期刊文章分类查询,尽在期刊图书馆范传刚 山东交通学院外国语学院
Abstract:cMany critics believe his novel is obscure and mysterious. To better understand the themes and artistic value of the novel, the uncertain factors mixed into the characters reflected in the novel for readers are mainly analyzed and discussed when the author created his characters. It is these factors that the author advocates his round character writing style. In order to emphasize the fullness and diversity of characters and avoid monotonous characters who are lack of realism and complexity, when creating his characters, he specifically added a lot of uncertain factors difficult to understand for readers. While this characterization method makes the characters colorful and lifelike, it also makes the novel harder for the reader to understand the characters and the theme of the works. It is through analysis of the uncertainties in this characterization that readers can have a true understanding his writing style, and thus appreciate the artistic value of the characters and the theme described in the novel.
Key words: uncertainty; characterization; round character
There are many uncertain factors in the characters’ communications. After Mrs. Moore arrives in India, she comes to know India and Indians. Her attitude is not like other Anglo-Indians’ attitudes toward Indian natives. When she communicates with Indians and knows India gradually, her behavior and conduct become very strange and queer. For example, her love for Doctor Aziz, her changeable attitude toward Doctor Aziz and India, her intuition about the car accident, and so on.
1. Mrs. Moore and Religion
The relationship between Doctor Aziz and Mrs. Moore develops so rapidly after they meet in the Mosque. They become close friends after a short and simple conversation. Are they true friends? Is the friendship between them trustable? We will see their meeting in the holy place where Islam hold ceremony to worship their God.
A very devout Christian as she is, Mrs. Moore cherishes an omnipresent love for everything around her. She often has a very strange and unspeakable feeling about the mystic power coming from God, sky and heaven. With a firm belief that the whole world is controlled by God, she takes the whole world as a One. She spiritually gets relaxed with feelings of real peace and calmness from the harmonious existence of moon, human beings, stars and heaven, just like a stream of clear and clean water through her body. “A sudden sense of unity, of kinship with the heavenly bodies, passed into the old woman and out, like water through a tank, leaving a strange freshness behind.”
But the closer she approaches India and people around her, the stranger she becomes. The indifference of the English officials, the coldness of her own son, the rudeness and hypocrisy of Mrs. Callendar, the fuss of Ms. Adela-all these hurt Mrs. Moore’s feelings and destroy her daily life in world.
The mosque is a place where Islam worship their God and seek peace and calmness. Accidentally Mrs. Moore and Doctor Aziz meet there when they just want to find a place to calm themselves down in the disordered and alienated surroundings. And what is more accidental is that Mrs. Moore knows how to behave in a mosque.
From the above, we can see that Mrs. Moore actually does nothing especially for Doctor Aziz. She just removes her shoes before she enters the Mosque. But her behavior moves and touches Doctor Aziz so much that he thinks that Mrs. Moore is different from other Anglo-Indians. And he has a very strong desire to make friends with the old lady.
The sense of telepathy between Mrs. Moore and Doctor Aziz seems a little strange. We can not find out true reasons why there is telepathy between them. Doctor Aziz says to Mrs. Moore “you are an Oriental”. He makes a rapid conclusion because what happens later between Mrs. Moore and Doctor Aziz affects their relationship. When Doctor Aziz is arrested for accusation of rape, Mrs. Moore suddenly becomes very indifferent to Aziz. And she has no intention to defense him even though she knows that Doctor Aziz is innocent. And what is more unbelievable is that after Mrs. Moore died, she even turns into Goddess of the Indians “Esmiss Esmoor.” With the mystic help of Esmiss Esmoor, Aziz is happened to be released from the charge.
2. Adela and Strange Echo
Adela comes to India to marry Ronny. When she arrives in India, she always cries out that she wants to see the real India. But after her marriage is settled down, she loses her interests in seeing the real India. Her attitude toward India changes abruptly.
Doctor Aziz invites Mrs. Moore and Adela to visit Marabar Hills out of his hospitality. When they enter into a cave, Mrs. Moore hears a very strange echo. It is utterly dull. And the strange echo begins in some indescrible way to undermine Mrs. Moore’s hold-on life. It makes her retreat from the trip. At this time, Adela does not hear the strange echo. Mrs. Moore determines not to continue the expedition. But Miss Quested and Aziz and a guide continue the slightly tedious expedition. When she comes into a cave, she suddenly hears a strange echo that she can not tell what the strange echo is. The strange echo frightens and tortures her.
Adela does not know what the strange echo is. And the strange echo brings her troubles and muddles. Her normal life is interrupted by the strange echo. It is the strange echo that makes Adela fall into illusion and fancy. Because of the strange echo, she charges her good friend Aziz with rape. But at court, she withdraws her charge suddenly, which makes her own people disappointed and angry. She thinks that she makes a mistake in charging Aziz when the strange echo disappears suddenly.
Readers can not explain what the strange echo is in the novel. And Forster himself gives his own explanation about the strange echo. Forster gives his own explanation about the strange echo, and he cannot explain it clearly. This makes the novel mysterious and uncertain for readers.
3.Professor Godbole and His Religious Song
In the tea party of the Government College, despite impoliteness and unwise interruption of the lawyer-Ronny, Professor Godbole sings a religious song just for entertainment. But eventually the song turns into a rhyme symbolizing a kind of harmony between human being and the world. Professor Godbole sings the religious song to invite God-Krishna, the master of the whole world. He does not only invite Him to come, but invite Him to come to the world. This song is also called a “milkmaid song.” And it attracts the man “who was gathering waterchestnut came naked out of the tank, his lips parted with delight, disclosing his scarlet tongue.”
During singing the song, Professor Godbole is conscious that he can be happy and blessed from God, Krishna. The song is sung to plead the coexistence of human being and God. The theme of the song is the spiritual unity of a milkmaiden and God Krishna, a unity that the milkmaiden longs for. The maiden loves God Krishna and treats Him as a man. Desirable to come to Him closer, she also hopes to stay with Him for ever. Just as what the religious song stresses, the maiden is fascinated by God Krishna as much as a very devout believer is fascinated by his own God. The milk maiden worships God Krishna so pious that she cries out of her heart, “come, come to me.” But God Krishna refuses her.
The appearance and the arrival of Professor Godbole at the tea party in Government College seems a little enigmatic. Professor Godbole leaves readers a deep impression that he seems to stand for harmony and unity of East and West.
At the tea party, Professor Godbole behaves in a very queer way. What he does is to eat food all the time, and he seldom talks to other people. At the end of the tea party, Professor Godbole only sings a religious song for the English ladies. He even does not talk to Mr. Fielding at a11. The second meeting between Professor Godbole and Mr. Fielding is at a time when Aziz has already been arrested. When Mr. Fielding asks whether Aziz is innocent or guilty, Professor Godbole desires his help to give a name to the school. And later, he talks something about evil and good. Then he tells Mr. Fielding a legend about the Tank of the Dagger. All his words seem to have nothing to do with Aziz’s trial. According to Professor Godbole’s philosophy, nothing can be done in isolation. Evil and good are the same because they are the two sides of things. When Mr. Fielding asks him whether Aziz is innocent or not, Professor Godbole talks about the problem of evil and good to Mr. Fielding.
Evil and good are not always contradictory to each other. What is more important is that we should realize unity of them, Professor Godbole’s dialectics is further and deeper to interpret nature of human being and essence of the universe. Professor Godbole’s dialectics is hard to understand for Mr. Fielding and common readers. As a result, his theory about evil and good is a little mysterious. The images described in the novel are fully represented by contradiction and unity of evil and good. The blur of Hinduism is just an embodiment of mystery and chaos of the universe. The idea that evil and good are the same just shows the core of Hinduism—what are acceptance, compromise, and unity? It is these ideas that lead to harmony and unity of human being.
When Doctor Aziz is in danger and Mr. Fielding tries his efforts to save Azlz, Professor Godbole does not try to save Aziz but explain his theory about evil and good to Mr. Fielding. His behavior confuses Mr. Fielding and readers.
4. Mr. Fielding and His Humanism
An unspeakable power of transcendence exists in the friendship between Doctor Aziz and Mr. Fielding who is a man of good heart and “had no racial feelings, not because he was superior to his brother civilians.” Mr. Fielding is different from other Anglo Indians who have racial discrimination against the native Indians. The Principal hopes that Indians and Englishmen can be kept in with each other in an honest way “by the help of goodwill plus culture and intelligence.” For this reason, he earns Doctor Aziz’s recognition and respect. But eventually they cannot find a good way to understand each other better.
In order to save Doctor Aziz, Mr. Fielding betrays his own country and people in Anglo-Indians’ eyes. For what does Mr. Fielding try his best to save Doctor Aziz out of the charge? Is it simply out of his humanism or his good intention to make up for his people’s crimes in India? In order to save Adela, he tries every means to persuade Doctor Aziz to let Adela off the paying. And when Indians celebrate their victory, Mr. Fielding leaves them to console and help Adela, which makes Doctor Aziz very sad. For what does Mr. Fielding try to help Adela and leave Aziz alone? Is it simply out of his humanism or pity for his own country fellow?
5. Strange Flat Characters
According to E. M. Forster’s theory about characterization, we can find there are some “flat characters” in the novel. These “flat characters” are not as important as the main characters. But their strange behaviors add mystery to the novel because we are not sure why they behave so strangely.
These colonists are here to be “sahibs”. They come to India to govern such a disordered country without any hope. They give orders and refuse to communicate with the natives because they think the Indian are very lazy, sensitive and odd, and sometimes very dangerous.
Besides their prejudice and stereotypes, these colonists have some strange theories that Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested cannot understand. And there is a Superintendent of Police named Mr. McBryde who has a very strange theory about India and Indians. The strange man here is very strange for Adela and readers. What kind of magic power does the man have? He impresses her as soon as she comes into the court. And we cannot explain the magic power of the strange and humble Indian. The strange event happens while they are talking. Doctor Aziz says ‘then you are an Oriental’ to the young man, and these words-he once said them to Mrs. Moore. Doctor Aziz says the same words both to Mrs. Moore and her little son. To Aziz, this is a strange cycle. The strange cycle makes the event and Mr. Moore mysterious.
Conclusion
In the novel, the author adds many uncertain elements to the characters when describing them whether they are round characters or flat characters. It is these uncertain elements that make all the characters in the novel become very difficult and blurry for readers to understand. Thus, almost all the characters in the novel become real-life, vivid, complex and diverse. This is a writing style—round character which Foster always advocates in literary creation. At the same time, it is these uncertain elements these characters possess that show the artistic and aesthetic value of the novel. The uncertain elements properly give readers some clues that different people from different culture are really hard to communicate and understand mutually to some extent, which is what the author wants to present in the novel.
References
Beer, John, ed. A Passage to India: Essays in Interpretation.. London: Macmillan Press,1985.
Blackwell, Fritz. India: A Global Studies Handbook. California: Santa Barbara, 2004.
Forster, E. M. Aspects of Novel. Australia: Penguin Books, Pty Ltd., 1963.
论文作者:范传刚
论文发表刊物:《文化研究》2016年2月
论文发表时间:2016/7/22
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