從《百萬英鎊》看馬克吐溫式的幽默（畢業(yè)論文）

1、 密級： nanchang university 學(xué)學(xué) 士士 學(xué)學(xué) 位位 論論 文文 thesis of bachelor （20072011 年） 題 目: 從百萬英鎊看馬克吐溫式的幽默 英文題目: analysis of mark twains humor from a million pound contents abstract.i introduction .ii chapter 1 the work.1 1.1 history background.1 1.2 about the author.2 1.3 profile .4 1.4 theme.5 chapter 2 mark

2、twains humor.7 2.1 general introduction of mark twains humor .7 2.2 techniques.8 2.3 style.9 chapter 3 humor reflected in his work.11 3.1 humor from characters.11 3.1.1 henry adam.11 3.1.2 clothes shop assistants and the boss.11 3.2 humor from language art.12 3.3 humor from plots.14 chapter 4 humors

3、 usage and significance.16 4.1 humors usage.16 4.2 humors significance.17 conclusion.18 references.19 acknowledgements.20 abstract samuel l. clemens, better known as mark twain, remains one of the worlds widely known authors. he is a famous american novelist and satirist. the characters in his novel

4、s vary from common people to politicians and principal citizens. in order to meet their selfish ends, they invented stories and slung mud at others. as a writer, humorist and speaker, he was quick-minded and contributed a lot to americas literature development. his works are humorous, funny and witt

5、y, and fully expose american capitalist societys demerits and discriminations, etc. his works have a deep subject and writing techniques. his humor is the outstanding heritage of american literature field and is loved by a large amount of people over the world. this thesis tries to help readers to g

6、et a deeper understanding about the author himself and his works, through analyzing and appreciating his work a million pound. moreover, by analyzing the attitude towards the protagonist and reviewing the social environment deeply, social function and significance of mark twain and his works will be

7、 reflected so that we may enjoy the artistic gleam of his humor. in addition, this thesis illustrates mark twains profound concern and raging criticism about the evil of the capitalist society. key words: humor; mark twain; style; significance introduction this thesis illustrates mark twains work a

8、million pound. it displays a rough outlook of then time and then society, system. by analyzing the technique and performing style of humor, we can penetrate the most inner crystallization of the work, and taste then societys reality. from the authors background, we can understand his sufferings and

9、his miracle life. the humor in the work displays his sophisticated talent and particular style. this paper helps readers from every aspect to experience his unique humor, and study humors usage and significance. mark twains humor art is not only established in particular culture background, but also

10、 on the basis of americas frontier life. therefore, it looks solid, deep, stable and vivid. his humor is the mirror of humors inner quality and reflects the gleaming truth. his humor laughs at capitalists hypocrisy and evil. at the same time, it sympathizes people of the low class, and holds a kind,

11、 beautiful hope to society, expresses the ideal of social equality, free democracy. mark twains humor has profound social meanings. so, it has valuable and far- reaching significance. and his humor is so novel that it is the complexity of inheritance and innovation. his humor not only possesses main

12、 outer feature laughing of humor, but also contains inner quality of traditional humor profoundness and longlasting philosophical connotations and self identification. the art achievement of mark twains humor is excellent and prominent. chapter 1 the work 1.1 history background at the beginning of m

13、ark twains literature creation, american bourgeois developed very fast and it looked so prosperous but at the same time democracy and freedom of the bourgeoisie and the defects inherent in capitalist exposed too. he realized the social reality under the prosperous appearance, and he began to study s

14、ome further social problems. his writing style is bitter irony and a satirical style. he is a remarkable representative of american realistic literature in the 19th century. then time was american free competition capitalism with the deep realization to the american society, he convey his resentment

15、 to the society through the lines of his works. mark twain experienced from free competition capitalism to monopoly capitalism. he had his own particular art style and he made a great contribution to develop the american literature to the worlds standard. he fully deserved to be called father of ame

16、rican literature. in times of mark twains primary writing career, it was just after american civil war in 19th century mid term, this was the critical point which has milestone significance. the 1861-1865 american civil war was end up with the success of norths industrial bourgeois, it cleared the o

17、bstacles for the development of the americans capitalist, and americans political, economic and cultural aspects went through a stable developing gold period, the states united economy flourished ever day, society made progress continuously, and people were deeply inspired. so, the american real sta

18、tus of this period was very good. mark twain lived in a time when american society developed and changed fast. at the end of 19c, the mode of politics, life, moral which were familiar to people changed drastically. the economy miracle brought hope, and also left much puzzle. to americans, this was a

19、 time which was abundant with opportunities but also was very puzzling. mark twains realistic works had deep perception and critical spirit, making the times ever changing leaked into his works. after american civil war, the population flourished, cities extended in a high speed, industry, technolog

20、y and education developed quickly .although mark twains work a million pound was enveloped with irony, it is a comedy which mainly contained funny humor .and at that time, the government presented most part of collection land to the evil businessmen who operated railway, mineral, mountains etc, a la

21、rge quantity of benefits was in the hands of speculation companies and speculators. besides, the capitalists occupied a large amount of mineral mountains and abundant resources. ever concentrating fortune and deeply monopolized fields made the americans economy deformed, it mainly embodied in the ev

22、er frequent finance crisis and the larger and larger scale. since 1857, us broke out the 1873,1893,1900,1907 large- scale economic crisis continually. the economic depression and the gap between the rich and the poor deepen the ranks conflict .workers and farmers set up trade union and association t

23、o strengthen their class advantages. the famous association had worker classs national labor union and labor knight regiment. the labor regiment was the first biggest american workers association in workers history. before 1878 year, compelled by the ruling classs high-tension policy, it took secret

24、 mode. it admitted women workers, black people and farmers to take part in organization, education and cooperation, lift workers welfare and be against strikes conflict. these evil phenomena of american reality were just the target of mark twains critical composition. confronted with such a disappoi

25、nted and frustrated american realistic dilemma, mark twain, a responsible and conscious writer, was inevitably involved with the battle of defending the countrys image and peoples rights; this was the object reason of the critics. while, macroscopically, mark twains critics was dependent on american

26、s reality itself .evidently, in speak of reasons and effects, if mark twains critics was effects, then the american reality itself was the cause, this was the most exact and straight answer. to some extent, american reality and mark twains critics were legal reflection. a million pound took humor an

27、d irony as tool, reflected the real life vividly and lashed societys blemish. mark twains humor and irony sneer at vulgarity, hypocrisy money worship etc. 1.2 about the author mark twain is a famous us writer, a representative critical writer for realistic literature of the late-half nineteenth cent

28、ury. mark twain has created lots of realistic works, which launched a severe criticism on us reality of the late-half nineteenth century. since long, mark twains literature contributions, has drawn much concern, whereas much less concern and remarks by researchers from domestic and abroad is on the

29、historic value among his literary works as well as his personal behaviors of the time. the reasons of mark twains criticism cant avoid mentioning his sufferings. mark twains life was full of ups and downs, anchorless life; the dream which makes big fortune broke up every time and relatives frequent

30、unfortunate. to mark twain, who was a writer, this kind of personal experience under american realistic context, undoubtedly can lead to minds change and evolution, this would stimulate mark twain to be unsatisfied with american reality to some extent, and was the subject triggering factor of his cr

31、iticism. mark twain lost father when he was young, his family was as poor as a mouse, making his childhood dream broken, he had to drop off from school, and be a printing apprentice in a weekly newspaper, tasted the sorrow and warmth of society. he worked hard, but the welfare was very awful, then,

32、his elder brother bought the newspaper and let him work there continually, but was very strict to him, and even didnt give salary to him, he was tired from the poor apprentice life. however, working in mississippi river as a sailor was a very agreeable memory, it was the unforgettable time in mark t

33、wains life .mark twain worked on river for about four years, these four years made him change his attitude towards himself, “he was being a somebody at first time”, while, during the four years, he made contact with every kind of people, and they were his works spectacular prototype, just as he said

34、 “i recognized and was familiar with all kinds of people, they stepped into my works afterwards. ”however, the best time didnt last long, because the breakup of american civil war, mississippi river closed steamboats traffic, mark twain had to give up this profession, and took part in civil wars sou

35、th army; he left army due to his intolerance to kill people. then, he worked as a secretary followed with his elder brother, and bred an idea to be a rich person, he came to mineral mountain to tap mineral and harvested nothing unexpectedly .during this time, mark twain started his writing life, and

36、 took a job as a journalist, he wrote a series of ironic works. after paying a large amount of industriousness, and obtaining fame, mark twain got to east coast from set up his own publishing company. however, it was broken because of poor management, leaving a heavy debt and had to pay back the deb

37、t through making speeches around the world. his dramatic profession life and frequently changed post made him can make contact with all kinds of people from every class, see different faces every time, familiar with peoples living environment and realistic status of every class and experience the lo

38、w classs sufferings and appeals. mark twains criticism attaches great importance to his personality. he was a kind-hearted man. his kindness is just like his mother. when he saw a wounded bird which hit by a pistol falling down on the ground, his inner heart was very sad. the pity bird lay on the gr

39、ound like a wound child. during american civil war, mark twain was intolerant to kill people himself, so he left army. mark twain was an honest person. although he was not an outstanding businessman, he still adhered to the honest principle. when his publishing house was broken in his nephews hand,

40、the debt was amount to 66%; he steadfastly took out his personal money from his writing to compensate the debt. mark twains honest also embodied in the last few years before he died; he bequeathed a real mark twain, a real american to the next generation through his biography writer dictation. he sa

41、id that he talked to people from tomb. “i really talk to people from tomb. because i had gone when this book was published”, “i determined to talk to people from tomb rather than speak by myself is that i can freely speak.” mark twain could make such an honest word when he was at the dusk of his lif

42、e; this was undoubtedly an honest writers soul gleam and noble quality. mark twain was a picnicker; he hated wars, especially the aggressive imperialist war. mark twain wrote down americans hypocrisy, cruelty and barbarian behaviors in the aggressive wars and put forward his own opinion of the war.

43、he pointed out that all the people should get out of these inhumane battles. mark twains good quality, in front of the americans realistic corruption and darkness, would naturally bear strong counter feelings, these kinds of feelings accumulated in the writers heart and eventually broke up, he criti

44、cize americans reality through his just pen. and in 1909, mark twain caught a heart attack, and died in his connecticut apartment in the next year. in view of his whole life, the journalist career cultivated his observation and loyal work ethic, made him be a sober realist. as a traveler, mark twain

45、 was good at displaying an extraordinary world and natural scenery, to stimulate readers imagination. as a westerner, mark twain saw peoples venture spirit when pursuing fortune, saw how the violence and nature control peoples destiny, and witness the puzzle from frustrated ambitious and disillusion

46、. 1.3 profile the story happened in last centurys england .a millionaire brother made a bet on a million pound check to see whether this check would bring people boundless fortune or just only an ordinary paper. quickly, adam who was from america came into the brothers vision. this persons boat was

47、wrecked because of hitting the coral reef; he arrived in england successfully by working on boat. he was broken and starved at present, this kind of poor guy was the best choice. so adam was invited to millionaires. the brother gave adam the million pound check, and promised that he can spend it in

48、any way within a month. but he had to return the check to them after a month, then, he would have a chance to get any job he wanted to. adam received the promise in confusion. whatever adam did, he would be laughed at for his rugged clothes, for example, go shopping or go dining. however, when he to

49、ok out this check, people not only licked his boots, even saved the related expense, because he was a millionaire in their eyes, and no one can find the changes for the million pound check at all. then, in no time, the local newspaper published a news about an american millionaire who dressed strang

50、ely came to england, adam was the focus of the polite society suddenly, no matter the duke or the rich businessmen took pride in making friends with adam, the young ladies even were jealous to each other in order to attract adams attention, adam was the celebrity in england. while, soon adam was in

51、dilemma. first, he owned more and more debt, then the hotels server played a joke with him, and hid the million pound check, suddenly the share market fell rapidly, rumor said that he was a liar, and the debtor was crowded in the hotel. after the one month deadline, adam returned the check to the br

52、other relaxed. but adam didnt accept the job they provided, because he had gone through ups and downs, he was tired from pursuit of money. although he lost the money, he harvested a lot. 1.4 theme mark twain finished lots of literature works in his life. in his works of literature, he laughed at, sa

53、tirized and criticized the power of money, the hypocritical morality, corrupted politics, etc. it is full of mark twains humor; he criticized and satirized the social hideousness bitterly. mark twain detailed the social hideousness with his particular humor. it is full of relaxation, optimism and hu

54、morous style. mark twain developed a new milestone in novels for american people; he is a real great native american. in a million pound, a million pound check which can not spend was worshiped by millions of people. mark twain exposed capitalists money worship through satire and negative opinions o

55、f those irrational phenomena. it displayed moneys poisonous to peoples soul and lashed the western middle-class peoples hypocrisy greed folly and absurdity. these strong feelings were soaked with traditional humor, it can prevail steady pursuit and hope. a million pound has traditional humor, also i

56、s fueled into ironic reality, making people deep in thought, strengthening the criticism and attractiveness. mark twains writing intention is to analyze money cult and souls deformity in money society. by reading the book, we can see how vivid the author describes the money pursuit phenomena and con

57、temporary money-talk evil mentality in capitalist society. the million pound check made adam get fortune, but at the same time, it also made him degenerated as a speculative liar from a clear and honest man. the book described money as the respect standard of capitalist society, it manipulate people

58、s destiny and is the root of evil morality. the hidden thought is very profound. it just like knife, gun and dagger, penetrates the capitalist societys heart, makes people alarmed, sober and startled. mark twains anger and acclaim under his pen point at the exposure of american ruling class hypocris

59、y. he liked to be close to life to find the stories that had the most satirical meaning. he wanted the reader could think it over after laughing, thus humor would be more realistic. chapter 2 mark twains humor 2.1 general introduction of mark twains humor humor is a special branch of comedy, which i

60、s characterized by relaxing laughter. mark twain is a humorist, his humor is particular, and he likes to be close to life, always chooses the most ironic things to animated exaggeration, making people be deep in thought after laughing, enriching humor with rich reality, his works often display a str