American “West” and Masculinities in Stephen Crane’s “The Bride comes to the Yellow Sky”VIP

1、南京邮电大学2008届毕业论文要有封页，致谢和摘要。正本论文交上，一样不能少。-5月15号交American “West” and Masculinities in Stephen Cranes “The Bride comes to the Yellow Sky”Chapter One IntroductionStephen Crane is a famous novelist and poet of American literature in the late 19th century. Though he died at a very young age, he has been ex

2、traordinarilyy significantce in the American literaturarye history. He wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American nNaturalism and iImpressionism. As an "naturalistic pioneer" of American literature (Paul Sorrentino, 2006: 26), he is highly praised by

3、 the literary circles. He is also recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation, and his works have been credited with marking the beginning of modern American nNaturalism. His Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895) is a classic of American literature

4、that realistically depicts the psychological complexities of fear and courage on the battlefield. A Girl of the Streets (1893) is also acclaimed as an important work in the development of literary nNaturalism, and his often-anthologized short stories “The Open Boat”, “The Blue Hotel” and “The Bride

5、Comes to Yellow Sky” are among the most skillfully crafted stories in American literature. “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” is one of famous American naturalist writer alsoStephen Cranes best short stories. One important perspective that scholars take to interpret Crane's works is the narrative s

6、tyle. Other scholars identified that Crane's work is often thematically driven by naturalistic and realistic concerns. Other studies covered researches over translation, writing technique, and language features. It should be noted that previous studies have overlooked one important aspect of Cra

7、ne's writing, that is, his construction of American west his works. In the case of The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, his portraying of American West is too dominant to be neglected. “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” takes American western rural town as its background and gives a vivid delineation of

8、the Americans folkspeople's life in the West in 19th century. It tells a story about the protagonist Porter and his bride returning from San Antonio to Yellow Sky by train. Crane parodies the "shoot 'em-up" Western myth as the characters Jack Potter and Scratchy Wilson fail to fulf

9、ill romantic illusions through a gunfight. Since its publication in 1898, the story has drawn consistent attention from the scholars. Most scholars were still concerned with the story's naturalistic style. For example, R. P. Warren regardsanalyses this story to benovel is a blending of naturalis

10、m, symbolism and impressionism (Wang Xianrong, 2010:2). Some scholars managed to research over the western historical and cultural themes. Robert Barnes and S. C. Ferguson did some simple analyses of this novel from the perspective of cultural conflicts between western and eastern America. The forme

11、r thinks that “these cultural conflicts are beyond the realistic level in terms of importance and add significances on this story” (Fan Chunfang, 2010:2). But the latter denies this viewpoint and points out “there are culture conflicts in the novel, but they are only the background and cannot parall

12、el with the surface of the story” (Wang Xianrong, 2010:2). Henry N. Smith draws the outline of western America from the perspective of symbolism and mythology. These researches undoubtedly have significant meanings on the interpretation of this novel, but most of them rarely refer to the influences

13、of western on the construction of American west manhood.The focus of this thesis is on Cranes construction of American West manhood in the age of late 19th century when American West was experiencing transformation into industrialization. It will explore the influence made by the development of indu

14、strial civilization in late 19th century on American western culture, providing a new angle for exploring American western culture. At the end of 19th century, the western frontier was closed down. “With the disappearance of frontier, contradictories of primeval forests and modern farms immediately

15、changes into that of rural towns and modern cities” (Wang Xianrong, 2010:2).The significance of the study lies in its exploration of Cranes story from a fresh-new perspective, that is, “masculinities”, a new perspective in gender studies. Masculinitiesy, written by the American sociologist R.W. Corn

16、ell in 1995, is the foundation book stone of this domain.(Cchen lin,2010:2) In the book, he emphasizes the diversity of masculinitiesy, which is classified into four categories: hegemonies, subordination, collusion and marginality. Among them, hegemonic masculinity is such a type that is praised by

17、culture and on a leading status in a specific period. (Cornell, R.W, 2003:105) The feature of hegemonic masculinity changes as time goes by. Based on Cornells research and analysis of masculinitiesy through the coming of Cranes The Bride comes to the Yellow Sky, this paper interprets the competition

18、 of masculinitiesy extolled by the east and the west cultures, and furthermore, the heros cognitive process to masculinity manhood through in thisthe transitional period.In the following chapters, this paper will examine Cranes construction of masculinities of American West in late 19th century from

19、 three aspects: Chapter One primarily analyzes the policeman Porter from the perspective of character personality, the reason why he marries such a bride and the implication about the theme of the era. Chapter two mostly analyzes the drinker Scola Church from his words and behaviors to gain every ki

20、nd of masculinity that possessed by Western cowboys. Chapter three has a summary for the bride, analyzing the reason why her emergence eases the tension between Scola Church and Porter and the impact of this bride to the West town.Chapter Two Western Cowboy vs. Western Hoolligon: An Analysis of Port

21、er and Wilson Part I Policeman Potter as western cowboyWith the rise of railway and pasture in twentieth Century, American Western Cowboy began to die out, but the cowboy culture is deeply rooted in the American cultural. No Cowboy Western American literature is almost unimaginable .Police officer P

22、orter is a real western cowboy. Through the novel, we can see that he is very famous at his local place, and his majesty and kindness to his fellows. He will feel cramped and fear for not telling his fellows about his own marriage, which shows that he is a person with delicate emotions. At the same

23、time, he is also a true man who is loyal to his friends like other cowboys.For people in Yellow Sky, Police officer Porter is the embodiment of justice and sequence, with whom the safety of Yellow Sky will be guaranteed. But what is ironic is that the newly-married Porter acts quite unnatural on the

24、 train: “He moves his brick-red hands embarrassedly and looks down at his dresses from time to time. He sits straight with two hands on the knees, just like people waiting for haircut in the barber. He looks at passengers secretly and shyly” (出处). Why would Porter have these behaviors? James Nagel t

25、hinks that these behaviors are actually the result of “cultural displacement” (quoted from Wang Xianrong, 2010:2) 这句话是转引，回去查一下转引的格式。. After living in the remote western towns for a long time, Porter is used to the cultural life there. So when suddenly in a strange environment, particularly in front

26、of his bride, his cowboy nature is tamed. As the story reveals later, he is the only one in this town brave enough to have a duel with Holligan Wilson, but now he repressed his cowboy masculinity, trying to displace good manners e feels dark envelops him. As the train comes nearer and nearer to the

27、Yellow Sky, he then feels the arrival of bright. Similarly, His restlessness on the train shows he loses the wildness on him, from which we can see the erosion of civilization. At the beginning of the novel, it describes the police officer Potters harangue to his newly married wife. He actually want

28、ed to show his erudition and that he is a well cultivated person. However, in the eyes of the reader, it doesnt do. He introduces the train to his newly married wife to show that he follows the trend closely and that he is fashionable. In fact, it shows his respect to the modern civilization and the

29、 compromise of the erosion to the western civilization from the modern civilization. This part reflects that police officer Potter is very arrogant as a cowboy. This kind of arrogant character is contrary to the arrogancy which is showed by fighting in the war and the spirit of taking the honor as t

30、he most important thing as a traditional cowboy. It is caused by self-esteem when facing to the modern civilization. He covers his self-esteem reluctantly with his arrogancy. Then, the novel begins to describe the details of the silver pocket watch, dining as well as the attitude of the waiter. The

31、description of the silver pocket watch and dining illustrates that the police office Jack Porter of the Yellow Sky town is moving closer to the modern civilization although as a big man in the town. He has already had the feeling of not agreeing with the previous identity. He began to learn the so-c

32、alled “gentleman” behavior of the people from the eastern United States. It shows that under the modern civilization which is mainly leaded by the industry civilization, even the powerful cowboy is so vulnerable. The hero's story goes on. In the following part of the story, they arrived to the d

33、estination. There are no people in the platform after getting off the train. The police officer Potter felt both lost and happy. He was lost because that no one can see his bride from the city at the first time and his vanity cant be met. He was happy because that he can ignore the doubt from his fe

34、llows and friends temporarily and the unpleasant aroused by his not considering all the aspects. Here we can see police officer Potters vanity and inner cowardice.The following is a scene happened in the tavern. Although police officer Potter didnt appear here, from the dialogue among others we can

35、see that Potter is a brave, excellent police officer in the town. He can deal with the problems very well. Therefore, he occupies a very important position in the heart of all the people in the Yellow Sky town. His presence will bring peace to the town and eliminate the threaten to the town from the

36、 Scratchy Wilson. This kind of description reflects the brave, integrity and strong sense of responsibility of the police officer Potter. At the last part of the novel, the two cowboys met outside the home of the police officer Potter. Scratchy Wilson, who has been vindictive all the time was armed

37、with two guns, while there was nothing in Potters hands. Under this situation, Porter can be calm. We can obviously see that Porters attitude is pride and contempt toScratchy Wilson. Here, the story reflects police officer Potters bold, calm and innate pride as a cowboy although this kind of pride i

38、s greatly affected by the eastern civilization. Through the above analysis to the police officer Potter from the aspect of behavior, language, psychology and all, we can see that he his unique characteristic as a cowboy, which is arrogancy, honesty, courage, bold but cautious, integrity, kind of vai

39、n and surrender to the strange advanced civilization.Its the mans nature to be valiant and bellicose. Most of their pleasure comes from the pleasant sensation, or sense of achievement, of competition, confrontation and fighting. But at that moment, the policeman, Porter, puts away his instrument, th

40、e gun. Giving up the gun means in a sense, the abandon of his inherent nature. This abandon is not only a helpless compromise, but also a determined choice. Porter, as the endorser of cowboys in former days, chooses the bride, who is the symbol of eastern civilization. So giving up the gun is also a

41、 way to say goodbye to his cowboy life, with no bedding or ostentation but only the deep declaration and silent tributes“I get married”. 2.2 Scratchy Wilson as Western HoolligonScratchy Wilson in this article presents a negative image of the cowboy. But no matter how powerful, nonsense, cold-blooded

42、 he is, he is very vulnerable in the face of modern civilization. The way of appearing of Scratchy Wilson is similar to Xifeng Wang in the classic Chinese novel “Dream of Red Mansions”, which is that we can hear the persons sound before seeing the person. We learned that Scratchy Wilson, who is not

43、easily offended, will appear. Through the description of several dialogues, the novel shows the danger of Scratchy Wilson. Then, Scratchy Wilson began to appear in readers eyes. Let us see what Scratchy Wilson did. At first, he shouted, and his voice reached the degree that beyond to the limit of so

44、und of general people. Here, the outline of the figure which the writer wants to show has already been displayed in front of us. A burly and big man often makes trouble to the people in the town, which makes people in the town hate him very much. Then, he began playing with his revolver. His action

45、is like a musician. His movements are so skillfully and "beautiful". It seems that he is an old cowboy, and is an excellent marksmanship among the cowboys. The drunken Scratchy Wilson began to bully the humble dog. He was like a bad boy with poor quality. He was so naive and lack of morali

46、ty. Then, he began to aim at a piece of paper on the firing door, but every shot was off target. The actions here are far away from his previous skillful and “beautiful” actions when playing guns. The drunken Scratchy Wilson was completely eroded by the alcohol and looked like a clown. However, Scra

47、tchy Wilson was disappointed when finding that he lost the opponent because he found that its the bride, not guns who stands beside the police officer Potter. He lost the biggest fun in his life. He lost happiness which belongs to the cowboy. Here Scratchy Wilson is lonely. As is described in the no

48、vel,” its ok when he is awakena little sillyeven would not like to do harm to the fliesthe most kind-hearted guy in the town", it shows that the natural instincts is not bad, or he is able to control his own wildness. However, his devil will be completely exposed after drinking. Through the abo

49、ve analysis, we can see that Scratchy Wilson is such kind of people that he is lawless, natural rambling, lack of education, rude, simple, bullying the weak on basis of his strong, alcoholics, poor self-control ability. At the same time, his natural instinct is not bad. He observes to the principles

50、 and has bottom line when doing something. He is loyalty to his fellows and friends. And he is respect and worship to the modern civilization. Or we can say that he is compromise to the modern civilization. He is self-esteem in front of the bride, who represents the modern civilization. The reason i

51、s that the bride snatched his best enemy, or we can say the most important person in his lifepolice officer Potter.Scratchy Wilson is the representative of the western cowboys. The character, behavior, temperament and psychology which are embodied in his life can be the best representative of the st

52、ate of the cowboys. Let us analyze the typical masculinity of the western cowboys combined with the masculinity of Scratchy Wilson.Firstly, roughness. Its obvious that Scratchy Wilson is rough. The novel describes him like this, “Often he yelled, and these cries rang through a semblance of a deserte

53、d village, shrilly flying over the roofs in a volume that seemed to have no relation to the ordinary vocal strength of a man. It was as if the surrounding stillness formed the arch of a tomb over him. These cries of ferocious challenge rang against walls of silence. And his boots had red tops with g

54、ilded imprints, of the kind beloved in winter by little sledding boys on the hillsides of New England.”. This kind of contrasted description reveals the roughness of Scratchy Wilson. And his roughness is from his living environment and his work. The cowboys live in the vast boundless west and work i

55、n the line of grazing. We can imagine how hard the natural environment where they live is. The environment is endless prairie or desert with yellow sands. At the same time, what they have to face is either the barbaric cattle or natural murderous wolves. Such environment is the most important reason

56、 which causes their rough characteristic. Secondly, slackness. In the novel, the writer mentions that Scratchy Wilson makes troubles after drinking for many times. And he makes conflict with others. Then police officer Potter will have a lesson to him. For some degree, it reflects that Scratchy Wils

57、on is slack and will do whatever he wants to do without the constraints of the secular and legal. The formation of this kind of personality has its own conditions and causes. The United States is a country with the integration of many races. Compared with the Europe, it is much looser in the aspect

58、of religion constraints. In addition, the remote western region is often beyond the area that the Federal Constitution can reach. Thus, peoples natural instincts will be more open and free in the area that the religion constraints and laws is relatively not too much. Thirdly, being kind-hearted. The

59、 natural instinct of Scratchy Wilson in the novel is goodness. The novel describes Scratchy Wilson under the condition of being lucid, It reflects that Scratchy Wilson has a certain degree of decency and good quality. The formation of these qualities is inseparable with the historical environment. The ancestors of these cowboys are mostly descendants of the European aristocracy with good cultural traditions. They are called “handsome cowboy” by the local people when they came to the west of the cou