an-analysis-of-the-antihero-slocum-in-something-happened--浅析《出事了》中的反英雄斯洛学位论文

本科生毕业设计（论文）( 2011届 ) 题 目：浅析出事了中的“反英雄”斯洛 克姆 学 院： 外 国 语 学 院 专 业： 英 语 学生姓名： 学号： 07090706 指导教师： 职称： 合作导师： 职称： 完成时间： 2010 年 3 月 5 日 成 绩： An Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something Happened浙江师范大学本科毕业设计(论文)正文目 录Abstract.ii摘要ii1. Introduction12. The black humor and antihero.23 The features of the antihero Slocum in Something Happened 33.1 Timidness33.2 Indifference and selfishness43.3 Suspicion54 The artistic presentations of the antihero slocum64.1 Symbolism64.2 Stream of consciousness75 The value of the antihero Slocum85.1 Literary significance85.2 Realistic significance86. Conclusion8Works Cited109An Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something HappenedAn Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something Happened Abstract: Something happened, the black humor novelist Joseph Hellers second novel, is the sequence of his masterpiece Catch-22. In this novel, Heller portrays the character Bob Slocum vividly with his special writing technique, and through the depiction of antihero Slocum, the influence of an extremely absurd and abnormal society on common people can be seen. This thesis, first and foremost, gives a brief introduction to black humor and antihero. Then, the features of antihero Slocum in Something Happened and the artistic presentations are discussed. The analysis hopes to help us better understand the novel, figure out the writers aim, and be aware of its literary and realistic significance.Key Words: antihero; Slocum; Something Happened 浅析出事了中的“反英雄”斯洛克姆 摘要：黑色幽默小说家约瑟夫海勒既他的著作第二十二条军规后创作出第二部长篇小说出事了。在这部小说中，海勒以他独特的写作技巧生动形象地描绘出鲍勃斯洛克姆这一人物形象。通过对反英雄斯洛克姆的描述，我们可以看出一个极其荒诞怪异的社会对人们的影响。本论文首先介绍黑色幽默和反英雄人物，然后探讨出事了一文中反英雄人物的特点及它的艺术表现手法。通过分析，我们希望可以更好地理解这部小说和作者的写作意图，了解它的文学及现实意义。关键字：反英雄；斯洛克姆；出事了 An Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something Happened1. Introduction The twentieth century witnessed the emerging and flourishing of black humor which is characterized with satire, disparagement, overstating. Black humor novels, different from the common humor novels, are always reflecting absurdity, cruelty and self-contradictory society and the pressure of such a society on people through the portrayal of tragic characters. Joseph Heller is an acknowledged representative writer of black humor novel, whose outstanding major work catch-22 has won the praise of the masses and made Heller a celebrity. Not being inferior to Catch-22, Something Happened his second novel is usually considered a more mature novel than Catch-22.Something Happened is a successful novel that reveals the life we all lead today. It tells the story of Bob Slocum who is a middle class worker in a company, longing for the girls who never belong to him and the life he has not lived; Bobs wife, who has learnt to hate him; Bobs daughter, who has faced the problems that most contemporary teenagers hardly deal with, such as drugging and sex; his young son, who is afraid of competition and cutting a smart figure; his another son, who no one wants to mention or to care about. This novel is really amazing and believed to depict a rather true life, just as William Kennedy in The New Republic put, “Heller in the first rank of American writers. . . The vision we get is one of chilling recognition. What is revealed is not really the hero at all, but Us. Me. You. Them” (2). Therefore Something Happened can be counted as the novel of the 70s of the America.Ever since the book was published in 1974, under the influence of his first novel Catch-22, much attention has been paid to it. And many domestic and foreign scholars have studied this book from various aspects, such as linguistic features, narrative structure, and its theme. George J. Searles pointed out that compared with Catch-22, this novel is more realistic as it explores a quite true life of an American bourgeois who isnt concerned about preserving his reputation like Yossarian but renders himself more acceptable in an environment that is distrustful of ethnic minorities (76). Besides, even though it seems that Something Happened is a problematic work, having the seeming difficulties which can be attributed to the basic features of the novel: the extremely limited mode narration, the unheroic nature of the protagonist and the ostensibly pessimistic quality of the novels message (George 74), George still considers it as a mature work. Since Something Happened was brought into China, it has given rise to the domestic scholars attention. Li Jie states that the novel reflects that during the postwar years the economic depression led to serious consequences on the society and Americans. Americans finally bought troubles upon themselves after they developed the industry regardless of environment protection. In addition to the study of the theme of the book, Li Jie also analyzes the writing skill, making a contrast between black humor and existentialism (Li Jie 70). Mao Ningyuan introduces the dualistic antithesis and Logos center theory when referring to the analysis of story, deepening the understanding of themes (Mao Ningyuan 82).The focus of the paper will be on the study of antihero Slocums characteristics, the artificial presentations and its value. Firstly, it will present the black humor and antihero, giving a brief introduction. Then the features of the leading character Slocumtimidness, indifference and selfishness, and suspicion in the novel will be demonstrated in detail, from which we can see American bourgeoisies values and cold interpersonal relationship. After that, the paper will study the artistic presentations of the antihero Slocum. Finally, it will make a conclusion from literary significance and realistic significance.2. The black humor and antihero In absurdity literature there is a combination of pain and humor, a tone that emerges when distress and joke, horror and farce collide. This tone has been called black humor (Elaine B. Safer 424). Black humor novels are different from traditional novels. They are generally comic, violent, experiment and intellectual (Donald J. Greiner 41). Since the 1960s, the literature of black humor, of which the notion that the universe is absurd, that neither god nor man, nor theology nor philosophy can make sense of the human situation, has prevailed in the field of American literature, even become one of the most representative literature schools. The appearance of the black humor novels is the creature of that age. In the postwar period, the Americans were suffering sadness and agony the WWII brought about. People are scared of the unrest life and the unknown death under the influence of war, just as the character Yossarian in Catch-22 surrounded by the crisis of death, besides their traditional values have changed due to too fast economic development. Whats more, the development of heavy industry accelerates the transmission of Americans mind and behavior. Americans of that time not only were desperate and worried about the unfair and ugly social phenomenon, but also looked for psychology comfort and support from irony and humor (Zhou Hong 66). Under such a special background, the black humor novel is distinctive with the unique linguistic features, untraditional narrative, innovative themes, and especially antiheros. Antihero is one of the most evident signs of black humor novels. From the word structure, its not difficult to see that “antihero” means a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that would make him a hero, which totally differs from the traditional hero created as the principal character with exceptional courage and nobility and strength in a novel. Anyway, compared with those characters which we can judge easily as righteous or evil, antihero seems no more than a common person, without enough specialties to draw readers attention. However, thanks to its commonness, the portrayal of the person is more authentic and vivid. In most cases, the antiheros are depicted as ones that entirely differ from the ideal or positive characters in traditional novels, who are neither equipped with great power nor intelligence like mythical figures, nor having a strong sense of responsibility of social criticism like characters in realistic works. The vitality of antiheros is right the funny incapacity when they face a series of necessary horrible stuff (Wang Yin 27). In Joseph Hellers Something Happened, Bob Slocum is exactly a typical antihero. 3. The features of the antihero Slocum in Something Happened Something Happened (1974) approached American corporate culture with as clear an eye as Catch-22 had dissected the military. Bob Slocum, Hellers anti-hero, describes a narrative, in varying shades and nuances, recalls Dostoyevskys Underground Man, Kafkas Gregor Samsa, and the psychological agonies of an American Celine (Geoffrey Green 122-123). No doubt, Heller is so successful in creating the character Slocum in his novel that through Slocum we can clearly see what the American culture was at that time. In the book Something Happened，there are only two sceneshome and familythat are the most common and familiar places, and many people like Slocums boss Green, Slocums wife, his son and his daughter appear, but all of them are around the protagonist Slocum. In terms of the communication between Slocum and his friends, colleagues, and his families, it was plain that Slocum is a typical antihero of marked characters that is timidness, indifference and selfishness, and suspicion. 3.1 Timidness“America is the paradise” which sounds tempting to everyone and seems that every American should live happily just as living in the Garden of Eden like Adam and Eve. But now this saying is suspected if people take Slocum into consideration. Apparently, Slocum is unhappy out of his timidness-the known or unknown fear. At the very beginning, given that Slocum has comfortable living conditions and a regular income, let alone a good family, its somewhat odd that Slocum is still timid. But judging from the details in the novel, Slocum indeed has the reason to feel scared and nervous all the time whether at home or in the company.Slocum is feared of the door. That is just a lifeless and artificial thing, but it is a wonder that, anyway Slocum is afraid about the closed door which gives him the hints that something just is happening behind the door. Just as the novel describes:I get the willies when I see closed doors. Even at work, where I am doing so well now, the sight of a closed door is sometimes enough to make me dread that something horrible is happening behind it, something that is going to affect me adversely; if I am tired and dejected from a night of lies or booze or sex or just plain nerves and insomnia, I can almost smell the disaster mounting invisibly and flooding out toward me through the frosted glass panes. My hands may perspire, and my voice may come out strange. I wonder why. (Heller 3) In the following part, Slocum recalls some incidents related to the door in his childhood. He ever happens to see his parents lying in the bed behind the door, which probably makes little Slocum embarrassed. Whats more, he sees his brother having an affair with a girl after he opens the door of the old wooden coal shed, getting hurt due to his unintentional interruption. Such experience leaves Slocum a bad impression making him afraid of the door, and worries about what is behind the door.Besides the door, more often, Slocum also feels afraid with colleagues. “In the office in which I work there are five people of whom I am afraid” (Heller 7). In Slocums mind, the companys employees have some fear of anyone else, so does Slocum. He is not afraid of the higher leaders that most other employees do, as he has the little chance to deal with them. The real one who causes his fear is his boss Green. To be more exact, he and his boss are afraid of each other. And this sort of fear is the implication of the hostile feeling that exists between the enemies out of the conflict of interest. Outwardly Slocum shows respect for Green, however in the inner depth of his mind, he wants to replace Greens position and at the same time Green is somewhat aware of his intention. Therefore in the company conference, Green never gives Slocum the opportunity to speak, even for just three minutes, in spite of the fact that Slocum has prepared for it with great care. Besides the boss, Slocum also afraid of his subordinates, especially the typist Martha, who looks crazy and nervous. Marsha is a bit abnormal in the eyes of Slocum and others, partly because that she cant adapt herself to her environment, at least she doesnt have the adaptability of Slocums, as a consequence of it, Martha ends with craziness at the end of the story.Slocums timidness is the result of his own personality and affected by environment to a large extent. Readers can see the delicate relationship of people, and their inward fear towards others. Even if they greet with others with friendly gesture and pretend to help those they are scared of, they still cant hide their fear just like Slocums exposed to his wife. 3.2 Indifference and selfishnessIn most of the cases, Slocum is indifferent and selfish. His selfishness is not like the heroine Scarlett in Gone with the Wind, who is also considered selfish and cruel but struggle for life as a typical figure in the capital society. Slocums selfishness and indifferent reflect the cold humanity, the human soul in the postwar. Slocum doesnt show enough care for his sons and daughters. About how to regard his son Derek who is an idiot child, the measure Slocum always takes is to ignore him just like his wife, because in his opinion the son is a shame to the family. He has never shown a pity for his poor son, and just takes him as an unsettled trouble, not willing to talk of him at all. What is more terrible, Slocum and his wife ever considered to send his child away so as to they can get rid of the disabled and shameful child. His little normal son is so sensitive that he senses the danger that might happen to his brother. He feels worried that he may have the same fate as his brother. It seems that Slocums son loses faith in his father, being doubtful about his fathers love. Slocum has built unconsciously a wall between him and his son. Besides, as a father, Slocum is not good enough to his teenage daughter because his daughter thinks her father isnt concerned about her. And Slocum himself also believes that his young daughter wishes he and his wife are gone or dead. But referring to his daughters evil idea, amazingly Slocum thinks it is not difficult to understand, as he has the same feeling: “for didnt I have that same repugnant wish for my mother after she fell sick, and perhaps even earlier, when she began to grow old, once I no longer needed her, and she began to need me? I was impatient for her to die. And told myself shed be better off” (Heller 71).Slocum is also indifferent to his mother, even when his mother gets a serious disease, the only thing he could do is to conceal the truth from his mother. He feels helpless to pull his mother through the difficulty, and he has the same feeling with his drunken flirting wife. Indeed, Slocum should have done something for his families, but he didnt. He is a sympathetic audience rather than a family sharing the sorrow and happiness. Furthermore, Slocum is selfish when something is concerned with his interest. Take the promotion in his company for instance, in the case that Slocum has a nice relationship with Kagle, the kind guy who never fires or punishes any employees, which makes Arthur Baron unsatisfied.All in all, Slocums indifference and selfishness has manifested through the trivial matters around him. Slocum, a person living in a world where the economy rises in an abnormal way, reveals the humanity of negative side. 3.3 SuspicionSuspicion is one of the common human mentalities but keeping skeptical about everything and everybody can be counted as a disease. Slocum is a skeptical person. The thought that something will happen inhabits his mind. And it has always been so. He can never have a sense of security, and even doesnt believe the sense of security (Mao Ningyuan 82). Slocum doesnt trust everyone, and, consequently, he is suspicious. So, this lacking of the sense of security, in a sense, is the reflection of suspicion. Slocum is always skeptical about others, worrying that someone will secretly scheme against him. The higher position he gets, the more skeptical he is. He always keeps an eye for the colleagues and his boss, not being honesty to others, even to his close families, especially his daughter. He dislikes his daughter breaking into his study. Once his daughter comes into the room to communicate with him, he becomes angry. He is doubtful about his daughters true intention, regardless of her explanation. This lack of trust deepens the misunderstanding between him and his families. He even thinks that his daughter, his own flesh and blood, wishes that he would die. “Perhaps she really does wish that my wife or I will die soon. It would not be so unnatural for her to do so” (Heller 71). From this point, it can be seen that in Slocums mind, he seriously takes it granted that his daughter is going hurt him and he seems not aware of his daughter. What he believes is what he guesses, as he does know little about his daughter:I dont know what we have done, or failed to do, to account for it all: I dont know what she blames us for; but she blames us for something. (I grow pretty damned spiteful and embittered myself at my inability to please her, at our failure to make her happy. And I often strike back at her in clever, malign ways. I enjoy striking back at her. Revenge is sweet, even against her. And she is not yet sixteen. I sometimes find myself wishing that she would run away from home, just to make things easier for me.) (Heller 75) But at the same time, he never tries to change the bad relationship with his daughter, keeping his question and suspicion in mind, as his wife says that he is never trying to listen to his daughter carefully and patiently. The suspicion also sets Slocums family by the ears.4. The artistic presentations of the antihero Slocum To successfully portray characters in the novel, authors often take use of various artistic presentations to make characters more alive. In Hellers Something Happened, the main artificial presentations are symbolism and stream of consciousness. 4.1 SymbolismSymbolism refers to a way of choosing representative symbols in line with abstract rather than literal properties, allowing for the broader interpretation of a carried meaning than more literal concept-representations allow (Li Jie 70). In Something Happened, symbolism is adopted extensively by Heller, to represent the novel themes.First of all, in novels character names always symbolize certain special meanings. Just as the Yossarian in Catch-22 who is considered as an outsider and so his name is designed with the Assyrian cognomen. In Something Happened，Slocums name is indicative of WASP origin, which renders him more acceptable in an environment that is distrustful of ethnic minorities. Much is made of the business of naming in both novels. Colonel Cathcart, the perfidious squadron commander considers Slocum as an “American” name. Then, Bob Slocum is a real “American”, whats more, Slocums own musings on the subject reinforce the sense of bland anonymity which his name conveys:I am currently occu