本科生畢業(yè)設(shè)計（論文）pessimism in the man that corrupted the hadleyburg

1、<p>　　存檔日期： 存檔編號： </p><p>　　本科生畢業(yè)設(shè)計（論文）</p><p><b>　　論 文 題 目：</b></p><p>　　姓 名： &l

2、t;/p><p>　　學(xué) 院： 外國語學(xué)院 </p><p>　　專 業(yè)： 商貿(mào)英語 </p><p>　　年 級 、 學(xué) 號： 09 級， 09042014 </p><p>　　指 導(dǎo)

3、 教 師： </p><p>　　江蘇師范大學(xué)教務(wù)處印制</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is one of the most famous works of Mark Tw

4、ain. In this work, he expressed his pessimism. He exposed the degeneration of human nature when people were faced with temptation and the ugly essence of the world. He was quite disappointed to the world. This essay disc

5、usses the pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg on the basis of New Historicism. The essay explores the reasons of Mark Twain’s pessimism from his personal experience and the reality of American </p><

6、p>　　Key Words: pessimism temptation The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg</p><p><b>　　摘要</b></p><p>　　《敗壞了赫德萊堡的人》是馬克吐溫晚年的一部代表作品，在這部小說中，馬克吐溫表現(xiàn)出了悲觀主義思想。他剖析了在誘惑面前人性表現(xiàn)出的的黑暗和這個世界的丑

7、陋，進而萌發(fā)了悲觀主義的情緒。本文試圖借助新歷史主義的觀點來分析馬克吐溫在《敗壞了赫德萊堡的人》這部小說中流露出的的悲觀主義，從個人經(jīng)歷和美國社會現(xiàn)實兩個方面研究馬克吐溫悲觀主義產(chǎn)生的原因，緊接著討論馬克吐溫悲觀主義的含義，并從小說的構(gòu)思和藝術(shù)形象兩個角度來研究馬克吐溫悲觀主義情緒在《敗壞了赫德萊堡的人》這部小說中的具體體現(xiàn)。馬克吐溫的悲觀主義思想主要表現(xiàn)在對人性的失望和宿命論，這兩方面的思想都對他的后期創(chuàng)作以及后來的作家產(chǎn)生了深遠的影

8、響。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：悲觀主義 誘惑 《敗壞了赫德萊堡的人》</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Abstract………………………………………………………………………………..i</p><p>　　摘要…………………………………………………………………

9、…………………ii</p><p>　　Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1</p><p>　　Chapter One The formation and meaning of Twain’s pessimism……………..…….3</p><p>　　1 The formation of Twain’s pes

10、simism…………………………………………..3</p><p>　　2 The meaning of Twain’s pessimism……………………………………………4</p><p>　　Chapter Two The specific analysis of pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg ............

11、..................................................................................7</p><p>　　1 From the aspect of plot…………………………………………………………7</p><p>　　2 From the aspect of characters………………………………

12、…………………..9</p><p>　　Chapter Three The effect of Twain’s pessimism…………………...……………...12</p><p>　　1 The effect on his later writing………………………………………………...12</p><p>　　2 The effect on lat

13、er writers…………………………………………………….13</p><p>　　Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………14</p><p>　　Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………..15</p><p>　　Pessimism in The Man that Corrupte

14、d the Hadleyburg</p><p>　　Introduction</p><p>　　Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835– April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain

15、grew up in Hannibal Missouri. During his life, he apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter and contributed articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various citi

16、es, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he </p><p>　　The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, written in 1900， is one

17、of the most famous works of Mark Twain. The novel was about a town named Hadleyburg which was famous for its good reputation. Everyone believed it was an uncorrupted town. But a stranger came to Hadleyburg with a bag of

18、gold coin to find out an unknown benefactor because the benefactor ever gave 20 dollars to the stranger. The chief nineteen citizens wanted to be the benefactor and made every endeavor to get the gold. At last, the hones

19、t</p><p>　　Chinese scholars mainly explore The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg from the following aspects, such as from the writing skills or the reasons of his pessimism. Chen huizhu ever wrote an essay to Le

20、arning Theory, entitled “Research on the causes of Mark Twain’s pessimism in his later life”. She tried to examine the reasons of his pessimism from Mark Twain’s personal experience and the changes of American society. F

21、oreign scholars mainly study this novel from the aspects of cultural pessimism and p</p><p>　　This essay explores Twain’s pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg with the theory of new historicism. Sc

22、holars of new historicism hold the view that literature is highly affected by the complex and subtle social background. Literature is a product of a specific society which has its own features in history and culture. Thi

23、s essay will focus on the effects of American culture and history on the change of Mark Twain. At the same time, it will try to explain the novel from the angle of his</p><p>　　Chapter One The formation and

24、 meaning of Twain’s pessimism</p><p>　　1 The analysis of the writing background</p><p>　　In the late 19th century, there is a dramatic change in American culture. Darwin's theory of evolutio

25、n and Spencer's theory of social competition brought great destroy to Christianity and rationalism. This made the traditional belief which was built on the foundation of modesty and fairness lose its sense. Therefore

26、, human dignity was deconstructed and the desire for civilization and democracy was replaced by material pursuit. Power and wealth had become the center of life. However, we know Mark</p><p>　　The Man that C

27、orrupted Hadleyburg, written in 1900, was set in such a social background. In this work, the nineteen principle citizens deceived each other and disguised when they were faced with a bag of gold. This was a true portraya

28、l of the capitalist society, or we can say, the nineteen principle citizens were a symbol of imperialism. Twain mercilessly criticized the social corruption and hypocrisy in American as well as the magic and evil role mo

29、ney played in the society. However, Mark Twain</p><p>　　Twain’s pessimism, which is shown in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is also related to his personal experience in the 1890s. In 1894, his investment

30、s of the typesetting machine and the publishing company failed, which brought a debt of one hundred thousand to Mark Twain. Therefore he had to make a round-the-world lecture tour to earn money for the debt as a sickly m

31、an of nearly 60 years old. Later，he ever used words to describe his feeling to the bankruptcy, which was “ pain despair and be to</p><p>　　2 The meanings of pessimism </p><p>　　After getting fam

32、iliar to the writing background, we can know that personal experience and the reality of American society contributed to Mark Twain’s pessimism. But what are the meanings of pessimism shown in The Man that Corrupted Hadl

33、eyburg? There are two aspects of the meaning of pessimism. Firstly, Mark Twain holds the view that the human nature is evil. Secondly, he believes in fatalism. </p><p>　　In The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg,

34、 Mark Twain was pessimistic towards human nature. He thought human nature was evil because human became hypocritical and greedy when they were faced with temptation. People’s will was so weak to control their desire. The

35、refore, all the virtues were ruined by the bag of gold coin. “The weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire.”(230) Citizens in the town ever thought they were honest, kind, and upright.

36、 But the honesty was we</p><p>　　Mark Twain’s pessimism was not only displayed in his disappointment to human nature but also displayed in his belief of fatalism. In The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark T

37、wain preliminarily expressed his viewpoint of fatalism. He explained accidental events to the order of God. He did not believe the will power of human. In his mind, it was God but not human that controlled the developmen

38、t of events. His viewpoint of fatalism was mainly displayed in the character of the Richards, who tended t</p><p>　　Chapter Two The specific analysis of pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg</p&

39、gt;<p>　　1 From the aspect of plot </p><p>　　The plot of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is very bizarre. When the gold coin which is the symbol of temptation appears, the honest and upright town lo

40、st its peace. Here, Mark Twain took the gold coin and the passing stranger as the main line, and played a farce for the readers. We can take the farce as a psychological experiment. Twain had designed a clever psychologi

41、cal experiment, conducted by the stranger, to make the readers watch these experiment objects and find out the reaction of ci</p><p>　　At the beginning of the story, the passing stranger came to hadleyburg w

42、ith a bag of gold coin and broke the quiet life order in the town. The citizens were greatly excited because the trust from the stranger showed that they lived in an incorruptible town and were proud of it. But the citiz

43、ens were in anguish and sigh later as they wanted to know what the remark was that the benefactor said to the stranger. That was “You are far from being a bad man.” From their reaction, we can find they had f</p>

44、<p>　　Here, Mark Twain told a bizarre story to readers. He revealed the moral status and social reality by his text. Through the wonderful plot design, Mark Twain revealed the moral status by actions of people in th

45、e town when they faced the gold coin. Furthermore, the process of trying to claim the coin was a true portrayal of capitalists when they faced huge amount of money. Here his text is closely related to the culture and soc

46、iety of the 19th century in America. At that time, America entered a st</p><p>　　2 From the aspect of characters</p><p>　　Mark Twain designed the character of the stranger mainly to expose the e

47、vil essence of human nature. The stranger was a visitor to Hadleyburg, who was a concentrated reflection of blackness in human nature. He was a narrow-minded man. He revenged the town for he was offended in the town and

48、he kept the injury in mind. He gave all his leisure time to try to invent a compensating satisfaction for it. Also, he was cunning and malicious. He wanted to damage everyone in the town—not in their bodies o</p>

49、<p>　　From the angle of the author, Twain’s pessimism was displayed by his disappointment to human nature. As readers, we can understand his pessimism from another angle. That is taking the stranger as a symbol of c

50、ultural intrusion. The stranger was an outsider and came to Hadleyburg with a motivation to disturb the order of the town and expose the most dishonorable parts of people. He came to the town not to bring prosperity but

51、disasters to it. Mark Twain thought all visitors only brought destructi</p><p>　　To make a conclusion, the character of the stranger was a complicated one. Mark Twain created such a character to display his

52、despair to human nature and his pessimistic mood to cultural intrusion.</p><p>　　We can also understand Twain’s pessimism from the character of the Richards. The Richards were older. They were so poor that t

53、hey could hardly refuse the temptation of such a huge amount of gold coin. The gold coin weighed a hundred and sixty pounds four ounces. Facing such a huge amount of money, they selfishly had the desire of getting the go

54、ld coin. And they gradually lose control of their will as they had the desire to get the money. They ever tried to fight with their greed but failed. “Lea</p><p>　　From the character of the Richards, we seem

55、 to feel Mark Twain’s fatalism. At the beginning, when they lost the opportunity of gaining the gold coin, Mr. Richard said that it was ordered. Then after they were tempted once again and got the money, he said again; “

56、We--we could not help it, Mary. It—well it was ordered. ALL things are.”(235)We know that the Richards previously had the opportunity to refuse the temptation but they failed to grasp it. When faced with money, their wil

57、l could not withs</p><p>　　By creating the character of the Richards, Mark Twain made an exposure of greed and selfishness of human nature. Also, he displayed his belief in fatalism. He thought man could har

58、dly dominate their destiny.</p><p>　　Chapter Three The effects of Twain’s pessimism</p><p>　　1 Effect on his later writing </p><p>　　In his work the Man that Corrupted the Hadleybu

59、rg, Mark Twain showed a sense of despair to human nature and he became to believe in fatalism. In Twain’s mind, people were honest just because they did not have the opportunity to expose their ugly and greedy essence. F

60、urthermore, man could hardly control their desire and was easily tempted by the bag of gold coin. The novel The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg took the corruption of the town as a center and revealed Twain’s writing t

61、heme in his l</p><p>　　Mark Twain almost continued his pessimistic idea in all his later works. In The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, Mark Twain expressed his disappointment to the evil of human nature b

62、y creating characters of the Richards and the stranger. Human nature is greedy, selfish, malicious, hypocritical and cunning. His disappointment to human nature developed to extreme in his later works, such as What is Ma

63、n. In What is Man, Mark Twain ever wrote that among all the living things, man was the worst. Fr</p><p>　　In The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, there is a preliminary expression of fatalism in the figure

64、 of the Richards. And the idea of fatalism affected his later creation of another novel. That was The Mysterious Stranger. In the Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, Mark Twain held the view that God controlled everything

65、 and man could not dominate their destiny. Based on fatalism, he developed a sense of nihilism in The Mysterious Stranger. He believed that man was just a form to carry energy. Al</p><p>　　2 Effects to later

66、 writers </p><p>　　Mark Twain’s pessimism not only affected his later writing, but also had a profound effect on later writers. In the late of 19th century, there was a moral wasteland caused by the uncontro

67、lled material and political development in America. Some thinkers and writers, therefore, became pessimistic to American society just as Mark Twain. Naturalism was transplanted from France to the USA in the last ten year

68、s of 19th century. And it developed to a mainstream in American literature by the middle of </p><p>　　Conclusion</p><p>　　The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg was a representative of satire nov

69、el of Mark Twain. In this work, his pessimism was revealed. Mark Twain was pessimistic to human nature and he became to believe in fatalism. In his mind, there were no merits in human nature. All people were selfish, gre

70、edy and malicious. He also believed in fatalism. When people were faced with temptation, they could not refuse it but be tempted by it. They explained their destiny to the order of God. He displayed his pessi</p>

71、<p>　　Works Cited</p><p>　　Elliot, E. Columbia Literary History of the United States. Chengdu: Sichuan University Press, 1994.</p><p>　　Howells. My Mark Twain. New York: New York Harpers Pr

72、ess, 1910.</p><p>　　Horton, Rod, and Edwards. Backgrounds of American Literary Thought. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall，Inc. 1974.</p><p>　　Twain, Mark. The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg. Peking:

73、Tsinghua University Press, 2010.</p><p>　　Twain, Mark. The Autobiography of Mark Twain. Peking: Peking Normal University Press, 1994.</p><p>　　董衡巽，《馬克吐溫畫像》. 上海：上海文藝出版社，1991.</p><p>

74、　　陳慧姝，馬克吐溫晚年悲觀主義及其產(chǎn)生原因初探.學(xué)理論,2010，31-0217-02.</p><p>　　高麗萍，馬克吐溫的思想變遷解析.學(xué)理論, 2010(31).</p><p>　　童彥，馬克·吐溫小說中的幽默與諷刺藝術(shù).湖北成人教育學(xué)院學(xué)報, 2012,18(4).</p><p>　　楊愛英，《敗壞了赫德萊堡的人》創(chuàng)作特色探析.外語研究,