forgetting it…This the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for--worth dying for‖(Margaret, 2003:43), and he predicts ―Twill come to you, this love of land. There‘s no getting away from it, if you are Irish‖ (Margaret, 2003:44). Eventually, his predication comes true. 3.2 Tara: A Piece of Supernatural Land and the Supporter behind Her If the civil war was regarded as the cause of Scarlett‘s mature, the love of land could be seen as the mark of her growth. Scarlett had been confronted with blows from life one by one. However, neither the cruel war nor the defeat of love could destroy her decision to survive. Tara, a well-defined powerful sign which appeared frequently in the book Gone with the Wind, which has close connection Scarlett‘s course of life, her mood, her mind and her sub consciousness. Actually, Tara is always Scarlett‘s land of pleasure and harbor, whatever it is, wherever she went, and however the life changed. Tara stood behind her holding a large protective umbrella for her, like a supernatural giant. When she was a young girl, she led a happy life on this red land. Owning it, Scarlett had a large place to play. She could carry her ―lady‖ honor proudly to attract every gentleman belonged to the upper-class, and she could eat and dress whatever she liked without worrying about where they would come from. It was Tara that gave Scarlett the happy and beatific times. Scarlett‘s father was a runagate from Ireland to America. He told Scarlett, ―land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything….the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for – worth dying for‖ (Margaret, 2003). For a sixteen-year-old and worriless girl, it was impossible to understand the profound meaning of her father‘s words. However, with the outbreak of the Civil War, Scarlett turned to be a wife from a girl, and a widow from a wife. Under the baptism of the war fire, Scarlett suddenly became mature. When Atlanta was occupied by the enemy troops, the first place she thought of was Tara, because ―Tara seemed so safe, so far away from all this misery.‖ Certainly, Tara was always right there waiting for her beloved and helpless Scarlett. As soon as she arrived at her hometown, everything there was the remainder of the cruel war. The only thing left for her was the red land, which was under her feet and could never be destroyed. By then, Scarlett remembered her father‘s words as she heard them in the remote past. Abruptly, she felt that her spirit and body had found the final arrangement, and she realized that she belonged to the red land. Upon that she perceived the loveliness and beauty of Tara for the first time, and in her heart, there rose a kind of fervent love for this land, on which she was born and lived for years. At that time, Atlanta was full of bombs and smoke of gunpowder, and her mother was sick. She worried and forgot everything, and prayed that the far-off roaring of bombs did not come from the south. It was the first time she felt frightened. The fall of Atlanta would become an undoubted truth, but she never minded it. Only Tara‘s fate made her understand the true meaning of war. So she knew she must go home, which was really the spring of life, and of power. She did so. As a sensible man, Rhett tried to stop her and dig this fool idea out of her mind. But she insisted on her thoughts, ―I will go home!‖ she cried, and her voice broke and rose to a scream. ―I will go home! You can‘t stop me! If I have to walk every step of the way‖ (Margaret, 2003). Because of this firm belief, she went through the flaming war fire with a thin horse, a broken carriage, a faint woman, a newborn baby and an innocent maid. Although Rhett left them at this crucial time, she had conquered the hardship and even herself. Seeing her home was not destroyed, she felt extremely happy. However, her mother died; her father Gerald was mad; the two sisters were ill; some Negro servants ran away; all of the food, the poultry, and treasure robbed by the Yankees, and even the corn, on which the southerner lived was burnt by them. Without any help, she carried the heavy burden to organize members to work for life. After the war, everything has changed, including her attitude towards Mother‘s teachings, but never her love for Tara. In order to hand in the high tax for Tara, Scarlett made her mother‘s cherished curtain to be her new dress. She wore it, and went to borrow money from Rhett without thinking about her own self-respect. And she even ventured to mortgage herself. After being refused by Rhett, she still did not give up but turned to her sister‘s lover. Bearing other people‘s blame, her sister‘s serious curse, and her own moral accusation, she married the old, ugly, weak man who had money to save Tara. Although it was another failing marriage in her lifetime, she never regretted, because of its value, and because of Tara. For Tara, for its existence and honor, she could do whatever it needed. She would never abandon Tara, so would Tara! 3.3 Love for Ashley In Scarlett‘s lifetime, the only two things she wanted and went after were Ashley and money. Actually, Ashley was her unique spiritual requirement. When she was fourteen years old, she fell in love with Ashley. She felt that she needed him, as she needed food to eat, horse to ride on, and bed to sleep on. Actually, her love for Ashley was not just a simple love, but a kind of inner power of her. When the war broke out, both Scarlett‘s first husband and Ashley were the volunteers. The former lost her life, but there was no news about the later. Then the beautiful girl became a young lonely widow who lived an insipid life. Life was difficult without handsome gentlemen, and luxuriant balls, but the dreary atmosphere, wounded soldiers and other people‘s gossips. However, the thought of Ashley would give her good mood and passion. She worried about him even more than Melanie herself did. When Ashley came back for Christmas, Scarlett tried a lot of times to find a chance to talk with him separately. The war became much crueler later, and more southern soldiers died. Facing the coming of war fire and Melanie‘s childbearing, as a ―single‖ woman, she feared. At the dangerous moment, she could go home alone in a hurry, discarding Melanie and fetus. Nevertheless, every night after struggling, she determined to tell Melanie that she would have to leave. But, as she lay on the pillow, there always rose the memory of Ashley‘s face, drawn as with an inner pain but with a little smile on his lips ??You‘ll take care of Melanie, won‘t you? You‘re so strong……Promise me‖ (Margaret, 2003). And she did promise. She believed that in Ashley‘s heart she was strong, and wherever he was, living or dead, he was watching her. She could fail Charles, Rhett, and even all, but never Ashley. All because of this love and promise, Scarlett helped Melanie procreate the baby never disappeared, and she also felt it was unnecessary to keep the promise; she had never abandoned her promise to Ashley. She believed he loved her, so she should beat down every difficulty and do whatever he told her to. The trip from Atlanta to Tara was full of difficulties, yet, no matter how hard the life was, Scarlett tried her best to hold on her dream of living, because Ashley had ever said, ??……you‘re so strong, Scarlett……You must be brave……You are so fine and strong and good. So beautiful, not just for your sweet face, my dear, but all for you, your body, and your mind and your soul‖ (Margaret, 2003), and because she should wait for Ashley‘s coming back safely. She hoped that the war would be ended as soon as possible, so that she could meet her Ashley. Thus, she could not be beaten down by poorness, starvation, or anything else. The war was ended, Ashley came back. Seeing his decadence, Scarlett‘s heart was broken. ??She could endure the sight of her own child in aprons made of sacking…could bear it that will work harder than any field hand, but no Ashley‖ (Margaret, 2003). This time, they had a deep talk with each other, which had always been Scarlett‘s dream. He admitted his cowardliness and admiration for her. He held up and kissed Scarlett‘s hands, which came out of her lover‘s mouth was so wonderful and inspiring. It was the praising that was the best encouragement for her to do much better than before in the future. In the end, when Melanie died, Scarlett suddenly realized, ??He never existed at all, except in my imagination…I loved something I made up, something that‘s just as dead as Melly is. I made a pretty suit of clothes and fell in love with it. And when Ashley came riding along, so handsome, so different, I put that suit on him and made him wear it whether it fitted him or not. And I wouldn‘t see what he really was. I kept on loving the pretty clothes and not him at all‖ (Margaret, 2003). The power of love was great, and irresistible. Scarlett‘s love for Ashley had nothing to do with any purpose of utility or even with flesh and blood. Pure it was, it could last long. Although Scarlett‘s love for Ashley was lonely the imaginary one, its great power and affection could not be destroyed anyway. It supported her to go through the tough days, and it always warmed Scarlett‘s lonely heart and gave her inexhaustible strength which led her bright way to go! Without it, perhaps Scarlett herself and her beauty would have faded away, or even if she could be alive, it was sure that the only hope and desire in her heart might disappear, and so she could not be the strong-willed female paragon. Chapter 4 The Development of Scarlett’s Awareness of Survival Gone with the wind is mainly about Scarlett‘s life journey of twelve years, which we can divide into three periods. Before the Civil war, Scarlett lives a care-free life, knowing nothing about worry. After the Civil War, faced with the destroyed world, Scarlett tastes all the bitterness of life and begins to struggle to live. In the reconstruction, she takes the chance to make money and become a successful merchant without the slightest hesitation. So we can see the second part acts as a turning part of Scarlett‘s life. 4.1 The Awakening of Scarlett’s Viability It is not until Scarlett returns Tara after war that she becomes mature woman. In spite of the fact that she has been married, given birth to a child and come into contact with the war. Because of in her heart, her solid castle is still there waiting for her. The castle are her strong father and gentle mother in whose lap she can put her head in and cry in piece. When the war breaks, Scarlett is in Atlanta. During the war, she does many things out of her own expectation. She takes care of the wounded soldier and delivers Melanie‘s child successfully. But there is a strong desire in her heart, which is returning home. Finally, with the help of Rhett, she does return Tara. However, out of Scarlett‘s expectation, the more terrible disaster occurs-Ellen O‘Hara, her gentle, amiable mother has die;Her father has turned to a terribly old man with schizophrenia. Now he is like a child, no longer a strong man, the backbone of Tara. Her spiritual castle fails, but she has no time to lament over her misfortunes, because there are a lot of things for her to deal with and many people for her to purport. Both of her sisters are ill in bed, and slavers have run away, with only three darkies still remaining. There remains not enough food, and all their cotton has been burnt to dashes. Meanwhile, there lots of confederate cash becomes worthless. Tara needs her and ―Whether she liked it or not, she had the plantation and its entire people on her two inexperienced hands‖(Margaret, 2003:524). The next morning Scarlett forces her to endure body‘s stiffness and sore, goes out to search for some food. However, her empty stomach can‘t stand the spicy, sharp-tasting radish, so she begins to vomit tiredly. Until then, she has tasted all the bitterness of being hunger. Finally, she arises and her head is raised high and something that was growth and beauty and potential tenderness had gone out of her face forever. What was past was past. Those who were dead were dead. The lazy luxury of the old days was gone, will never return. And, as Scarlett settled the heavy basket across her arm, she had settled her own mind and her own life. There was no going back and she was going forward. She changes, and she changes from an O‘Hara lady to the mistress of Tara, and she changes from a gentle girl who depends on her father to take command to an individual lady who gives orders so decisively. She orders the house niggers to work in the field and drives her sisters into the cotton rows and when she sees Dicey work tirelessly, what she thinks is Dilley was worth her weight in gold. She becomes an indifferent and merciless. Scarlett is puzzled to find that nothing her mother has taught her is of any value. And she realizes that Ellen‘s ordered world is gone and a brutal world has taken its place, so she changes swiftly to meet this new world for which she was not prepared. After all, she needs to survive, along with her folks. 4.2 The Formation of Scarlett’s Viability In Scarlett‘s mind, their troubles will be over when the war ends. She thinks if she can just hold out until spring, and everything will be all right. However, the crushing news brought will prove their troubles are just started. Tara is asked to pay three hundred dollars for its taxes which are no matter than enormous figure for Scarlett. Then she has to solve it by herself. And an idea formed in her mind immediately. She decides to go to Atlanta to drop on Rhett. ―being a mere woman in a society that is bankrupt and still dominated by men who are either stupid or idealistic—and in any case ineffectual—Scarlett must use the only means available to her for saving the family plantation: sex‖ (W.J.Stuckey, 1966:108) However, this decision is not an easy one for her, Scarlett fights a battle with difficult. Scarlett always can find a proper excuse for her decision, and once she makes a decision, she is duty-bound not to turn back. As a part of her plan, she needs a new dress to make her like a queen. And her mother‘s moss-green velvet curtains are the best material. Despite of the fierce opposition of Mammy, Scarlett does not give in. So she goes forth to conquer the world in her mother‘s velvet curtains and the tail feather‘s of a rooster. Unfortunately, although she has planned to sacrifice herself to Rhett, she fails, because Rhett discovers her trick. Although Scarlett is criticized for her vanity and immorality, we like her more, just because these tricks present a great woman, who will achieve a goal at any cost. And just these defects make Scarlett a more vivid and lovely image. In this part, we see a girl who is growing up and begins to stand out. Chapter 5 Scarlett’s Courage to Face the Reality 5.1 Scarlett’s Character Scarlett is brave, strong and competitive, just as a boy at that time. She pursues freedom, and not constrained by anything. She has all the passion for life, She could love and hate with a violence impossible. What‘s more, Scarlett is also a pragmatic person, no matter how brutal fact she faced, she can treat them with sober consciousness. She is different from the girl at that time, she holds different view of love form the other girls, she is a rebellious girl against her time and society she grows in, tradition can not be seen in her, tradition is worthless compared with hungry. 5.2 Scarlett’s High Adaptability to New Surrounding When the civil war comes to an end, the south offers a new historical period of reconstruction. There are two choices for these old feudal noble. They can stick to their old life styles and convention, refusing or unwilling to change, the result for them is dying in misery with the sense of pride and dignity, or they can change with the society, and struggle to live in a new era. Scarlett belongs to the latter. When the old, ordered word has gone, she adapts herself quickly to the new world which is widely distant from the breeding she has been taught. The life has taught her the law of jungle, and the hunger has taught her principle of survival of the fittest. At that time, American focused on family and valued family‘s whole profits. The upper class was very harsh to the female. If they wanted to be appreciated by the gentlemen, they had to pretend to be innocent and frail no matter how clever and beautiful they were, but men could do whatever they wanted. Scarlett was a woman different from the others of her time. She was a rebellious girl against her time and society she grew in. It was incredible beyond comprehension for Scarlett to be a female merchant. In Scarlett‘s mind, ―There was only one thing in the world that was a certain bulwark against any calamity which fate could bring, and that was money‖ (Margaret, 2003:785). And this thought made her have a strong desire for money. When Scarlett found that Frank was neither a good business man nor did he want to be a good business man, she complained, ―If he runs this store like a charitable institution how could he expect to make money on a mill?‖ So when Rhett offered to help her, despite of her distaste for him, she accepted the money and bought the sawmill which she had coveted for a long time immediately. From then on, she left the protection of home behind and entered a world full of man and difficult for a woman to have a place. In business, she mixed with all sorts of men, and competed with them, she had her own artifice. On one hand, she pretended to be a helpless little lady to get other‘s sympathy, on the other hand, she was coldly business and willingly undersold her competitors at a loss of herself. ―If it would bring her a new customer, she was not above selling a poor grade lumber for the price of good lumber if she thought she would not be detected, and she had no scruples about blackguarding the other lumber dealers‖(Margaret, 2003: 799). Through her cruelty and tricks, she makes a lot of money from the sawmill. In life, because of Scarlett‘s ―improper‖ behavior, she encountered merciless criticism from her neighbors. Being a business woman had been hard for them to bear, and appearing in public when she was pregnant drives them beyond the limits of for-bearance. They began to talk about her and refused to visit her, as if she was a monster; however, this didn‘t disturb Scarlett. Because she knew what she wanted and didn‘t want to fuss about such trifles. At last, she came to the fore in the world after the war, as an early stage capitalist. However, the old fogey who adhered to the past practices had nothing to do except bemoaning the decline and fall of the old system. They felt panicky, hesitate and at a loss of what to do, and the fate for them was to be sacrifices for the old system. From the contrast between Scarlett and these people, we can get a truth, ―The ones who cry all night for the past of the old life will be winnowed out, and the ones who hug the sun, race against the new life, will survive and develop ‖(Lu Xipei, 1995: 31-35). 5.3 Achieving Her Success Scarlett O‘Hara, the spoiled, manipulative daughter of an Irish immigrant plantation owner, didn‘t stay silent in the war time. Her own world was changed by her struggle. Scarlett had the bravery to change the old rule, and she could sacrifice everything to achieve her goal. What she finally got was the consequence of her own efforts. To survive and achieve her goal, she learned to do manual labor. She learned to milk the cow, even though her heart was always in her throat when that fearsome animal shook its horns at her. She had to pick cotton in the sun, though her back pains violently, and her hands were roughened by the dry bolls. To protect Tara, she made a new dress from her mother‘s curtains to lure Rhett for the high taxes. And even marries Frank, who she did not love. Scarlett vowed she would do anything for the survival of her family and herself ―As God as my witness....as God as my witness they‘re not going to lick me. I‘m going to live through this and when it‘s all over, I‘ll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill, as God as my witness, I‘ll never be hungry again.‖ (Margaret, 2003). Scarlett O‘Hara was also a pleasure—seeker. Just as what Rhett butler said: ―that‘s why I like you, you are the only woman I know who looks on the partial side of matters without beclouding the issue with mouthing about sin and morality‖ (Margaret, 2003). Chapter 6 Scarlett’s Hope ―Tomorrow is another day‖ is Scarlett pet phase, and has become very popular all over the world. In Gone with the Wind, this short sentence seems like panacea. No matter what kind of trouble does Scarlett meet, ―Tomorrow is another day‖ can deliver her from the difficult position. Different nation has different attitude towards time. And their attitude decides their behavior, under the influence of farming culture in which the experience is above everything else, the easterners‘ time orientation is looking back. In east, people have the greatest esteem for the past, and the past experience and lesson are the important reference to the present. However, they are less interested in the future than in the past, because the future is unpredictable and hard to grasp. Contrary to the past, the westerners, especially the American scarcely looks back. They attach a lot of importance to the future. ―To the westerners, there is no way out if one looks back. Only by looking forward and continuous exceeding, they can see the hope‖(Jia Yuxin, 1997: 68-69). In their mind, ―time is composed by the past, the present and the future. Time is unidirectional thing, and it fades away without returning. They hold that, the past has passed; the presence is going to pass away, only the future can be planned and gained by efforts.‖(Wang Tianwen, 2004:22-24) Scarlett is born in a southern family and greatly influenced by such conceptions of value. She is such an optimistic, confident and vigorous girl who has never give up her pursuit for happiness and dreams. Once she is confronted with difficulty, she is likely to use ―Tomorrow is another day‖ to comfort herself. Instead, in the subconscious, ―tomorrow‖ is the symbol of hope, happiness and perfect. No matter how splendid or miraculous yesterday is, it has passed and no matter how happy or desperate we are today, we have to endure and fight against it. Only ―tomorrow‖ is perfect as flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water. The sense of ―tomorrow‖ links up with the story. From the very beginning, she hears the news that Ashley is going to be engaged with Melanie, she believes she can let Ashley change his mind. To the end of this story, when she finds who she really loves is Rhett but he is going to leave her, she still says ―I‘ll think of it tomorrow, at Tara, I can stand it then, tomorrow, I think of some ways to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day‖ (Margaret, 2003: 1275). ―Tomorrow is another day‖ gives her courage to face up with the reality and hope for the future. ―Tomorrow is another day‖ also reflects Scarlett‘s distinguished style to solve the problem. When faced with dilemma. She chooses to put it aside and deals with it later. Most of us are encouraged to deal with our things as soon as possible. However, putting things off is also a fine art. Sometimes it can save us time to think it over and get a more proper decision. ―In fact, there is a long honorable history of procrastination to suggest that many ideas and decisions may be well improved if postponed‖ (Michael Demarest, 429-434). Sometimes, when we put things aside for a while, we will find that some things are not as important or difficult as they seem before. ―Tomorrow is another day‖ is Scarlett‘s survival rule to give up hopeless past life and look forward to building a better future. Chapter 7 Conclusion Gone with the Wind is often considered the most beloved, enduring and popular novel that explores diverse facets of human experience. In Gone with the Wind, Scarlett impresses us as a success. She has all the qualities a success may have. In a society dominated by men, she refuses to act as a meek lamb as other women. What's more, she does better than men. Confronted with so many difficulties, she is brave enough to get it over. In order to keep what she wants, she can sacrifice everything including her marriage .She is successful in business, she get rid of the traditional values, and grow into an independent new woman. Her courage to face the reality prevents her from becoming a coward when the society is undergoing a great change. Instead, she adapts herself to the change immediately and gain a place in a new world. Further more, Scarlett‘s spirit and struggle in facing adversities is really encouraging. She is always standing stoutly on her own feet. Although her whole world crashes, she can still face her life bravely. If Scarlett were living in modern society, instead of the old time, she surely could lead a happy and comfortable life, like many other white -collar women do. In short, Scarlett is a new woman in the old time, she is different and successful. However, the society which we live in is an advanced one, so we can imitate her, of course not in all her ways. Life presses on us. Its complexity confuses us. Its tragedy appalls us. Too often we yield, but some of us still have manhood enough to wish that we didn‘t, to know that we shouldn't, and to admire that we haven‘t. Scarlett is going to survive any time, and live in any reader's heart. For as long as life is a challenge which men must have courage to meet, the one who never give up is going to live. Bibliography [1]Dawson, Gaillard. ―Gone with the Wind As Bildungsroman; or, why did Rhett Butler Really Leaves Scarlett O‘Hara?‖ [J]. The Georgia Review, 1974 (28). [2]Margaret Mitchell(Gone with the Wind [M]. 北京:当代中国出版社, 2003. [3]Michael Demarest, The Fine Art of Putting Things Off [J]. G.Levin, 2006 (4): 429-434. [4]W.J.Stuckey, NewBrands of Individualism[M].Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1966. [5]贾玉新. 《跨文化交际学》[M]. 外语教育社 [6]刘再复(性格组合论[M]. 上海:上海文艺出版社,1986( [7]李扬. 《美国南方文学后现代时期的嬗变》[M]. 济南:山东大学出版社,2006. [8]陆喜培. “飘”不去的“乱世佳人”[J]. 广西民族学院学报(增刊), 1995: 31-35. 9](美)玛格丽特.米切尔. 《飘》[M]. 英语学习大书虫研究室译,伊犁人民出版社, 2003. [ [10]随红升,扬怡人. 《飘》中的家园意识探索[J]. 宁波大学学报,2005 (1). [11]孙宇. 赫思嘉的现实主义性格特征透析[J]. 哈尔滨工业大学学报,2005(1). [12]汪天文. 深圳大学学报(人文社会科学版)[J] 2004(2):22-24. [13]肖明翰. 《威廉-福克纳研究》[M]. 北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1997.
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