How do you understand the theme reflected in the title of the novel "Thick Hair"?

On the surface, this novel does not have a very profound theme. It is just about a little boy who went to get a haircut because his hair was too long. While getting a haircut, he listened to the barber tell the tragic story of his uncle. But if you carefully understand and analyze it, you will find that the themes reflected in the novel are profound.

(1) The connection between thick hair and various kinds of stress

The title of the novel is The Barbers Uncle, but a third of it is about the little boy’s hair and his life in winter. A nap under the warm sun. Saroyan's novel was written after World War I in the United States. After World War I, the American people's life was hard and the people were under great pressure. It was even more miserable for the Armenian immigrants.

The author does not directly describe the lives of the masses, but reflects it through the experience of a little boy. A child is supposed to be a carefree age, with no pressure to find a job or family pressure. Even if he has thick hair, he is criticized and ridiculed by almost everyone. Is this for a little boy? Isn't it pressure?

When the little boy got his hair cut, almost everyone laughed at him. His brother said: he had never seen such a bad haircut before. Saroyan used thick hair to symbolize the pressure that people in life have to endure. Even if the little boy's hair is cut off, people are still laughing at him. Maybe one kind of pressure disappears and another new kind of pressure arises. This is not right. Is it a true portrayal of our lives?

(2) Reverie under the tree symbolizes the wishes of the general public

The little boy seemed to be sleeping under the big tree under the warm winter sun. In this chapter, Salo Yang describes the world in the eyes of the little boy with great pen. In the sentence "it was very still everywhere in the world", the word "still" highlights the tranquility and peace. In this world, life is happy everywhere. The little boy sighed, Ah, it was good to be alive somewhere, good expressed the little boy’s understanding.

Even small houses, tables and cheers, these most common household facilities are warm, happy, good and wonderful in the eyes of little boys. The reason why the little boy is more mature and sensible than other children of the same age is because he has experienced war and suffering, so he has such insights.

Only those who dream of living will live forever, without change, decay and death. This paragraph is actually a paragraph that points out the theme, which is also the theme of the author's creation of this novel. People who have experienced the war are more eager for a peaceful and peaceful life, and ordinary life is what people long for.

(3) The little boy’s expectations at the end reflect the author’s wishes

The novel mentioned before that the barber was not a professional barber. He gave the little boy the worst haircut. How should little boys view hairstyles? The genius of Saroyan is that he wrote: But it was all right. The little boy didn't care about other people's ridicule, he thought it was okay, and said: I hope to continue to come here for haircuts next time, and continue to listen to the barber's stories about these confused, lonely, helpless, and adventurous people.

In fact, the ending is what Saroyan wants to tell people: everyone living in society will have pressure, just like the little boy in the novel, but he must learn not to care about others’ ridicule; everyone has pressure in life It's hard, but don't be sad and miserable, because there are people who are suffering more than us.

Saroyan's novel is written from a child's perspective and is very calm. On the one hand, he created this novel to reveal the changes in people's lives and family tragedies brought about by the war, and on the other hand, through shaping The characters are used to praise the Armenian spirit and inspire people to live strong in the face of adversity.

Extended information

Saroyan has never experienced formal training, and his writing is not restricted by format, so there is no strict structure and important plot. When Saroyan wrote this novel, he expressed it through some simple sentence patterns. The article did not have any gorgeous and complicated sentence patterns or twists and turns, but the theme behind the novel was very profound.

(1) The use of first person

The first person can bring the reader closer to the protagonist and give people an immersive feeling. The story is told in the voice of a little boy and is described in the first person. The little boy and his relatives who appear in the article are all narrated by I, my mother, my brother, etc. When the barber was telling the story of his uncle, the barber also narrated in the first person. The barber kept saying my poor uncle, my uncle, I preyed, etc.

This writing technique allows readers to exchange characters with the protagonist, giving people a real and vivid feeling, and is very readable. When readers read the novel, they can truly feel the accusations against the little boy from all sides and deeply feel the little boy's helplessness. The tragic life of the barber's uncle Misak also makes readers deeply moved.

(2) The use of colloquial expressions

The novel is narrated in the first person, and the narrator is a little boy, so the story is told in a eloquent way, and colloquial expressions are more Many, many sentences do not follow strict grammatical rules. For example, the sentence "The doors and windows everywhere" has no predicate, and the sentence "To be in the world" has no subject. However, this expression is reasonable because the novel is told from the perspective of a child.

When the barber talks about his uncle, he is also very colloquial, such as Ah, Berlin, he said; and Ah, God, I prayed, etc., especially the use of the modal particle Ah as if we are not Instead of reading this novel, I am listening to the barber's emotions for his uncle's sympathy again and again, which doubles the expressive effect of the novel.

(3) The use of parallelism sentence patterns

Parallelism is used by arranging three or more phrases or sentences with the same or similar structure, related content, and consistent tone. A rhetorical method that enhances momentum, emphasizes content, and heightens emotion.

At the beginning of the novel, Miss Gamma said I needed a haircut, my mother said I needed a haircut, my brother Krikor said I needed a haircut: the whole world wanted me to get haircut, all in one go. The parallel sentence structure highlights the theme, indicating that the little boy's hair is too long and he has been criticized from all sides. It is impossible not to cut off his long hair. At the same time, it stimulates the reader's desire to read on.

When the little boy decided to get a haircut, the author used sentence structures such as the whole world was right, Miss Gamma was right, my brother Krikor was right, the thing to do was to get a haircut. Using it not only makes it catchy to read, but also enhances the expressive effect of the article. It can be seen that the little boy has made up his mind and the only thing to do now is to get a haircut.

(4) The use of repeated sentences

In order to reflect everyone’s accusations against the little boy, there are a lot of expressions like “I need a haircut” in the novel. When the barber talks about his uncle, the barber's words "my poor uncle Misak" appear dozens of times in the article. This repeated use highlights the barber's sympathy for his uncle's fate.

When talking about my uncle’s no fixed abode, in Berlin, the barber used streets and streets and houses and houses and people and people, but not one door for my poor uncle Misak, not one room, Not one table, it can be seen that these repeated use of words contrast sharply with Misak's tragic life.

Not only in Berlin, but also in other places, the barber repeatedly told through these sentences that everywhere in the world, the streets and alleys, the houses are connected, but there is no place for Uncle Misak.

(5) Use of humor

Although this novel expresses sympathy and sadness for uncle Misak’s tragic life, the author’s use of humor plays a finishing touch in expressing the theme. effect.

When almost everyone was laughing at the little boy’s hair, the author in the third paragraph of the novel especially described the big businessman Huntingdon in detail. He is strong and wealthy, with money, expensive cars, and real estate. However, the author then writes that such an amazing character has no hair and is bald.

But what’s even more unexpected is that he often asks his workers to walk a long way from the town to see the little boy’s hair, and shout loudly in the street: there is a good weather and health , reading this makes people laugh, and at the same time, they can see the sadness of human weakness.

People like him are not only unaware of their own shortcomings, but also laugh at others, or use the little boy's thick hair to tell his workers that California's climate is harmful to people. Health is good, but what explains his own baldness?

The author describes the little boy’s hair being very long. A small bird tried to build a nest in my hair. This scene is very interesting. A bird actually tried to build a nest in my hair because of the little boy’s thick hair. As for wanting to build a nest in the hair, the author's rich imagination is admirable. At the same time, it can also be seen that so many people have persuaded the little boy to get a haircut before, but he was indifferent, but a little bird made him change his mind. One has to admire Saroyan’s unique creativity.