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1、存档日期： 存档编号： 本科生毕业设计（论文）Pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg论 文 题 目：姓 名： 刘芳 学 院： 外国语学院 专 业： 商贸英语 年 级 、 学 号： 09 级， 09042014 指 导 教 师： 邱蓓 江苏师范大学教务处印制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

2、 degeneration of human nature when people were faced with temptation and the ugly essence 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 pessi

3、mism from his personal experience and the reality of American society. Then it introduces 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

4、 displayed in his disappointment to human nature and his belief of fatalism, which greatly 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

5、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 Tw

6、ains pessimism.3 1 The formation of Twains pessimism.3 2 The meaning of Twains pessimism4Chapter 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 h

7、is later writing.122 The effect on later writers.13Conclusion14Works Cited.15Pessimism in 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 Hanni

8、bal Missouri. During his life, he apprenticed with a printer. He also worked as a typesetter 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

9、 was a failure at gold mining, so he turned to journalism. As a reporter, he wrote a humorous 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

10、 Twain. The novel was about a town named Hadleyburg which was famous for its good reputation. 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 chi

11、ef nineteen citizens wanted to be the benefactor and made every endeavor to get the gold. 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

12、and more pessimistic compared with his early writing. Chinese scholars mainly explore The 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

13、 Mark Twains pessimism in his later life”. She tried to examine the reasons of his pessimism 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 Twai

14、ns pessimism in his later writings. Few scholars discuss his pessimism revealed in The Man 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 v

15、iew that literature is highly affected by the complex and subtle social background. Literature 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

16、will try to explain the novel from the angle of history to proclaim Twains pessimism in his 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 liv

17、e in a world filled with temptation. And there is a seed of desire in peoples mind. How do 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 analy

18、sis of the writing backgroundIn the late 19th century, there is a dramatic change in American 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 mo

19、desty and fairness lose its sense. Therefore, human dignity was deconstructed and the desire 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

20、 far away from what he dreamed for. So he was quite disappointed at the society. Moreover, 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 le

21、cture tour. He had a deep aversion to the evil behavior. The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, 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

22、capitalist society, or we can say, the nineteen principle citizens were a symbol of imperialism. 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 c

23、apitalist as all the citizens in common, which made the work shroud in pessimistic color. 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 type

24、setting machine and the publishing company failed, which brought a debt of one hundred thousand 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

25、, which was “ pain despair and be torn with grief”（Twain, 76）. The bankruptcy was a huge hit 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 n

26、othing in particular, a cable was put into his hand, “ Susy was peacefully released today.”（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

27、work in order to stop pain. So we can easily understand the effects of the disasters one after 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 Corru

28、pted Hadleyburg.2 The meanings of pessimism After getting familiar to the writing background, 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 tw

29、o aspects of the meaning of pessimism. Firstly, Mark Twain holds the view that the human nature 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 gr

30、eedy when they were faced with temptation. Peoples will was so weak to control their desire. 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, ki

31、nd, and upright. But the honesty was weak as water when temptation came, which made him quite 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.

32、“There is nothing in the world like a persuasive speech to fuddle the mental apparatus and 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 temp

33、tation. But it was fictitious honesty when temptation came.Mark Twains pessimism was not only 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

34、 accidental events to the order of God. He did not believe the will power of human. In his 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 gettin

35、g the money to the order of God. From here, we can see Mark Twain thought man could not dominate 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 th

36、at Corrupted Hadleyburg is very bizarre. When the gold coin which is the symbol of temptation 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 psychologic

37、al experiment. Twain had designed a clever psychological experiment, conducted by the stranger, 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 de

38、cay. Twains satire, similar to ridicule, is linked to pessimism in his old age when he was 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 qu

39、iet life order in the town. The citizens were greatly excited because the trust from the stranger 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.

40、 That was “You are far from being a bad man.” From their reaction, we can find they had fallen 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

41、citizens and their wives bore that expression of peace and happiness again. So the Mr. Burgess 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

42、of the story. Behind the gold coin, there was a huge fraud. But the readers can find out the 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 help

43、ed the couple save their honor and gained a huge amount of money. But because of fear and 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 o

44、f its ancient glory. Its mourning was not showy, but it was deep.” （241）The couple realized 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 st

45、atus by actions of people in the town when they faced the gold coin. Furthermore, the process 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

46、, America entered a stage of imperialism. Capitalist ran after money without caring about 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

47、aspect of charactersMark Twain designed the character of the stranger mainly to expose the 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 t

48、he 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 foolish people w

49、ere most vulnerable. Therefore, “what he wanted was a plan which would comprehend the entire town, and not let so much as one person escape unhurt.” Mark Twain expressed his viewpoint of human nature through the character of the stranger. In his eyes, there were no merits in human nature. From the a

50、ngle of the author, Twains pessimism was displayed by his disappointment to human nature. As readers, we can understand his pessimism from another angle. That is taking the stranger as a symbol of cultural intrusion. The stranger was an outsider and came to Hadleyburg with a motivation to disturb th

51、e order of the town and expose the most dishonorable parts of people. He came to the town not to bring prosperity but disasters to it. Mark Twain thought all visitors only brought destruction and disasters to local people. He was disgusted about the outsiders intervention as well as its devastating

52、effects. However, the intrusion of another culture not only brought destruction to local people, but also brought some positive changes to them. For example, the stranger brought a mirrora bag of gold coin for the civilizations to see clearly what the town was like. Mark Twain only focused on the ne

53、gative effects of such intrusion. He thought cultural intrusion was totally bad so that people should do nothing but prevent such cultural intrusion. To make a conclusion, the character of the stranger was a complicated one. Mark Twain created such a character to display his despair to human nature

54、and his pessimistic mood to cultural intrusion.We can also understand Twains pessimism from the character of the Richards. The Richards were older. They were so poor that they could hardly refuse the temptation of such a huge amount of gold coin. The gold coin weighed a hundred and sixty pounds four

55、 ounces. Facing such a huge amount of money, they selfishly had the desire of getting the gold coin. And they gradually lose control of their will as they had the desire to get the money. They ever tried to fight with their greed but failed. “Lead us not into butbutwe are so poor, so poor! Lead us n

56、ot intoAh, who would be hurt by it?and no one would ever knowLead us”(200) At last, their will was beaten by the desire. And they walked into the trap designed by the stranger. From the character of the Richards, we seem to feel Mark Twains fatalism. At the beginning, when they lost the opportunity

57、of gaining the gold coin, Mr. Richard said that it was ordered. Then after they were tempted once again and got the money, he said again; “We-we could not help it, Mary. Itwell it was ordered. ALL things are.”(235)We know that the Richards previously had the opportunity to refuse the temptation but

58、they failed to grasp it. When faced with money, their will could not withstand a single blow. Just because they did not believe that they could control their will, they walked to death with great anxiety and fear. Mr. Richard explained what happened to the order of God. That was a portrayal of Mark

59、Twain, he explained those things that he could not understand to fate. In his mind, people could not control their will when they were faced with temptation and became the slave of desire. By creating the character of the Richards, Mark Twain made an exposure of greed and selfishness of human nature

60、. Also, he displayed his belief in fatalism. He thought man could hardly dominate their destiny.Chapter Three The effects of Twains pessimism1 Effect on his later writing In his work the Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, Mark Twain showed a sense of despair to human nature and he became to believe

61、in fatalism. In Twains mind, people were honest just because they did not have the opportunity to expose their ugly and greedy essence. Furthermore, man could hardly control their desire and was easily tempted by the bag of gold coin. The novel The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg took the corrupti

62、on of the town as a center and revealed Twains writing theme in his last twenty years. That is corrupting value and distorted morality of American society in the later 19th century. Mark Twain almost continued his pessimistic idea in all his later works. In The Man that Corrupted the Hadleyburg, Mar

63、k Twain expressed his disappointment to the evil of human nature by creating characters of the Richards and the stranger. Human nature is greedy, selfish, malicious, hypocritical and cunning. His disappointment to human nature developed to extreme in his later works, such as What is Man. In What is Man, Mark Twain ever wrote that among all the living things, man was the worst. From here, we can see that he became more and mo