Metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men

来源 :大陆桥视野·下 | 被引量 : 0次 | 上传用户:zxw123321
下载到本地 , 更方便阅读
声明 : 本文档内容版权归属内容提供方 , 如果您对本文有版权争议 , 可与客服联系进行内容授权或下架
论文部分内容阅读
  【摘 要】《老無所依》是科馬克·麦卡锡继边疆三部曲之后创作的又一部西部小说。据其改编的同名电影也受到了广泛的认可。大部分国内外对《老无所依》的小说以及电影的研究忽略了麦卡锡对美国形象的隐喻以及对911恐怖袭击之后人类命运的担忧。本论文将《老无所依》放到后911时代美国的社会和政治语境下,以影片中三个主要人物来反映作家对美国的隐喻。最终得出结论:《老无所依》反映了后911背景下麦卡锡对当代美国社会的矛盾态度。
  【关键词】科马克·麦卡锡; 老无所依;美国隐喻
  【Key words】 Cormac McCarthy; No Country for Old Men; metaphor of the United States
  Introduction
  Cormac McCarthy and No Country for Old Men
  Recent years, Cormac McCarthy, acknowledged as one of the most celebrated novelists in American contemporary literature, has attracted much attention from the critics domestically and internationally. In terms of No Country for Old Men, it receives many approving reviews in the light of various schools of critical theories. However, there is still adequate space for analysis. As for the metaphor in No Country for Old Men, the previous articles concentrate on the western surroundings and society in the movie, instead of relating the real condition of American society with the characters and plots, especially putting the movie in the post-911 terrorist attack period. Thus, this paper, based on the previous McCarthy studies, is going to reveal the metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men by analyzing the characters and plot narration, aiming to unearthing McCarthy’s intention of reflecting the United States in all aspects.
  Chigurh: The Bully and the Absurd Principle
  Abuse of violent power
  In March 1999, in the name of humanitarian intervention, the US bypassed the United Nations, launched a 78 sky attack on the Southern League of sovereign states, and bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. All these force of violence the US used in diplomatic politics can be discovered from Chigurh’s behaviors.
  At the beginning of the movie, after Chigurh escaped from the police office, he killed a stranger using his horrible weapon, an oxygen tank, just for getting the stranger’s car. With a mysterious smile on his face, Chigurh said politely “would you hold still, please” and then shot the innocent person. The similar scene appeared when Chigurh wants to get some medicines for self-cure. He bombed a car to create disturbance and finished a series of plundering without hesitation. Like the US, Chigurh never considers about some peaceful methods to get to his destination. Rather, he chose the violence to solve the problems in despite of the considerable unrelated people.
  The Doctrine and Chaotic World
  In international affairs, the United States ignores the authority of the United Nations to maximize the benefits as his please. He ignores the basic principles of international relations and implements unilateralism. In No Country for Old Men, Chigurh did not take the law into account, either. Chigurh followed his own principle of life, and decided others’ lives by asking them to guess the coin. This absurd principle is obvious in the conversation between Chigurh and a gas station proprietor which ended with proprietor’s right call of the coin and he won everything, that is, his life. Chigurh use this gamely way to decide others’ lives, and unilaterally declared people’s death, just like the diplomatic style of the United States.   To some degree, this terrorist behavior of 911 attack comes as a blow to the US. Just like the terrorist act, the hegemonic actions of the United States should also be condemned. The similar scene was displayed at the end of the movie, when Chigurh drove on the road with the money; he was suddenly crashed by a car which violated the traffic regulations. Therefore, in such a chaotic society, there is no extreme evil but much eviler.
  Conclusion
  This thesis investigates the metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men. Chingurh, the cold-blooded killer in the movie, follows his own principles, abuse the violent power to achieve his goal. All his characteristics remind people of the bullying conducts of the US in some international affairs. Expressing acute distress at the failure of a vision and a sense of future, No Country for Old Men offers a mirror through which we can perceive McCarthy’s initially ambivalent attitude towards contemporary American society.
  Works Cited:
  [1]Li,Yingxue. “Conflicts between Traditional and Modern Societies in No Country for Old Men.” Thesis. Central China Normal U, 2016.
  [2]陳爱华:“暴力外衣下的人性探索——论科马克·麦卡锡小说中的宗教情怀”,《解放军外国语学院学报》,2013年第1期,第117-21+128頁。
  [3]江宁康:“当代小说的叙事美学与经典建构——论C ·麦卡锡小说的审美特征及银幕再现”,《当代外国文学》, 2010年第2期,第115-24页。
其他文献
【摘 要】技校学生是中国制造业的主力军,他们的社会适应能力不仅关系着个人的发展前途,也关系着技校人才培养质量的优劣,关系到国家发展的前途与命运。通过问卷调查法及访谈法,采用社会适应量表对某技校学生开展社会适应能力问卷调查,了解技校生的社会交往能力、环境适应能力、学习能力并分析影响社会适应能力的因素,并提出相应的建议和措施。  【关键词】技校;社会适应能力;培养  随着《技校“十三五”规划》的开展,
城镇规划建设和管理是一项战略性、综合性很强的事业.在全球经济一体化趋势下必须要构架城市联盟协调机构,建立健全规划的实施管理机制,突出重点,加大投入,全力加快城镇建设
为探究吕家坨井田地质构造格局,根据钻孔勘探资料,采用分形理论和趋势面分析方法,研究了井田7
期刊
期刊
【摘 要】化学微量元素是指人体内含量很少的、却是其必需的元素,其含量低于0.01% ,它们分别是铁、铜、锌、锰、铬、钴、钒、锡、镍、钼、碘、氟、锡、硅等十多种元素,其与人体的健康却息息相关。本文重点介绍微量元素与人类健康的关系。  【关键词】化学;微量元素;健康  隨着科学技术的发展,我们了解到,许多元素对人体的健康影响很大,这些元素影响人体的新陈代谢,我们必须了解微量元素的生物化学功能,在人体中
为探究吕家坨井田地质构造格局,根据钻孔勘探资料,采用分形理论和趋势面分析方法,研究了井田7
期刊
全面实施素质教育,提高教育质量,已成为新的历史发展时期需要完成的新任务和需要解决的新课题.影响教育质量的因素有很多,但笔者认为教师素养是教育过程中的关键因素.学校应
为探究吕家坨井田地质构造格局,根据钻孔勘探资料,采用分形理论和趋势面分析方法,研究了井田7
期刊
提出了一种新的光谱——吸收归一化光致发光激发谱,并用这种光谱研究了非掺杂GaN的黄光发射.实验上首次直接测量出了黄光发射的初始态的共振吸收峰位,从而解决了长期争论的有
选择地貌特征(包括地形坡度、沟谷切割状况、洼地封闭状况、前缘临空状况)、滑面特征(包括滑面倾角、滑面形态、滑面阻抗比)、滑体结构和近期活动迹象4大类9个因子作为古(老)