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1、本科生毕业设计（论文）Pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg论 文 题 目：AbstractThe Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is one of the most famous works of Mark Twain. In this work, he expressed his pessimism. He exposed the degeneration of human nature when people were faced with temptation and the ugly essence
2、of the world. He was quite disappointed to the world. This essay discusses the pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg on the basis of New Historicism. The essay explores the reasons of Mark Twains pessimism from his personal experience and the reality of American society. Then it introduces
3、the meaning of his pessimism. Furthermore, the essay makes a specific analysis of Mark Twains pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg from aspects of plot and characters. Mark Twains pessimism was mainly displayed in his disappointment to human nature and his belief of fatalism, which greatly
4、 affected his later writings as well as later writers. Key Words: pessimism temptation The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg摘要败坏了赫德莱堡的人是马克吐温晚年的一部代表作品，在这部小说中，马克吐温表现出了悲观主义思想。他剖析了在诱惑面前人性表现出的的黑暗和这个世界的丑陋，进而萌发了悲观主义的情绪。本文试图借助新历史主义的观点来分析马克吐温在败坏了赫德莱堡的人这部小说中流露出的的悲观主义，从个人经历和美国社会现实两个方面研究马克吐温悲观主义产生的原因，紧接着讨论马克吐温悲观主义的
5、含义，并从小说的构思和艺术形象两个角度来研究马克吐温悲观主义情绪在败坏了赫德莱堡的人这部小说中的具体体现。马克吐温的悲观主义思想主要表现在对人性的失望和宿命论，这两方面的思想都对他的后期创作以及后来的作家产生了深远的影响。关键词：悲观主义 诱惑 败坏了赫德莱堡的人ContentsAbstract.i摘要iiIntroduction1Chapter One The formation and meaning of Twains pessimism.3 1 The formation of Twains pessimism.3 2 The meaning of Twains pessimism4C
6、hapter Two The specific analysis of pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg .7 1 From the aspect of plot7 2 From the aspect of characters.9Chapter Three The effect of Twains pessimism.121 The effect on his later writing.122 The effect on later writers.13Conclusion14Works Cited.15Pessimism in
7、The Man that Corrupted the HadleyburgIntroductionSamuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain grew up in Hannibal Missouri. During his life, he apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesett
8、er and contributed articles to his older brother Orions newspaper. After toiling as a printer in various cities, he became a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before heading west to join Orion. He was a failure at gold mining, so he turned to journalism. As a reporter, he wrote a humor
9、ous story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County which became very popular and brought nationwide attention. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, written in 1900， is one of the most famous works of Mark Twain. The novel was about a town named Hadleyburg which was famous for its good reputati
10、on. Everyone believed it was an uncorrupted town. But a stranger came to Hadleyburg with a bag of gold coin to find out an unknown benefactor because the benefactor ever gave 20 dollars to the stranger. The chief nineteen citizens wanted to be the benefactor and made every endeavor to get the gold.
11、At last, the honest and upright town became the synonym of ugliness, liars and thief. This novel is a turning point in Twains writing, where he changes his style from humor to satire. Also, he is becoming more and more pessimistic compared with his early writing. Chinese scholars mainly explore The
12、Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg from the following aspects, such as from the writing skills or the reasons of his pessimism. Chen huizhu ever wrote an essay to Learning Theory, entitled “Research on the causes of Mark Twains pessimism in his later life”. She tried to examine the reasons of his pessimi
13、sm from Mark Twains personal experience and the changes of American society. Foreign scholars mainly study this novel from the aspects of cultural pessimism and pessimist literature. They try to study Mark Twains pessimism in his later writings. Few scholars discuss his pessimism revealed in The Man
14、 that Corrupted Hadleyburg from the aspect of new historicism.This essay explores Twains pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg with the theory of new historicism. Scholars of new historicism hold the view that literature is highly affected by the complex and subtle social background. Litera
15、ture is a product of a specific society which has its own features in history and culture. This essay will focus on the effects of American culture and history on the change of Mark Twain. At the same time, it will try to explain the novel from the angle of history to proclaim Twains pessimism in hi
16、s later writing. Through the research of pessimism in Mark Twains The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, I would like to inspire people to think about how they will act when they face temptation. People all live in a world filled with temptation. And there is a seed of desire in peoples mind. How do
17、 people act when they meet with temptation? If people could think about it deeply, they might keep a sober in the pursuit of fame and fortune.Chapter One The formation and meaning of Twains pessimism1 The analysis of the writing backgroundIn the late 19th century, there is a dramatic change in Ameri
18、can culture. Darwins theory of evolution and Spencers theory of social competition brought great destroy to Christianity and rationalism. This made the traditional belief which was built on the foundation of modesty and fairness lose its sense. Therefore, human dignity was deconstructed and the desi
19、re for civilization and democracy was replaced by material pursuit. Power and wealth had become the center of life. However, we know Mark Twain always had a dream for a highly civilized society. The reality was far away from what he dreamed for. So he was quite disappointed at the society. Moreover,
20、 the USA entered the period of imperialism. The country invaded other countries in the whole world in order to open a market for its products. Twain witnessed the colonial war while he was in round-the-world lecture tour. He had a deep aversion to the evil behavior. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg
21、, written in 1900, was set in such a social background. In this work, the nineteen principle citizens deceived each other and disguised when they were faced with a bag of gold. This was a true portrayal of the capitalist society, or we can say, the nineteen principle citizens were a symbol of imperi
22、alism. Twain mercilessly criticized the social corruption and hypocrisy in American as well as the magic and evil role money played in the society. However, Mark Twain took the greed and selfish nature of the capitalist as all the citizens in common, which made the work shroud in pessimistic color.
23、And pessimistic idea continued in his old age. Twains pessimism, which is shown in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is also related to his personal experience in the 1890s. In 1894, his investments of the typesetting machine and the publishing company failed, which brought a debt of one hundred tho
24、usand to Mark Twain. Therefore he had to make a round-the-world lecture tour to earn money for the debt as a sickly man of nearly 60 years old. Later，he ever used words to describe his feeling to the bankruptcy, which was “ pain despair and be torn with grief”（Twain, 76）. The bankruptcy was a huge h
25、it to Mark Twain in material, while the death of his beloved daughter brought great pain to his spirit. Just during his tour, on the 15th of August 1896, when Twain was standing in a dinning room, thinking of nothing in particular, a cable was put into his hand, “ Susy was peacefully released today.
26、”（Twain, 110） Twain, unprepared, could hardly accept the thunder stroke like that. The writers personal experience influences the writers spirit. He said in his letter to a friend that he kept working just for work in order to stop pain. So we can easily understand the effects of the disasters one a
27、fter another in his writing. He just expressed his extreme pain and disappointment through his works. Through the analysis of the writing background, we can easily understand his pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg.2 The meanings of pessimism After getting familiar to the writing backgrou
28、nd, we can know that personal experience and the reality of American society contributed to Mark Twains pessimism. But what are the meanings of pessimism shown in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg? There are two aspects of the meaning of pessimism. Firstly, Mark Twain holds the view that the human n
29、ature is evil. Secondly, he believes in fatalism. In The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain was pessimistic towards human nature. He thought human nature was evil because human became hypocritical and greedy when they were faced with temptation. Peoples will was so weak to control their desir
30、e. Therefore, all the virtues were ruined by the bag of gold coin. “The weakest of all weak things is a virtue which has not been tested in the fire.”(230) Citizens in the town ever thought they were honest, kind, and upright. But the honesty was weak as water when temptation came, which made him qu
31、ite disappointed and pessimistic toward human nature. In the government hall, Wilson delivered a persuasive speech when he found Billson also gave a letter to Mr. Burgess which said Billson was the benefactor. “There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and
32、 upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and delusions of oratory.”(223)The citizens were trained to be honest from the very cradle, against every possible temptation. But it was fictitious honesty when temptation came.Mark Twains pessimism was not o
33、nly displayed in his disappointment to human nature but also displayed in his belief of fatalism. In The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain preliminarily expressed his viewpoint of fatalism. He explained accidental events to the order of God. He did not believe the will power of human. In his
34、 mind, it was God but not human that controlled the development of events. His viewpoint of fatalism was mainly displayed in the character of the Richards, who tended to explain his failure or success in getting the money to the order of God. From here, we can see Mark Twain thought man could not do
35、minate the destiny of their own. This is a kind of negative viewpoint of life. Chapter Two The specific analysis of pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg1 From the aspect of plot The plot of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is very bizarre. When the gold coin which is the symbol of temptat
36、ion appears, the honest and upright town lost its peace. Here, Mark Twain took the gold coin and the passing stranger as the main line, and played a farce for the readers. We can take the farce as a psychological experiment. Twain had designed a clever psychological experiment, conducted by the stra
37、nger, to make the readers watch these experiment objects and find out the reaction of citizens in the town. By doing so, Mark Twain revealed the human nature in a material society and the reality of morality decay. Twains satire, similar to ridicule, is linked to pessimism in his old age when he was
38、 quite suspicious. He was suspicious of human nature as well as the democracy of American society. At the beginning of the story, the passing stranger came to hadleyburg with a bag of gold coin and broke the quiet life order in the town. The citizens were greatly excited because the trust from the s
39、tranger showed that they lived in an incorruptible town and were proud of it. But the citizens were in anguish and sigh later as they wanted to know what the remark was that the benefactor said to the stranger. That was “You are far from being a bad man.” From their reaction, we can find they had fa
40、llen into the trap of the stranger and attracted by the temptation. Then the passing stranger continued his plan of experiment by telling the nineteen chief citizens what the remark was. And the nineteen chief citizens and their wives bore that expression of peace and happiness again. So the Mr. Bur
41、gess received nineteen letters which all made a declaration that the gold coin belonged to its writer. Till now, the selfishness and greed of these citizens had already been exposed. Then here comes the climax of the story. Behind the gold coin, there was a huge fraud. But the readers can find out t
42、he weakness of human nature of these citizens through the fraud. Their selfishness, lies and greed were quite clear. And the stranger designed a trap to make the Richards once again be tempted. Mr. Burgess helped the couple save their honor and gained a huge amount of money. But because of fear and
43、anxiety, the Richards became ill and told the truth that they were tempted by the gold coin too. “The last of the sacred Nineteen had fallen a prey to the fiendish sack; the town was stripped of the last rage of its ancient glory. Its mourning was not showy, but it was deep.” （241）The couple realize
44、d their desire but dead at last.Here, Mark Twain told a bizarre story to readers. He revealed the moral status and social reality by his text. Through the wonderful plot design, Mark Twain revealed the moral status by actions of people in the town when they faced the gold coin. Furthermore, the proc
45、ess of trying to claim the coin was a true portrayal of capitalists when they faced huge amount of money. Here his text is closely related to the culture and society of the 19th century in America. At that time, America entered a stage of imperialism. Capitalist ran after money without caring about
46、anything. This society was far away from Mark Twains ideal society. And Mark Twain could not find a reasonable solution and explanation to the ugly world, so his mind is filled with pessimistic mood.2 From the aspect of charactersMark Twain designed the character of the stranger mainly to expose the
47、 evil essence of human nature. The stranger was a visitor to Hadleyburg, who was a concentrated reflection of blackness in human nature. He was a narrow-minded man. He revenged the town for he was offended in the town and he kept the injury in mind. He gave all his leisure time to try to invent a compensating satisfaction for it. Also, he was cunning and malicious. He wanted to damage everyone in the townnot in their bodies or in their estate, but in their vanitythe place where feeble and