Appreciation of Auggie March's Adventures

The theme of The Adventures of Auggie March is to explore the value of human existence and pursue freedom in the absurd and uncertain real world.

The Adventures of Auggie March shows the colorful spirit and soul of modern America and vividly reproduces the social situation and times in America. In the absurd society, everything is quite different from Auggie's wish-as an individual, "man" is ignored, his desire is suppressed and his life is devalued. But Auggie refused to be controlled by others and refused to make changes. As a result, he had to escape against the powerful reality again and again, and face this meaningless world again and again, which was absurd and endless.

Auggie March's Free Choice

Auggie has his own understanding of life. He opposes other people or things controlling his own destiny and pursues a free life without interference from others. Since childhood, Auggie has been faced with stubborn people and absurd events that want to influence and change him. It is these characters and events that help Auggie understand the absurdity and chaos of the world. All kinds of people around him want to dominate his destiny, but he has a strong rebellious attitude. When people around him tried to shape him into what he wanted, Auggie firmly said "no" to those who wanted to shape and change him, constantly insisted on self-selection and tried to grasp his own destiny. In this process, he has engaged in many occupations, but as long as he finds the possibility of being dominated or controlled, he immediately pulls away. He would rather wander like a tramp, do all kinds of hard work and even participate in criminal activities than succumb to the pressure of reality and be bound by social environment and people and things. While pursuing personal freedom and wandering adventure, Augie is also exploring the spirit and looking for a spiritual home where he can settle down. Wandering in this stormy world, Augie struggles with the absurd living environment, resists the external forces that suppress him, and tries to find a place to stand. At the same time, he is also persistent and faithful to his real inner needs and desires, seeking his position and belonging, and finding the meaning of his existence. In the process, he has realized the pursuit of his own value and the exploration of the meaning of life, and reached the ideal realm he longed for.

Although Auggie didn't lose his "freedom", although setbacks and failures along the way made him lonely, lost and confused, Auggie's choice of freedom and pursuit of himself were so strong that no "resistance" factor could stop him.

Life is an endless process of exploration before reaching the end of death. As long as people's life does not come to an end, the accumulation of its essence will not be completed, the journey of spiritual pursuit will not end, and the process of free choice will continue. Auggie's dual journey of body and spirit, as well as his pursuit of the essence and meaning of life, all emphasize the free choice of human beings. This reflects the essence of existentialism philosophy: people are free in this world, and people's choice of action is also free. This freedom gives people the right to choose and act in the face of the absurd world. Therefore, people should understand the importance of free choice, dare to choose freely and create their own essence through action.

The real existence of Auggie March

Existentialism holds that existence precedes essence. When people are born, there is no essence at all. The essence of human beings is formed by the free choice of human consciousness. The most real existence is the irrational consciousness activity of isolated individuals. Man is only the result of his own actions. People live in a meaningless universe and have no essence. Therefore, people's essence is created by their own choice and proved by their own actions. Auggie's wandering trip is actually a process of searching-what he is looking for is a process of proving his real existence. Although this exploration process is full of confusion and helplessness, and is also tortured and tangled by infinite anxiety in his heart, he is always a firm seeker of soul settlement, insisting on proving his true existence in this world through his own actions and constantly exploring for the pursuit of true existence. From childhood to middle age, Augie has been trying to resist external interference and think about self-worth and the meaning of life.

In the absurd chaos of the world, the huge gap between ideal and reality makes Auggie unable to stop wandering and wandering, and complete the process of making free choices according to his own will to obtain the essence. At this time, his heart is full of uncertainty about self-identity, reality and future destiny. Therefore, Auggie experienced a spiritual vagrancy rather than a physical vagrancy-he was pursuing his inner desires and settling his lost soul. Only through constant adventure and exploration can he realize his true self and be sure that he really exists in this world, because man must decide his own way of existence through his own choice and he is responsible for his own existence. All these are reflected and embodied in Auggie's pursuit of self-essence.

In real life, people's thoughts and actions are bound by the outside world, and it is impossible to achieve absolute truth. Therefore, in the process of pursuing his inner world, Augie gradually accepted and became more harmonious with the outside world. He gradually learned how to deal with the relationship between individuals and the external environment, and how to adapt to the external world instead of trying to escape. How to deal with the relationship between individuals and the external environment, how to adapt to the external world instead of trying to escape.

The Adventures of Auggie March is Saul Bellow's insight into the conflict between human external world and internal consciousness from the perspective of existentialism. It pays attention to self-consciousness and social absurdity, cares about people's living state and psychology, and explains the contradiction between self-essence and living environment, an important theme of contemporary American novels.

Bellow probes into the value and significance of human existence by analyzing the living conditions of the American lowlifes in modern society. In the process of Auggie's exploration of a world full of contingency, although the absurdity of reality makes him feel irresistible confusion, loss and alienation, Auggie is still exploring the meaning of existence and the value of life. For Auggie, he is making a difficult personal choice, finding his own position and solving the confusion of belonging. Therefore, the enlightenment of novels has turned from the outside to the inside, from physics to psychology, and from phenomenon to philosophy. Through Auggie's adventure and exploration, readers can see not only the fate of an individual or a nation, but the general predicament of modern people, so as to keep their attention and criticism on reality and analyze and sympathize with human beings in metaphysical questioning, which is of practical significance to modern people with rich material life and spiritual crisis.

The theme of Tochimachi's adventure is uncertain. Bellow deliberately avoided making arbitrary conclusions, leaving it with no definite ending, neither showing obvious optimism nor losing confidence in life. In a sense, The Adventures of Tochimachi is open, leaving readers more room for reverie. This disorder and uncertainty is Ogilvy's perfect representation of real life and even the reality of human existence, and it is also Bellow's unique understanding of the contemporary world and people. It is this ambiguity and uncertainty that is closer to the essence of people and the world and closer to reality. bellows

The Adventures of Auggie March is Bellow's famous masterpiece. In the creation of The Adventures of Auggie March, Bellow found his own voice, a voice that can vividly describe contemporary society and clearly express his philosophy of life in the most popular and exquisite language.

1, Language Features: The combination of "colloquial street style" and "subtle philosophical analysis" in language expression, The Adventures of Augie March made Bellow create his own style, which is both colloquial and elegant, humorous and philosophical, making his works elegant and popular.

At the beginning of Auggie March's readme, Bellow explained to the reader through Auggie's mouth:

"I have always done things according to my own study and followed my own path; When writing your own experience, you can't do without your own way: knock on the door first and let me go in first. "

In other words, the work is straightforward and outspoken. "Knock first, let in first", naturally revealed, without deliberate modification. Street slang and spicy words truly reflect the reality of life.

Oral expressions can be seen everywhere in novels, such as the scene where Auggie and Simon meet. The wording is straightforward, spicy and sharp, full of irony. However, now he wants to know what I went through, but I don't want to tell him. What am I doing in Mexico?

"I fell in love with a girl."

"Oh, really? What else? "

I didn't talk about my failures and lessons. Among them, "what to do in Mexico" means "stay where you are", which means staying in one place; "Fell in love with a girl", in the slang form of "girl" and "bird"; "Failure and lessons" is "being knocked down" rather than "failure". Don't say what you did, just where you stayed, as if Simon had expected Auggie to be idle and do nothing. Simon is afraid that Auggie will look down on him because he is rich, and Auggie wants a better fate, but he doesn't want to tell Simon about his experience of hitting a wall. Show the subtle changes in the hearts of the two brothers to the fullest.

The works are always permeated with philosophical aphorisms that are thought-provoking. Auggie believes that the most dangerous people on the road of life are those who are bent on manipulating his personal destiny. So, he warned himself:

"Be careful, you are just iron filings scattered around the magnetic field. You are obedient. Why seek to lose more freedom? This huge resistance may pierce your ribs, scratch your face, break your teeth and leave. Climb, ride, ride, run and walk alone, and pay attention to those awesome people in the world towards personal goals. "

Auggie compares himself to the iron filings around the magnetic field, which vividly shows that the individual has completely obeyed and lost himself. He can't help asking: Why do you want to seek more freedom? A metaphor illustrates the reason. Concrete and vivid examples illustrate the abstract truth: don't fall into the torrent of losing yourself, and do everything possible to stay away from those who are so willing to manipulate the fate of others. The language of this passage is relaxed and natural, as if it were excerpted and soliloquized in my heart. Without any literary modification, it is both practical and philosophical, vulgar and elegant, and the spicy wording breeds the thoroughness and profundity of philosophers.

2. Performance: the combination of "modernism" and "realism"

In the way of expression, Bellow not only absorbed some advantages of realism, but also used some techniques of modernism to skillfully interweave the description of realism with historical memory, inner activities and the external world, so that we can see the character's inner heart and real world, present situation and his history or future at the same time.

Taking the first chapter of the novel as an example, Auggie's memory of his mother at the beginning is a historical memory. George, old Xi's grandmother and old Xi's grandmother taught Auggie to lie. These are descriptions of real scenes. Auggie's psychological activities are summarized from the present perspective: Mom, I have a pair of round glasses. When I went to the clinic, I was scolded by grandma Lao Xi in advance and told a lie. Now it seems that you don't have to lie.

Bellow combines scene reappearance with recalling the scene at that time from the present perspective, which breaks through the limitation of time and space and allows readers to better understand Granny Lausch's position as the father of the emperor at that time, as well as Augie's psychological state in different periods of childhood and now.

A description of Mrs. Lunlin's persuasion to adopt Augie also shows Bellow's superb expressive power. Mrs. Lunlin's discourse description and Auggie's psychological description are intertwined, recalling the scene at that time.

"You can choose any woman, even a girl like Thea Finch." She mentioned the Finch family, which made my heart beat. Later, when I was completely honest with myself, I had to admit that I was hopeless.

Mrs. Lunlin's words are a description of reality. "She mentioned" is Auggie's psychological description. The sentence "Later" is used in the past and future perfect tense. In this way, readers will understand Auggie's future psychological state. This is Bellow's unique narrative style and expression.

This writing style of "punching one punch in the east and kicking one foot in the west" gives people a sense of disorder, but it is Bellow's seemingly handy and natural brushwork, the interweaving of psychological activities and external environment, and the mutual transformation and alternation of time and space that allows readers to fully and carefully understand the characters and make a subtle analysis of contemporary culture.

For example, in chapter 10, when Augie refused to adopt the Renlin couple and returned to Chicago with Joe Gorman after being arrested for smuggling Canadian immigrants, the article described it like this:

"Chicago opened its mouth with flames and smoke and swallowed us up. I know in my heart that I will not have a peaceful and beautiful life after I come back. First, the Polish housekeeper, then my mother and Simon. "

The first is the description of scenery, with abstract flames and smoke as symbols of industrialization, factories and cars, and a concrete mouth as the city of Chicago. Then there is Auggie's mental activity. Bellow showed us Auggie's external environment and his psychological activities. See the background of industrialization, and at the same time see the psychological state of individuals facing materialized fear. Bellow leads readers to think with Auggie, making his works more universal and profoundly revealing the plight of all mankind.

3. Comedy style: "self-mockery-humor"

Bellow's comedy style is mainly manifested as "self-mockery-humor". Behind this "self-mockery-humor" is a feeling of helplessness. This is a technique of writing worries with joy. In Bellow's view, people who dare to laugh at themselves are actually a sober performance.

Auggie has a lot of self-deprecating descriptions. For example, Auggie has been trying to find a better fate all his life, but he has hit a wall everywhere. When someone asks him, "How are you fighting for a meaningful destiny?" Auggie had to introspect and said with self-deprecation, "I just want to do the right thing, but I am a terrible soldier with a broken head, broken teeth and a broken heart."

Another example is the scene where Auggie and Simon meet. Before the dialogue, there is a description of Auggie's psychological activities:

"I don't feel better than Simon, not at all. If I am really relaxed and happy, he may envy me. But as far as I am concerned, what else is there to envy? "

Auggie's self-mockery seems to be exactly what Simon thinks: Yes, what is there to envy in this situation? However, what Auggie has been thinking and pursuing has not been said, that is, "I want to have a good fate, which is the first." When Simon swaggering driving in the street, Auggie sarcastically said to himself:

"What's the matter with the people who dominate the mechanical kingdom? Believe me, I am not proud of myself. I insist on an advanced and independent destiny. What I can say is that although I long for the fate of independence, it is not just for myself. Ah, why are you so serious? Seriously belongs to only a few people, and only a few unique people can make it clear. "

From this point of view, Auggie seems to think that there is nothing wrong with being a hero in the materialistic real society. But Auggie's saying this does not mean that he has given up his dignity and the pursuit of a better destiny. He longs for the fate of independence and knows it's not just for himself. Auggie is so determined, but in the eyes of others, he really has nothing to boast about. How should Auggie handle himself in this situation? On the other hand, are people who dominate the mechanical world really happy? If so, why are people moping all day and why does Simon have suicidal thoughts? No one can make everything clear. Auggie can only "laugh at himself" from time to time to get a short psychological balance. Such "self-mockery", on the one hand, makes readers see the persistent pursuit of characters, on the other hand, it also shows that Bellow believes that people who pursue their own essence are doomed to face failures and setbacks in the material society, and the way to comfort themselves may only be self-mockery. However, people who have the courage to laugh at themselves are also sober and have not been drowned in the torrent of losing themselves.

This paper analyzes the unique "Bellow Style" of the novel The Adventures of Augie March from three aspects: language features, expression techniques and comedy style. We can clearly see bellow's transcendence and development of traditional narrative art. Bellow's exploration of the relationship between alienated environment and personal dignity is very enlightening to contemporary people. As Auggie realized: "The axes of life must be straight, and these axes suddenly run straight through my whole body." . Truth, love, peace, generosity, interests and harmony,' I' think I can only start from humble and simple. "

Auggie decided to start from the bottom, own his own site, take the children from the welfare home, take back his mother and brother George from the south, and realize his pursuit of freedom in a pure land, no longer subject to anyone. His small wish was not realized because of the outbreak of war, but his enlightenment to modern people goes far beyond this. Bellow unconsciously brings readers into philosophical thinking about life in his unique way. This kind of thinking about human nature and life transcends the country and the times, and clarifies the true meaning of life: starting from the details, being a kind person, pursuing pure self, and realizing a valuable and dignified life.