Основы интерпретации художественного текста (на материале английского языка). Учебно-методическое пособие

"How did you know I was living here? " "The lady in the other place told us."

"For once and for all, get out. Leave me alone, leave me alone, can't you? " She took her umbrella and struck the younger one on the shoulders with all her strength. He fell to his knees and then to the floor and she continued to beat him while the other began shrieking, "Help! Police! Police! " so that his voice could be heard in the street.

Glossary Chelsea — a district in Manhattan, New York parmigiana — an Italian dish

maracas — a musical instrument

Madison Avenue — a street in the central part of New York

Ideas and Questions for Further Discussion

MESSAGE, MEANS OF CHARACTERIZATION

Through what character is the message of the story conveyed?

At first the reader expects a change in Ellen's attitude to people, which finally proves false. What accounts for this expectation?

How does Ellen react when those who she expected to be grateful to her encroached upon her well-being?

Does the final scene reveal Ellen's indignation and fury caused by the impudence of the boys? Is it at the same time an outbreak of the bitterness and despair that she could no longer endure and control?

Provide evidence from the text of the story.

Does the final scene shatter the reader's hopes for any change in Ellen's relations with the surrounding world?

Does the writer show Ellen "from the outside" (i.e. through her actions) rather than "from the inside"?

How is the reader made aware of the strain she had to undergo, which finally resulted in an outburst?

What is implied in the following phrases: "Ellen very seldom felt that she could afford pity and sympathy for other people...", "... she was proud of the fact that she was no longer restless and lonely"? What other hints does the writer make that the solitude Ellen had obtained was actually cheerless and oppressive?

Can "solitude", "loneliness" and "cold" be treated as key words in the story? Which of them are artistic details? What implication do they convey?

In what instances does the writer allow the reader to explore the features of Ellen's personality, the nuances of her feelings and motives?

What is the author's attitude to Ellen? What role do the images of the boys play?

Is the association of the boys with "coldness" suggestive? Comment on the following quotations from the text of the story: "they were shaking with cold", "the boys looked frightened and cold", "she thought of them walking in the cold".

What type of conflict is the plot based on?

What is the function of the title of the story? What ring does it acquire? Is it related to the message?

How would you formulate the author's message? How is it related to the theme of the story? How effectively has the author revealed the conflict between a solitary individual and the world of egoism? Has he also managed to reveal the conflict between the protagonist's instinct

of self-preservation and her natural desire for warmth and friendship? 51

PLOT STRUCTURE

Is the plot structured conventionally?

How many moments of complications are there? Are they equally tense, or do they form an ascending scale?

What is the climax of the story? Is there a denouement?

SETTING, TONE

Where is the story set? How is the setting specified? Do the geographical names contribute to the credibility of the story?

Does the setting parallel or contrast with the events? What implication does it suggest? Comment on the vocabulary which produces sensory impressions: tactile (such as "cold",

"warm", "wet"), audible (such as "rattled", "knocked"), visual ("light", "dusk"). Does it contribute to the vivid impressions of the setting? Does it affect the tone?

What is the prevailing tone? How is it created?

NARRATIVE METHOD

Is the story told by the omniscient author or by the observer-author? Is the author involved or detached? Provide evidence.

What role do the dialogues play in the story?

How does the narrative method affect the language of the story and the sequencing of the events?

The choice of the narrative method depends on what is in the focus of interest. Is it a study of the protagonist‘s inner world or rather a study of actions and events?

52

Практическое занятие №6

Practical Analysis

Specimen Story

While reading the following story by E. Hemingway, note how all its elements are related to the whole structure and the message.

Ernest Hemingway

OLD MAN AT THE BRIDGE

An old man with steel rimmed spectacles and very dusty clothes sat by the side of the road. There was a pontoon bridge across the river

and carts, trucks, and men, women and children were crossing it. The mule-drawn carts staggered up the steep bank from the bridge with soldiers helping push against the spokes of the wheels. The trucks ground up and away heading out of it all and the peasants plodded along in the ankle deep dust. But the old man sat there without moving. He was too tired to go any farther.

It was my business to cross the bridge, explore the bridgehead beyond and find out to what point the enemy had advanced. I did this and returned over the bridge. There were not so many carts now and very few people on foot, but the old man was still there.

"Where do you come from? " I asked him. "From San Carlos," he said, and smiled.

That was his native town and so it gave him pleasure to mention it and he smiled. "I was taking care of animals," he explained.

"Oh," I said, not quite understanding.

"Yes," he said, "I stayed, you see, taking care of animals. I was the last one to leave the town of San Carlos."

He did not look like a shepherd nor a herdsman and I looked at his black dusty clothes and his gray dusty face and his steel rimmed spectacles and said, "What animals were they? "

"Various animals," he said, and shook his head. "I had to leave them."

I was watching the bridge and the African looking country of the Ebro Delta and wondering how long it would be before we would see the enemy, and listening all the while for the first noises that would signal that ever mysterious event called contact, and the old man still sat there.

"What animals were they? " I asked.

"There were three animals altogether," he explained. "There were two goats and a cat and then there were four pairs of pigeons."

"And you had to leave them? " I asked.

"Yes. Because of the artillery. The captain told me to go because of the artillery."

"And you have no family? " I asked, watching the far end of the bridge where a few last carts were hurrying down the slope of the bank.

"No," he said, "only the animals I stated. The cat, of course, will be all right. A cat can look out for itself, but I cannot think what will become of the others."

"What politics have you? " Tasked.

"I am without politics," he said. "I am seventy-six years old. I have come twelve kilometers now and I think now I can go no further."

"This is not a good place to stop," I said. "If you can make it, there are trucks up the road where it forks for Tortosa."

"I will wait a while," he said, "and then I will go. Where do the trucks go? " "Towards Barcelona," I told him.

"I know no one in that direction," he said, "but thank you very much. Thank you again very 53

much."

He looked at me very blankly and tiredly, then said, having to share his worry with someone, "The cat will be all right, I am sure. There is no need to be unquiet about the cat. But the others. Now what do you think about the others? "

"Why they'll probably come through it all right." "You think so? "

"Why not," I said, watching the far bank where now there were no carts.

"But what will they do under the artillery when I was told to leave because of the artillery? " "Did you leave the dove cage unlocked? " I asked.

"Yes."

"Then they'll fly."

"Yes, certainly they'll fly. But the others. It's better not to think about the others," he said. "If you are rested I would go," I urged. "Get up and try to walk now."

"Thank you", he said and got to his feet, swayed from side to side and then sat down backwards in the dust.

"I was taking care of animals," he said dully, but no longer to me. "I was only taking care of animals."

There was nothing to do about him. It was Easter Sunday and the Fascists were advancing toward the Ebro. It was a gray overcast day with a low ceiling so their planes were not up. That and the fact that cats know how to look after themselves was all the good luck that old man would ever have.

Ideas and Questions for Discussion

PLOT STRUCTURE, SETTING

Inspired by what he had eye-witnessed during the Civil War in Spain, E. Hemingway wrote a series of stories, one of which was Old Man at the Bridge. What indications are there in the story that it is set in Spain during the Civil War?

Do the geographical names contribute to versimilitude? What span of time does the story cover?

Is the evacuation drawn in development?

Is the setting described only in the exposition or does it accompany the main event of the story?

Does the setting gradually intensify the emotional strain?

What atmosphere does the setting create? How is it related to the message contained in the story?

What is the climax of the story? Does it reveal the old man's extreme despair? What role does the denouement play in conveying the message?

NARRATIVE METHOD

What does the writer attain by a first-person narration? What role does the narrator play in the story?

How reasonable would it be to call the narrator the author's mouthpiece? Is it a one-scene story?

What form is it presented in: dramatic or pictorial, or both?

What speech forms does the author resort to? What does he gain by them? Does he manage to draw a vivid scene that the reader can visualize?

What emotions does the scene arouse? Is it related to the message?

CHARACTER IMAGES

54

What methods and means of characterization does the writer employ?

Are the characters real and convincing? Supply evidence to support your view.

Is the old man described economically and laconically? Would you call the word "dust" ("dusty") an artistic detail? Or would you rather treat it as a symbol of disaster? Why, or why not?

Do the words "blankly", "tiredly", "dully" suggest implication?

What effect is achieved by the recurrence of the sentence "I was taking care of animals", and finally "I was only taking care of animals"?

What is implied in the sentence? Do you sense the man's utter distress and loneliness in it? Does the repetition of this sentence and the word "dust" intensify the tragedy of the event

described? Does it contribute to the message?

How is the old man singled out from among the others? What role does contrast play? Is the main character-image related to the message?

STYLE, TONE

What neutral words acquire expressive charge in the context of this story?

E. Hemingway's style is generally marked for its simplicity. How would you characterize the style in this story?

Is the language in accordance with the status of the narrator?

Is it the tone, or rather the subject matter that affects the reader emotionally? Supply evidence to support your choice.

Is the tone vigorous, excited, impartial or matter-of-fact? Find evidence in the text to support your view.

Does the narrator intend to establish an intimate relationship with the reader? Is that relevant in the story?

Comment on the phrases placed in the strong position, What makes the end of the story sound ironic?

MESSAGE

Is the message conveyed mainly by the image of the old man?

What makes the reader realize that the story is a protest against war? Does the story lay stress on the fact that war is immoral, that it

is merciless to the old, the feeble and the helpless?

Are all the details in the plot, in the description of the old man and the setting subordinated to the message and serve to convey it?

Does the message penetrate all the elements of the story?

Is the story in keeping with Hemingway's principle of omission of all that is redundant? Does the story afford an illustration of Hemingway's "iceberg

principle"? What are the implications? Formulate the message of the story.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Trace the organic unity of all the elements in any of the following stories: The Pawnbroker's Wife by M. Spark, The Pleasures of Solitude by J. Cheever, The Lady's Maid by K. Mansfield, Arrangement in Black and White by D. Parker. Is the unity of all the elements just as obvious as it is in E. Hemingway's Old Man at the Bridge?

Does the message penetrate all the elements in each of the above mentioned stories? Through what characters is the author's message revealed in each case? What role do the

55

other characters play?

Do all the events in the above mentioned stories serve to convey the message? What role does the crucial event play in each story?

Is the setting related to the message?

What role do the linguistic means play in conveying the message?

What devices accentuate the message? Which of them establish the necessary atmosphere and tone?

Are all the elements related to each other and thus form an artistic whole? Which of these stories do you consider to be most appealing?

Why?

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION OF SHORT STORIES

Choose any story that impressed you and define its message. Explain the impact of the effective organization of its form. Relate the details to the whole structure and the message. Describe the linguistic phenomena that give rise to your response and reveal precisely the subtle peculiarities relevant to characterization and to development of the theme. Consider the contribution of stylistic devices and literary techniques to the impression that the story produces.

Finally, write your interpretation of the story, relating your personal response to the textual data.

For this purpose it is preferable to select a story that is not included into this book and has not been formerly analysed.

56

Samples of Stylistic Analysis

The analysis of the text

“Arrangement in Black and White”

I‘m going to analyze the story ―Arrangement in Black and White‖ written by an American critic, satirical poet, and short-story writer Dorothy Parker who is remembered as much for her flashing verbal exchanges and malicious wit as for the disenchanted stories and sketches in which she revealed her underlying pessimism. Her ―Arrangement in Black and White‖ is a true- to-life, well-written story which makes us, readers, think about the events that took place many years ago and existence of which we can still feel in our contemporary life.

The reader can anticipate the content of the story with the help of the title. We can deduce that it‘s thematical because according to it we can guess that this story is going to be about a division of people into black and white or, so called, race discrimination.

Concerning the setting, Dorothy Parker‘s ―Arrangement in Black and White‖ is set during a dinner party for the host‘s friend, Walter Williams, an Afro-American musician. The action takes place probably in America, in the middle of 19th century, the time of the slavery abolishing.

Speaking about theme, I can say that the story touches upon the problem of doublefacedness, racism, social discrimination

The central idea of the story can be understood with the help of its characters. Though the party is celebrated in the name of Walter William, who was an African American musician, as it has already been mentioned above, most of the conversation takes place between the host and the main character, the woman with pink velvet poppies. Thus we can say that there are such characters in the story as Walter Williams, the host, the woman with pink velvet poppies and her husband, Mr. Burton.

It goes without saying, that the central character, the protagonist in ―Arrangement in Black and White‖ is Mrs. Burton. Her part is major, and to be precise, without this woman it would not exist, because the whole story is all dialogue between her and the host. Let‘s penetrate a bit deeper into the essence of her image. One should admit that she is a complex character, because the author sets her up to be in conflict with all her possessed qualities. Even though there‘s no reference to her age, she seems to be young according to her energetic behaviour, but, at the same time, old enough to be married and to have set opinion about other races.

Moreover, at the beginning of the story this woman seems to be quite friendly, speaking with admiration about Walter William‘s songs. It can be observed with the help of repetition, which is given by the author in the form of exclamation, at the same time: ―Oh, when he sings! When he sings those spirituals!‖ But her very next phrase ruins this illusion of a nice person: ―Well, I said to Burton, ‗It‘s a good thing for you Walter Williams is coloured,‘ I said, ‗or you‘d have lots of reason to be jealous.‘ Here the author makes us realize that whenever this woman tries to reassure us she doesn‘t have any feeling about Afro-Americans, uses euphemism ―coloured‖ to make herself look polite and respectful in the eyes of the host, there‘s defiance towards them in every her statement.

Reading further we notice that all her speech is simply imbued with irony. In the text there‘s a phrase which is repeated many times by her: ―I haven‘t any feeling at all, I haven‘t any feeling about coloured people‖ which as we see the author uses rather ironically to make us realize what a double-faced person appeared before us. Dorothy Parker also uses in the speech of the main character lots of examples of oxymoron: ―terribly grateful‖, ―terribly nice‖, ―awfully fond of coloured people‖, ―I‘ve enjoyed your singing so awfully much‖, and etc. which reinforce these Mrs. Burtons‘ attempts to make an impression of a person who respects coloured people.

She is also seen as a nervous character, starting to hesitate when touching upon the topic that she has conflicting attitudes towards. This nervousness of hers can also be noticed at the beginning of the story by the repetition in her speech: ―Oh, I‘m finely‖, she said ―just simply finely.‖ – The author shows that the speaker is under the emotion. Her personality is very

57

important to the story‘s central idea as it exemplifies such type of people who lived in that period of time. Her appearance is not very clear to us, the only thing that helps us to picture her image is the metaphor ―the assisted gold of her hair‖ and the fact that she is a ―woman with the pink velvet poppies. ―

The next character of the story is Mr. Burton, whom we are able to judge only according to the information Mrs. Burton gives us. Even though he doesn‘t speak himself in the story, we can see that his attitude towards coloured people is quite negative. Let me cite from the text the words which he tells about black people according to Mrs. Burton: ―He hasn‘t got a word to say against coloured people as long as they keep their place‖, ―The only thing he says, he says he wouldn‘t sit down at the table with one for a million dollars.‖ Using the metaphor ―a regular grass widow tonight‖ in the speech of Mrs. Burton, Parker shows that Mr. Burton doesn‘t usually go out to such parties with his wife. She tells ―he is just so tired out‖ – probably he holds a ruling post and his position in the society is high. This fact together with his way of thinking proves us one more time that rich people never accepted the equality of black and white. He plays minor but still important role in the story, because thanks to his wife‘s remarks about him we get an opportunity to follow the ideas of people from the upper class about race discrimination.

Even if the story is set up in the form of dialogue, the part of the next character in it, the host, is really minor. Actually, most of the answers are Yes/No, and the whole story is based on the speech of the woman with the pink velvet poppies.

The character for whom all this party is held – Walter Williams. Though he appears in the story closer to the end and we spend not so much time with him, it‘s quite enough to understand what kind of person he is. He is a real talent, remaining calm and polite even after Mrs. Burton‘s sharp remarks about Katherine Burke, a coloured actress. To my mind, he is an antagonist, as he is absolutely opposite to the main character. His part is minor, but at the same time he is very important for the story. Thanks to the Mrs. Burton reasoning about him the type of the people she belongs to is disclosed in the story.

All the characters in the story seem to be static as they remain untouched by the events of the story. They do not learn from their experiences and consequently they remain unchanged. I can‘t but admit that the writer makes the protagonist, Mrs. Burton, a static character, because she wishes to analyse a particular type of personality. Dorothy Parker uses the technique of showing, because she steps aside and allows the characters to reveal themselves through what they do and say.

As for the message, we can admit that through the whole story Parker implies the idea that even the end of slavery did not change the hearts and minds of its supporters, no matter how much they could deny it to themselves. This story is for sure the brightest example of it.

Concerning the plot we can say that the story begins from the moment the woman with the pink velvet poppies comes to the party. Since that time the action of the story takes place there. Through the whole story there can be observed an inner conflict of the main character with her possessed qualities. She tries to hide her real attitude to black people but her ―long tongue‖ always lets her down. We can say that the author keeps us in a kind of suspense during the story, because the reader is waiting for a climax moment: the meeting of the main character with a coloured musician Walter William. As we have already known what type of person Mrs. Burton is, while reading we are anxious that she can tell something offensive to the musician.

The language which Dorothy Parker uses in her story is rich of expressive means and stylistic devices. Except of already mentioned, the story contains several detached constructions, which carry some additional information.

E.g.: I haven‘t any feeling at all about it – not one single bit. Burton – oh, he‘s just the other way.

Moreover to reinforce the meaning of her sentences Parker uses anadiplosis.

E.g.: ―All he says, he says he hasn‘t got a word to say against coloured people…‖

―The only thing he says, he says he wouldn‘t sit down at the table with one…‖ and etc.

58

The text gives us also examples of simile: ―He looks just as black as the ace of…‖ But this smile is not finished because the writer uses here a sudden breaking off, so called aposiopesis, as if unwilling to proceed.

Generally speaking, Dorothy Parker did a great job picturing a type of people Mrs. Burton belonged to. This story makes us think once more, what was it to be a coloured person at that period of time and whether the colour of the skin is really important.

Martinova I. V.

59

The analysis of the text

“The Happy Prince”

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.

Oscar Wilde

The story entitled ―The Happy Prince‖ is a brilliant work of a prominent Irish writer Oscar

Wilde. In most of his works a reader can observe the exposure of a secret sin or indiscretion and consequent disgrace. His works are marked by a deep penetration into the human‘s soul. Oscar

Wilde is great at writing fairy-tales where the author touches the most significant social problems, drawing his readers‘ attention to the ruling classes' hypocrisy, egotism, moneyworship and the cruelty of state. Every personality which Wilde describes is full of life, striking and unforgettable.

Before starting the analysis I would like to say a few words about the title of the story. With the help of the title - The Happy Prince - the picture of happiness and jolly is created in our mind as we start to think that this story is about a prince who knows nothing about Sorrow or Pain, or

Depression…But it is only at first sight. While reading the story we find out that ―The Happy Prince‖ is only some kind of a label, which he has got from his people. But, in fact, he isn‘t happy, he suffers:

―…I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot choose but weep.‖

So, it‘s a paradox – The Happy Prince isn‘t happy! But, on the other hand, we should say that our Prince is rich, - rich in his heart, in his soul; the God blessed him so he will have better life, Life of Eternity.

The plot of the story under analysis centers round a Swallow, which travels a lot and finally finds a statue of the Happy Prince. Being alive the Happy Prince didn‘t know what the Sorrow was, as, only after his death he, being a statue, could see ―all the ugliness and all the misery of his city‖. The Swallow, who obeyed his commands in the sake of the Good, finally died, and they both were thrown into a dust-heap. But at the end of the story they were chosen by God for eternal life in Heaven.

The plot of the story is based upon two conflicts of different types: internal and external. The internal conflict of the Happy Prince is localized deep in his inner world: we can feel it through his thoughts, feelings and speech. The Happy Prince, repents of so-called blindness, behind which he didn‘t see the real life of his state and people. He understands all the mistakes he has done and tries to correct them now, being ―imprisoned‖ in the statue. Also in this story we can observe the external conflict between the set of values of Happy Prince and the representative of the government, which cares only for his own life and does nothing for people. In the end of the story this mayor demolished the statue, but his soul will live forever as the God decided.

The main character of the story is The Happy Prince, but we can‘t imagine him without his friend Swallow, who helps him in doing Good. This little bird does such things which ―big‖ people in government are not able to do. The Prince, without a single word of complaining, says goodbye to all his property: ―his fine gold, bright sapphires, large red ruby‖. And he would have been giving more if only he had had more. The Swallow is so kind, that he decides to stay with the Happy Prince forever, in spite of the hard, sharp, bitter frost:

―It is winter… and the chill snow will soon be here.‖

Using such an epithet, the writer wants his readers to feel how serious and tragic the situation is. The Swallow knew that he would die if he stayed there, but his little heart has chosen the right way.

The introductory part of the story begins with the description of the statue, its magnificence. All the people admired it: it was the richest and the most beautiful statue in the city. The author

60