An Analysis of Humorous Techniques of Expression in O. Henry’s Short Novels.doc

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1、论欧亨利短篇小说中幽默技巧的表达An Analysis of Humorous Techniques of Expression in O. Henrys Short Novels Contents ContentsIAbstractII中文摘要IIIIntroduction11 Surprise Endings21.1 Surprise Effect Achieved through Attempts to Mislead21.2 Surprise Effect Achieved through Shifting of the Angle of Narration41.3 The Funct

2、ion of Surprise Endings62 Vivid Language72.1 Metaphor72.2 Simile82.3 Overstatement92.4 Irony103 Portrayal of the Characters123.1 Appearance and psychological description of the characters123.2 Dialogue description of the characters133.3 Contrast of characters13Conclusion15Reference16Acknowledgements

3、17 Abstract O.Henry, one of the three most famous short-story writers in the world, enjoys equal status with Chekhov and Maupassant. His short stories are famous for its unexpected ending, as well as their exquisite conception. The figures written by him are full of delight of life so Henry was prai

4、sed as the “Humorous encyclopedia of American life”. Humor is one of the most important features of O.Henry and analyzing it is very useful. It is not only practical to understand the writing techniques of the author but also helpful for the readers to feel the hidden meaning behind the humor. “Twis

5、t ending” is the most outstanding method to achieve the effect of humor. It is mainly acquired through attempts to mislead and shifting of the angle of narration. O.Henrys short novels abound with metaphor, simile, overstatement, irony and other techniques, which can make the stories colorful and gl

6、istening. At the same time, portrayal of the figures is necessary besides the delicate plot and funny language. The figures, true to life, enable the stories to become vivid and close to real life. So the writher of this thesis mainly focus on the ending, language, and the portrayal of the figures t

7、o discuss the humorous techniques of expression in O.Henrys short novels through analyzing some of his famous works so that the readers can understand the writing aims of the author and enjoy the charm of the stories. Key words: O.Henry，short novels，humor，humorous techniques of expression中文摘要作为世界三大小

8、说家之一，欧亨利与契诃夫，莫泊桑齐名。他的作品因其奇巧的艺术构思，出其不意的结尾而著称。他语言诙谐，描写的人物富有生活情趣，因此被誉为“美国生活的幽默百科全书”。幽默是欧亨利短篇小说的一大特点，分析其表现手法不但可以了解作者的写作方法，也能帮助读者感受幽默背后隐藏的意义。“欧亨利式结尾”是达到幽默效果的最突出的方法。它主要通过误导读者和转换叙事角度来达到此效果的。欧亨利的小说中大量运用了明喻，暗喻，夸张，讽刺等手法，使得其作品丰富多彩，熠熠生辉。与此同时，有了好的结构和诙谐的语言，人物的塑造也是不可或缺的。栩栩如生的人物使得故事更加生动活泼，更加贴近生活。因此本文作者通过对欧亨利著名篇章的分析

9、，主要从结尾，语言，和人物刻画这三个方面来讨论幽默表现的方法，从而帮助读者透过幽默的表象看到作者真实的意图，进而发现其作品中的艺术魅力。关键词：欧亨利；短篇小说；幽默；表现手法Introduction OHenry originally named William Sydney Porter, is a distinguished American story writer. He wrote more than 300 short stories in his life. Having received only a little education, he experienced a ch

10、angeable career from the time when he was 15 years old, such as apprentice, clerk, and cow-boy and book keeper. He was accused of embezzling funds from the bank where he worked. And finally, he had to serve a three-year sentence. After his release in 1901, he devoted himself to literature. He had a

11、lifetime of frustrations, which provided him with abundant materials to write with new and original conception, humorous language and interesting plot brought him fame and success quickly. He creates an original, typically American democratic form of short stories with a valuable critical awareness

12、of life and society expressed through humor. Being gifted with humor and a keen awareness of details, he objectively shows us what America looks like. Most of his stories are full of delight of life and show the readers a true panorama of American life, so someone called O.Henry “The encyclopedia of

13、 American life”. Humor is one of the biggest features of his short novels and it is a factor of comedy and sometimes there is a serious theme under the laughter. As to O.Henry, his humor is different from the common ones. Surprising ending, exaggeration, irony, and wits appear in his stories, which

14、make the readers laugh with tears. Apart from the funny story, what the writer wants to tell to the readers is his depressed mood and the gloomy life in American society. He takes great sympathy on the common people with dissatisfaction of the rich and the noble. He is very good at seizing the right

15、 moment of dramatic scene, an embarrassing situation in which laughs and cries are out of place in daily life. The author outlines the features of the figures like drawing a cartoon picture. After a tight-knit plot, each story contains a surprise ending, which is contrary to our expectation but reas

16、onable. At the same time he uses vivid language to make the stories more fascinating. Owing to his accurate description of the details, a metropolitan scene reappears in front of us. He uses different kinds of devices to add wry humor to enhance the theme. Here we will analyze O.Henrys writing techn

17、iques in his expression of humor in three aspects.1 Surprise Endings In Henrys short novels, surprise or twist ending is the typical feature. He sets a story moving in one direction, and just when the readers are convinced of the general direction of the story, the result will be completely reversed

18、. If we look back to the whole story and think about the background and condition of the hero, the ending seems logical and plausible. Readers can never know the truth until they finish reading the whole story. That is to say the author has your nerves all a quiver until the last sentence. The surpr

19、ise comes quickly, and the story is finished. O.Henry is a great plot maker and a good designer of incidents. He is such a master of the unexpected ending that one must admire his skills. We never think the endings are abrupt and unreasonable because of careful preparation before the endings. Also,

20、his surprise endings are quite different from De Maupassants Necklace which is full of brutal cynicism. O.Henry, on the other hand, is humorous, sympathetic, and a little bit miserable. Next, lets discuss how to achieve surprise effects in O.Henrys short novels.1.1 Surprise Effect Achieved through A

21、ttempts to MisleadIn most of Henrys short stories, he creates the complicated plots for the readers not to be clear at a glance. He first conceals some important facts on purpose, giving a hint foreshadowing later developments in a story, when the proper time comes, he discloses what he has already

22、planned to make the readers suddenly realize what has happened and be lost in thought. He arranges a series of conflicts that are unraveled at the end to demonstrate great artistry and possess strong artistic charm and achieve a fascinating result.In O.Henrys short novel, The Last Leaf, the author m

23、isleads the readers at first and at the end of the story unveils the truth. O.Henry describes a story of some ordinary people. An artist is named Johney whom the doctor thought only “has one chance in ten for her to live”. During her illness, Johnsy continues counting the leaves of ivy vine outside

24、the window, and the leaves are almost stricken from the wind by the cold breath of autumn. Johnsy counts from hundred more to the last few ones. She thinks she is just like a “Weared leaves” and says “when the last one falls I must go, too”. Old Behrman, an old artist, who lives on the ground floor

25、beneath them, knows what Johnsy thinks. He laughs at her strange idea and promises to “paint a masterpiece” to help her move out of such terrible place. What is the result? “After the beating rain and fierce gusts of wind that had endured through the livelong night, there yet stood out against the b

26、rick wall one ivy leaf. It was the last on the vine.”When reading the story here, the readers will think the leaf will fall soon and the life of Johnsy will end, too. But another day the lonely ivy leaf is clinging to its stem against the wall. “And then, with the coming of the night the north wind

27、was again loosed, while the rain still beat against the windows and patters down from the low Dutch eaves”. The whole night passes with wind and rain. Will the last leaf fall? Readers hold a firm belief that in the next morning the leaf must fall, and the girl must die. However, when it is light eno

28、ugh, Johnsy pulls the curtain up and sees “the ivy leaf is still there”. It is really surprising that why the leaf has such strong life? At the end of the story, what Johnsys girl friend told her makes a great impact on the readers. “Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia today in the hospital. He is ill onl

29、y two days.look out of the window, dear, at the last ivy leaf on the wall. Didnt you wonder why it never fluttered or moved when the wind blew? Ah, darling, its Behrmans masterpiece, he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell” In the first large part, the author attempts to draw the reade

30、rs attention to what Johnsys end is and the continuing falling leaves, while the result is the exchanges of the true and the false, the life and the death. We couldnt help admiring such effect of strong attack in the storys ending. The ending is unexpected but the readers suddenly see the whole thin

31、g clearly. Its great that Johnsy calls it “masterpiece” because this leaf is really saturated with blood and sweat, filled with love and true feelings. It is a leaf that can be green and vigorous forever. Take another story The Gift of the Magi as an instance. It concerns about a young couple who ar

32、e short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. From the beginning, the readers keep guessing what Jim and Della will buy for each other, and the coincidence of their gifts is the greatest surprise the author put in his article. Henry doesnt show the chain in Dellas hand to

33、Jim until the story reached the end, so the readers get a clear idea that Della fails to buy Jim a useful gift because Jim had sold the watch and he also chooses a useless gift because of the cutting of Dellas long hair. When reading the story the readers thoughts will follow Dellas action and her m

34、ind, thinking that Jim will be very excited when receiving the chain, but to our surprise, at the end of the story we are told that Jim had sold the watch. We smile because of the coincidence and we are touched by the pure love between the couple. They give up their most valuable things to buy a Chr

35、istmas gift for each other. But at the same time we have to think about their hard life and the straitened circumstances of the people from the lower social grade. The comic result is actually full of grieved tragedy. Although the plot far exceeds expectations, readers appreciate the cleverness of p

36、lot situation and ending a great deal while enjoying the delight of reading. Perhaps someone may regard this couple stupid but actually they are so clear that they show their real feelings to each other and receive the most valuable thing in the worldlove. Love is the supremacy, and this is the them

37、e of the article.1.2 Surprise Effect Achieved through Shifting of the Angle of NarrationIn some of O.Henrys short novels, the author puts more ink in the first large part to tell a story, and in the end using the change of the angle of narration to make the ending surprising and sudden. This ingenio

38、us writing technique not only attracts the interests of the readers but also makes it easier to shock the readers. Large part of narration foreshadows the ending and the readers may suddenly see the whole story clearly. At the beginning, the author writes from the view of the third-person narrator,

39、using one thread and one main figure of the story as the apparent clue, other threads as the hidden clue. This kind of writing is not only easy to prune but to make the plot simple and clear, so that the author can change the angle of narration at any time. In the end, when the author writes from th

40、e angle of one figure who is often not the main characters revealing the results by their words unwittingly, readers may come to realize the truth and feel they are involved in the story. While reading readers follow the main figures and have the same psychological activities with them, and readers

41、may regard themselves as the main figures in the story. In the end, they may be shocked by the words said by one of the unimportant figures. The words are like a light that breaks in upon them. The shift of the angle of narration, from a main figure to an unimportant figure, is more impressive than

42、the ordinary narration. In the story The Romance of a Busy Broker the hero, Harvey Maxwell, is such a man who married yesterday evening but couldnt recognize his new-married wife and proposes to her again. Is it fantastic? Yes. But when you finish this story, you wont suspect the truth of such typic

43、al character who really exists. In the story the author uses more ink to describe how Harvey is busy with the stock exchange all day long. Till last, he suddenly looks distracted and feels “the world of finance dwindled suddenly to a speck”. He suddenly asks himself why not ask Leslet to be his wife

44、? When he does so, Leslei ends the story with the following words “Dont you remember, Harvey? We were married last evening at 8 oclock.” The story stops here, achieving a striking artistic effect. This is the only words that she says in the story. The author writes from the view of the third-person

45、narrator to describe Harvey and his work which are the main thread of the story. During telling the story Henry only mentions the ladys expression and appearance. But at the end of the story, the author changes the angle of narration and using the words of Leslei to end it. This kind of ending is st

46、rongly beyond our expectation and gives us an abrupt sense. Although it is abrupt, it is reasonable when considering the information given before. Sometimes Henry just uses a sentence said by someone to stop the story without explanation, which leave the readers enough space to think themselves. At

47、this time, readers can go through the story again and get their ideas into shape. Here we can see Hervey is only a small potato in this finance world and in this capital society human nature is tortured by capitalism. We not only feel the painful life of the ordinary people but also feel Harveys dee

48、p love for Leslei. Although he is busy with work all day long but when “the world of finance dwindled suddenly to a speck”, he proposes to Leslei. When cruel facts of the society mingle with the noble human nature, the theme of the story can be stressed, which is the true meaning of “laugh with tear

49、s”.In this capitalist society, many people even do evil things against their conscience, so as to earn money. In The Furnished Room the housekeeper, Mrs. Purdy, cheats a young man who is seeking his lover, in order to let him rent the room. Then the young man commits suicide out of despair. At the end, after the young man dies, we are shocked by the fact that the mans lover commits suicide at the same rented room. Mrs.Purdy