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1、本科毕业设计 ( 论文 )正文目录Abstract. ii摘要 . ii1. Introduction . 12. The black humor and antihero . .23 The features of the antihero Slocum in Something Happened . 33.1 Timidness . 33.2 Indifference and selfishness . 43.3 Suspicion . 54 The artistic presentations of the antihero slocum . 64.1 Symbolism . 64.2
2、Stream of consciousness . 75 The value of the antihero Slocum . 85.1 Literary significance . 85.2 Realistic significance . 86. Conclusion . 8Works Cited . 10ii An Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something HappenedAbstract: Something happened, the black humor novelist Joseph Heller s second novel,
3、 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 a
4、nd 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 writersaim, and be aware of its literary and realis
5、tic 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
6、姆；出事了1 An Analysis of the Antihero Slocum in Something Happened 1. 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 reflectin
7、g 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 He
8、ller 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,
9、 longing for the girls who never belong to him and the life he has not lived; Bob s wife, who has learnt to hate him; Bob s 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 smar
10、t 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
11、 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 domesti
12、c 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 isn t concerned a
13、bout 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 feature
14、s of the novel: the extremely limited mode narration, the unheroic nature of the protagonist and the ostensibly pessimistic quality of the novel s 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 schol
15、ars 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 t
16、o the study of the theme of the book, 2 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 theme
17、s (Mao Ningyuan 82). The focus of the paper will be on the study of antihero Slocum s 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 Slocum timidness, indiffer
18、ence 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 literar
19、y 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 diffe
20、rent 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 situ
21、ation, 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 scar
22、ed 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 economicdevelopment. What s more, the development of heavy industry accelerates the tra
23、nsmission 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 distinct
24、ive 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, it s not difficult to see that “ antihero”means a protagonist who lacks the characteristics that wo
25、uld 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, w
26、ithout 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 3 differ from the ideal or positive characters in traditional novels, who are neither equip
27、ped 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 Heller
28、 s Something Happened, Bob Slocum is exactly a typical antihero. 3. The features of the antihero Slocum in Something HappenedSomething 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 narrati
29、ve, in varying shades and nuances, recalls Dostoyevsky s Underground Man,Kafka s 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
30、 American culture was at that time. In the book Something Happened ， there are only two scenes home and familythat are the most common and familiar places, and many people like Slocum s boss Green, Slocum s wife, his son and his daughter appear, but all of them are around the protagonist Slocum. In
31、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
32、 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
33、 comfortable living conditions and a regular income, let alone a good family, it s 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.
34、 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
35、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
36、 mounting invisibly and flooding out toward me through the frosted glass panes. My hands may perspire, and my voice may come out strange. I 4 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
37、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 afr
38、aid 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 Slocum s mind, the companys employees have some fear of anyone else, so does Sl
39、ocum. 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 th
40、at 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 S
41、locum 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 o
42、thers, 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
43、. 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 mo
44、st 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. Slocum s selfishness and indifferent reflect the cold humanity, the h
45、uman soul in the postwar. Slocum doesn t 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 h
46、is 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 5 senses the dange
47、r that might happen to his brother. He feels worried that he may have the same fate as his brother. It seems that Slocum s son loses faith in his father, being doubtful about his father s love. Slocum has built unconsciously a wall between him and his son. Besides, as a father, Slocum is not good en
48、ough to his teenage daughter because his daughter thinks her father isn t 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 daughter s evil idea, amazingly Slocum thinks it is not difficult to understand, as he
49、 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
50、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
51、 something for his families, but he didn t. 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 relationshi
52、p with Kagle, the kind guy who never fires or punishes any employees, which makes Arthur Baron unsatisfied. All in all, Slocum s 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
53、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 nev
54、er have a sense of security, and even doesn t believe the sense of security (Mao Ningyuan 82). Slocum doesn t 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
55、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 d
56、aughter comes into the room to communicate with him, he becomes angry. He is doubtful about his daughter s 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 th
57、at he would die. “ Perhaps she 6 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 Slocum s mind, he seriously takes it granted that his daughter is going hurt him and he seems not aware of his daught
58、er. 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 plea
59、se 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.) (Helle
60、r 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 Slocum s family by the ears. 4. The artistic pr
61、esentations 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 Heller s Something Happened, the main artificial presentations are symbolism and stream of consciousness. 4.1 Symbolism Symbo
62、lism 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,
63、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，Slocum s name is indicative of WASP origi
64、n, 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 ”, what s more, Sl
65、ocum s own musings on the subject reinforce the sense of bland anonymity which his name conveys: I am currently occupied (as one of my private projects) with trying to organize a self-sufficient community out of people in the company whose names are the same occupations, tools, or natural resources,
66、 for we have many Millers, Bakers, Taylors, Carpenters, Fields, Farmers, Hammers, Nichols (puns are permitted in my Utopia, else how could we get by?) and Butchers listed in the internal telephone directory; possibly we d be a much 7 better organization if all of us were doing the kind of work our n
67、ames suggest, although I m not sure where I d fit in snugly there, either, because my name means nothing that I know of and I don t know where it came from. (George 3) Except for the symbolism of name, there is another evident symbol door. From the very beginning, Slocum shows his fear for the door:
68、 “ I get the willies when I see closed doors ” (Heller 1). Slocum thinks the unknown disasters will happen on him, and he suffers from the strange waiting. Heller lists various doors: the office door, the bedroom door and what is concealed in the words that the door of soul hiding nature from outsid
69、e. Door, Sigmund Freud puts, symbolizes privacy and hiding. As has mentioned above, Slocum happens to see some “ secret affairs”behind the door. What happens to him makes him produce the fear for the door afterwards. In the company, what makes Slocum feel scared is also the “ closed door ” , in that
70、 he is worried about the a plan or plot is made against him. He witnesses that the boss insults the employees and colleagues scramble for power and wealth. For the fear of being hurt by others, Slocum chooses to close his “ door” , keeping his world away from others. 4.2 Stream of consciousnessStrea
71、m of consciousness includes free association and internal monologue. Through the novel Something Happened the two sorts of consciousness appear alternately, expressing character s complicated mental activities and illogical thinking that are unrestricted by space and time, which is one of antiheros
72、remarkable features. As the outstanding representative of black humor novelist, Joseph Heller takes full use of the skills, creating the impressive character Slocum. In the first place, consciousness always reflects the antiherosdisordered and anxious inner world, so in the novel, their inner world
73、is chaotic, which is similar to the absurd outside world in some way (Chen Yuyu 91). For instance, Slocum thinks of his daughter s wish that he and his wife could die, and then he thinks of his own mother and what he expects for his mother is the same to her daughter. It can be seen the ironic of hu
74、manity and the indifference to life. At the beginning of the novel, he recalls the scene of his parents lying in the bed, and in the following he depicts the scene that his brother had an affair with the neighboring girl, for which he even gets hurt. The two incidents which looks hasn t much relatio
75、n in the first glance, but when thinking deeper, it s not difficult to find that they are all about the door and the “ secrets ” behind the door. Besides, Heller reveals the aspect of antihero whish is unknown to all in the use of consciousness. Like in the Catch-22, some internal monologues are pre
76、cise descriptions of Einhom s contradictory character (Chen Yuyu 91). In Something Happened , the character Slocum is always thinking. At most time, he doesn t talk. Even if he communicates with others, such as his colleagues and families, his words are short and brief, which makes people have such
77、an imagination that he is heavyhearted. Contrary to 8 his wordlessness, his abundant mental activity is surprising and most of the description about Slocum is the internal monologue. But from the different side to Slocum s wordless, it reveals one of antihero s features loneliness. Slocum is lonely
78、when he can t win the appreciation of his boss and can t pour out his confusion to anyone as well; he is lonely when he has been tired of his wife, with little shared topics and interest to exchange, and often nearly quarrel for a mire trifle; he is lonely when his daughter as an obstinate teenage t
79、ries to cause his annoyance. To sum up, with stream of consciousness and symbolism, Heller opens the Slocum s inner world to readers, offering readers a direct way to get touch with the role. 5. The value of the antihero Slocum Slocum, as an important character in the novel, has the literary signifi
80、cance and realistic significance. 5.1 Literary significance A good character can exactly reveal the novels theme. From the antihero, the theme of absurdity, loneliness and quest can be seen. In the beginning, Antiheroes still struggle somewhat against the abnormal phenomenon, however, little by litt
81、le, the nature of antihero will change and eventually completely be part of the wired culture (Chen Yuyu 92). Just like Slocum, at the beginning of the story, he maintains little friendship with his colleagues like Green, and loves his son with all his heart. However, at the end of novel, his son di
82、es in an accident, destroying his pure love and he has been the slave of power, wearing the mask to live like any other Americans in that absurd world. Slocum is an unimportant person in that word. He is indifferent, selfish, timid and skeptical person, with no striking features of hero in a novel,
83、nevertheless, he is still important to readers, as he discloses the theme of the novel Something Happened.5.2 Realistic significance In terms of the aesthetics and literary trend, the shaping of the antihero gives people the sense of reality. On one hand, there is the negative factor that they strug
84、gle to escape from the reality; on the other hand, there is also the positive factor of criticizing the reality (Chen Yuyu 92). From Slocum, people can see the bad influence the absurd society has on the common Americans. It is clear to see that the Americans values have changed and Americans are ex
85、periencing the faith crisis, revealing the loss of the faith and disillusionment of ideal. What s more, the character Slocum can cause people s deeper thinking about the whole society and make people concerned about the people s relationship and reconsider the development model of capital countries
86、in the postwar years. 6. Conclusion 9 Something Happened is a successful novel. As John W. Aldridge in Saturday Review/World said, “Joseph Heller has discovered and possessed new territories of the imagination, and he has produced a major work of fiction, one that is as distinctive of its kind as Ca
87、tch-22, but more ambitious and profound, a brilliant commentary on American life that must surely be considered as the most important novel in at least a decade! ”(Heller 1). And this novel reflects Americans values, faithfully represents their life, and brings to light the theme of the novel throug
88、h the leading hero Bob Slocum the antihero of the typical characteristics. He gives a rise to the thinking of the society and humanity. And, in a sense, antihero Slocum doesn t bring the destruction of hope, on the contrary, he is a warning to people and makes everyone rethink profoundly. 10 Works c
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90、rican Origins of Black Humor. University of South Carolina, 2003. Heller, Joseph Something Happened . New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc. 1974. Safer, Elaine B. The Allusive Mode and Black Humor In Barth s Sot-weed Factor. University of Delaware, 2002. 陈雨宇， “二战后美国小说反英雄人物形象分析” ， 时代文学 2009 年第 15 期，第91-92 页
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93、urnal of Hotan Teachers College, 61(2009):82-83. 王音， “荒谬时代下的“反英雄”-第二十二条军规中“反人物”塑造” ， 文学语言学习研究 2010年第 47 期，第 27 页。Wang Yin. “ The antihero in an absurd eraThe portrayal of antihero in Catch-22.”Study of Linguistics and Literature, 47(2010):27. 周弘， “从尤瑟夫海勒的“黑色幽默”文学透析美国社会”， 琼州学院学报 2008年第 3 期，第 66-68页。Zhou Hong. “ The Reflection of American Society from the Perspective of Joseph Heller s Black Humor.”Foreign Languages Institute of Guangxi Normal University, 3(2008): 66-68.
