《任何速度都不安全》中 “雪佛兰”意象的象征意义与叙事功能研

　　Laura Lee Smith is the author of novels and short fictions.Her first novel Heart of Palm was released by Grove Press in April 2013.Her short fiction was selected by guest editor T.C.Boyle for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2015 and by guest editor Amy Hempel for inclusion in New Stories from the South:The Year’s Best,2010.Her work has also appeared in The Florida Review,Natural Bridge,Bayou and other journals,and she contributes a lot to Swamp Radio.She works as an advertising copywriter.

　　Unsafe at Any Speed,Laura Lee Smith’s latest work,was included in Best American Stories 2015.It’s about a frustrated and confused middle aged man called Theo Bitner,who was also under pressure from family and work.His family was filled with women except him so that his family status is very low and he had no freedom at home.At work,his boss put pressure on him to ask him to improve his sales.One day he discovered that an advertisement about a“Corvair”’s auction which was a form of salvation in his eyes.So he decided to go to the auction to get the car.By chance,his boss needed him to upsell the dentist today but that dentist was at least an hour’s detour from the beeline he’d been planning to make to the auction.He didn’t see the dentist unfortunately but he met a woman called Stacey who was the receptionist of the dentist.When he left for the auction,the woman walked towards him and asked him to give her a ride.This was doomed to be an extraordinary journey.There were lots of topics that they have talked about on the way.And he could not bear the temptation to do something betrayed his wife with her at hotel.At that moment he felt he was liberated.As they continued their journey,he was surprised to find 7000 dollars in her bag and doubted the source of money.At the same time,there was a police car behind them.Through the struggle in the heart,he decided to speed off the police car.When they finally arrived at the auction,he found he hadn’t enough money to get the“Corvair”.At that moment,he was tired of everything included the woman beside him.When they left the auction and stopped at a bookstore.He wanted to leave alone but he still took her and they made a deal that she used 3174 dollars to pay for the thirty-five-mile ride to the woman’s home.He used that money buy the“Corvair”,and sent her back home.Having experienced these crazy things,he finally got his salvation“Corvair”.However,it can’t change anything for he had to return to the reality and faced the pressures from family and work.

　　Up to now,few domestic research papers are concerned with Laura Lee Smith and his works.

　　Image is a kind of unique art created by the objective object through the creation of the main emotional activities,which is often found in literary criticism.It means that imagery is the image of the writer’s mind,the work,the fusion of works of friendship.Images can be abstract to sublimate to achieve a more profound image,which is the intelligence of the human brain to deal with information processing activities.

　　In western countries,modern Western literary school was constituted by the United States and other countries of young poets in London at the beginning of 21 Century.They are influenced by Oriental classical poetry.They advocated a“solid”style,emphasizing the use of objective and accurate image instead of subjective emotional vent.Pound published program in the Poetry,“Image should be depicted as an aggregate of reason and sensibility expressed in a flash”(quoted in李靖，2013：10).That accurate images can make the counterpart.

　　An author's imagination is only part of his reading.The image comes from his entire emotional life from childhood.Some of the images(and not others)have been reproduced and filled with emotions.And this is not the case,as I have seen,heard,and felt in all my life.A bird chirp,a fish jump,at a specific time and place,the fragrance of a flower,a German mountain road of an old woman,from the window to see the cards are six Villain-in the night,a small railway in France at the cross station,where there is a water tanker.Such memories have a symbolic value,but what does it symbolizes,we do not know,because they represent the kind of our eyes which can’t penetrate the depths of the feelings.(T.S.Eliot,1981:2:104)

　　In china,imagery theory originated early.The ancients thought that the abstract idea of the mind is like the external concrete image.“Image was the poet selected some images of the representative and can produce some subtle emotional relationship with author from the heard in the specific emotions”(陈琪,2014:43).Meaning from the heart and by means of elephants to express,as is the intention of the sustenance.The traditional Chinese poetic theory refers to the art of dealing with the scene in the scene.

　　There is no doubt that image has an important role in fictions and novels.It can be used as the author’s emotional expression and be thought of as a deformation of the author while the theme of the article has an important role in the expression.It also affects the protagonist’s psychological changes.

　　This thesis is composed of five chapters.Standing in the perspective of evaluation,the thesis assesses the image“Corvair”in the article specifically by the literary criticism in this short story.

　　Chapter One offers a brief introduction to the author Laura Lee Smith and the content of“Unsafe at Any Speed”.Then it describes the definition of the image.Besides,it will discuss the origins of imagery at home and abroad and describes the analysis of imagery at the same time.Finally,the focus and structure of the thesis are also introduced.

　　Chapter Two explains the symbolic meaning of“Corvair”from two aspects such as the device for personal salvation and the vehicle of escapism from the community.

　　Chapter Three analyze the narrative functions of“Corvair”in the story from three points.First,it introduces the function of“Corvair”on characterization.As an image,it makes contribution to the protagonist’s personality and inner changes of characters.And then,it describes the promotion of the storyline from the richness of the story and the rationalization of the storyline.At last,it analyses the significance of the symbolic image in highlighting the theme.What the story wants to go ahead needs something to push it.So“Corvair”make an important role in it.

　　Chapter Four brings the thesis to an end with a conclusion and discusses the images’significance in the stories and poems.

　　“The dominant image is the image at the center of the article.It has the overall role of the theme of the whole article,so that some people call it the theme image”(龚丽君,2007:14).

　　“Corvair”is an important image in Laura Lee Smith’s article.In“Unsafe at Any Speed”,“Corvair”not just refers to a car which the protagonist wants to get,but also is Theo Bitner’s hope.When Theo saw that advertisement at first glance,he sprouted an idea that the car looked like his salvation.According to the beginning of the introduction of the article,we can know his family is made up of his daughter,his wife,his mother and himself.There was only one man in his house.His wife dominated his family.His daughter is in adolescence,so she didn’t want him to touch her private property.When she inquired him for this reason,“he looked at her,blinking,having lost sight many years ago of the plump,pliant little girl who liked to sit on his foot as he clomped around the house”(Smith,2015:312).His mother Bette,living in the spare room he’d once fancied his office,even step into his circle of friends in facebook.He felt he had no freedom at home.So when he saw a struggling frog beside the pond,he seemed to see himself.This kind of pressure was not only from the family,but also from the jobs.Theo was a salesman of dental equipment and works for a man who was fifteen years old younger than Theo called Ernie.In fact,he was dereliction of duty.His sales were terrible.Ernie required him to improve his sales,so the pressure from home and work oppressed him.He needed to be liberated.He discovered“Corvair”at that time.He fell in love with it.He regarded it as his salvation.It represented his yearning for freedom,eagerness to be liberated from life or other kinds of pressure.Besides,it was his way of releasing his emotions.

　　“Pursuit”and“escapism”are the traditional themes in Western literature which began to appear as early as the ancient Greek mythology,such as the legend of Jason looking for golden fleece or Odysseus are the typical representative of the story about“pursuit”and“escapism”.American literature inherited this theme.In“Unsafe at Any Speed”,“Corvair”is a salvation for protagonist.But from a social point of view,it’s the symbol of escapism.When Theo suffered the pressure from family and work,he found“Corvair”as his self-righteous salvation.But in the long term,he was only a short escape from oppression.He still had to return to the track of the original life finally.There are lots of situation in real life.Some people will subconsciously say“forget it”when meet problems in work.Some couples quarreled sometimes,and they will not choose to solve the problems,but ignore each other.Escaping the reality seems to have become the customary thinking.“Mr.LuXun criticized that people are the spiritual victory doctrine,refusing to face the reality.In the older generation of Chinese revolutionaries stressed that the spirit of seeking truth from facts is because most people do not have this spirit”(张杰,2015：8).So“Corvair”as a vehicle of escapism from the community in the story.

　　It’s important to shape a character in the novel.Any successful novel would succeed in shaping vivid characters.

　　In the novel,the character is the soul,only to fasten the soul to subdue the novel powerful and powerful text can produce more effective interpretation.Grasping the complexity of the characters and novels context,structure,novels described by the rich content of life begins to become clear.(quoted in邓琴,2013)

　　In the literary works,the writers can describe the characters in many points of view and omni-directional ways.It can depict the portraits,language descriptions,action descriptions,psychological descriptions and environmental descriptions of the characters from various angles by means of various artistic means,which not only shows the psychological and thoughts and feelings of people and other internal activities,but also a complete display of the role of each character and the relationship between the environment,thus shaping a full and successful character.Character imagery brings not typical personality of the characters but the character abstraction into an emotional symbol.Woolf thinks that“Character's age,appearance,occupation and gender characteristics has become irrelevant,the character's inner feelings and profound meaning on them is important”.

　　3.1.1 Disclosure of the character’s personality

　　Image,as another way of portraying characters,its functions is also extremely obvious.The article describes the protagonist’s situation of family and work,his source of pressure.Meanwhile,the personality of the protagonist is expressed in the article.His family status is low in family.And he has no passion in his work.When he made conversation with his boss Ernie,they were talking about an endodontist in Lakeland named Kelso.

　　“Don’t get comfy there,”Ernie said.“What’s on deck today?You got that endodontist in Lakeland?Kelso?”

　　“Yeah,”Theo said.“Kelso.Maybe get him to close on the exam chairs.”

　　“The Premiers?”

　　“The Basics.”

　　“Shit,Theo.”Ernie said.“Upsell that son of a bitch.He needs the Premiers.”

　　“He wants the Basics.”(Smith,2015:314)

　　As a salesman,Theo needed to upsell the products to others even though they may not need it.But he just looked like muddle along the works.The only moment that made him look spirited was when he saw the advertisement about“Corvair”.It may show his love for that car.

　　After the introduction of the protagonist’s basic situation,the author describes the journey of pursuit of“Corvair”.In this journey,the author made re-shaping to the personality of protagonist.Firstly,he had to see Wainwright at Palatka.When the receptionist closed the frosted glass window,he took three star mints from the bowl and put them in his pocket.It may indicate that he is a man keen on getting petty profits.When he tapped on the glass again,he found the receptionist seemed upset.He hesitated to ask her the reason.It’s easy to see that he is careful.Besides,while he was ready to left for Lakeland where his lover“Corvair”was,the receptionist came out to his car and requested him to give her a ride and he agreed finally.It is obvious that he was a warm-hearted person.Secondly,when Theo and Stacey were on the way to Lakeland,he did something that betrayed his wife with Stacey.These things turned him into a betrayer to family.Finally,when he got the“Corvair”,he had to return to reality to continue to bear the pressure from all aspects.Undoubtedly,he was a coward.When he was under the pressure,he made the choice to escape from that instead of going to charge with the reality.

　　3.1.2 Revelation of the character's inner change

　　As the central image of the novel,“Corvair”promoted the character’s inner change.At the beginning of the novel,it has been a simple description of the protagonist’s position at home and expression of his pressure from family and work.The“Corvair”first appeared when he can’t stand the situations of the status quo of life.After he found the advertisement of“Corvair”and decided to go to the car auction to buy it,he took a shower and got dressed.This time his psychological transformation shifted from the sense of loss to full of longing.The second appearance is the time when Theo left the Wainwright’s office,the receptionist of the Wainwright called Stacey walked outside the office and asked him that if he could take her a ride.On the way,he told Stacey he had to let her out somewhere because he had a sales call at Lakeland and wanted to buy“Corvair”,“It was the first time he’d said it out loud”(Smith,2015:320).It’s obvious that what“Corvair”brings to him is the sense of pride.The third appearance is on the way to Lakeland,they discussed about“Corvair”again“its power,its grace,its tenacious,ballsy,bantam presence.Corvair!The name made him want to shout”(Smith,2015:322).“Corvair”brings a sense of happiness to Theo and reinforced his inner longing once again.The fourth appearance is after they have arrived at the car auction,Theo found the“Corvair”is what he wanted but the price is beyond his range,so at this time,his inner center is full of happiness and annoy.He knew he can’t afford it.His psychological change came to a sense of loss.The fifth appearance is when he got the“Corvair”,he found Stacey became sexy in“Corvair”who once made him disgusted because he was excited about the possession of“Corvair”.The last appearance in the novel is on the way to Theo’s home,he felt the Corvair’s engine rumbling behind him,“Corvair”became to a heavy burden on him because he knew what he needed to face is reality.

　　Storyline is provided in the fiction of a particular artistic description of environment.Because the relationship between the figures and the conflict between man and environment produced a series of life events occurrence,development,until solving the whole process.It usually consists of a set or several sets of specific life events,under a basic plot clues which included many details.Conflict is the basis of the formation of the plot in novel,also a power to promote the development of the plot,and character on both sides of the conflict directly determines the plot tendency of the progress.“Image is called the eyes of article,increased it the relative position with eyes of the location”(quoted in邢海阔,2014:75).He thinks that narratives often took the leap of plot as the clue of writing.That imagery appeared again and again is not a simple repetition,but repeat the repetition.In the repetition of image contains the progressive significance,and it supports an administrative levels feeling of the article.

　　3.2.1 Enrichment of the subject of the novel

　　At the beginning of the article,Laura compared“Corvair”to Theo’s salvation.“Corvair”appears several times in the novel,and its several appearances are in the further introduction of the appearance of“Corvair”and the accident happened in it.Just like the first,the third and the fourth appearances.But these few descriptions played a pivotal role to enrich the content of the story undoubtedly,such as the first time Theo found“Corvair”and the communications about“Corvair”with Stacey on the way to Lakeland.These increased the capacity of the story and enriched the story connotation to a certain extent and increased the readability of the story.

　　So,throughout the article,“Corvair”promotes the plot of the novel in a dramatic direction and plays an important embellishment role in the article,like pieces of pearls shining the novel.If the article is without“Corvair”,the story will become very monotonous.

　　3.2.2 Rationale of the plot

　　The rationale of the plot is essential in the novel.In“Unsafe at Any Speed”,The existence of“Corvair”plays an important role to maintain the rationality of the story.Because of the beginning of the novel,the discovery of the advertisement of“Corvair”would let him sprout the idea of escapism.We can know through the novel,Theo’s status at home is low.Even when he wanted to buy“Corvair”,he had to picked up the checkbook in his wife’s purse secretly.He couldn’t afford the price of“Corvair”.So it’s necessary that he talked the accident of“Corvair”in 1965 with Stacey.Their communication explained the reason why he can afford the car in his embarrassing situation.Because of this accident,“Corvair”was out of production and people’s demand became worse.When they arrived at the car auction,Theo saw the“Corvair”which he dreamed for a long time there.When he saw“Corvair”,he was satisfied with it but he found his money is not enough.Stacey asked him if he wanted her to make up the difference.He refused it out of his own dignity.He has been bored extremely because he couldn’t get the“Corvair”.And he turned his anger to Stacey.He wanted to abandon her and he did.But finally,he went back to take her and made a deal with her.A thirty-five-mile ride to her home for 3174 dollars.So Theo bought the“Corvair”,it became more reasonable in the end.

　　The article image contains the theme and the meaning throughout the narrative of events,so the meaning of the text appears compact and direct.And the art of adding the crowning touch to the article will enhance the poetic implication of narration with a strong visual impact.

　　In“Unsafe at Any Speed”,“Corvair”throughout the article acted as the central image with a distinctive moral color.involving the fate of the characters and mental state directly.The article described the“Corvair”over and over again with the protagonist’s emotions and formed the image symbol which have strongly emotions.

　　When Theo saw the advertisement about“Corvair”,he desired to get it.“Corvair”became a salvation of him.Theo is like a man struggling in the sea of bitterness.Thinking of“Corvair”as a straw to clutch at.So he must pursue it.When he had communication with Stacey and he saw the advertisement again,his heart was full of excitement again.

　　He caught a glimpse of the photo as he handed her the paper,and his heart caught slightly when he realized that every mile on the road was a mile closer to the little car,its power,its grace,its tenacious,ballsy,bantam presence.Corvair!The name made him want to shout.(Smith,2015:322)

　　He could not hide his excitement,so much that he wanted to shout.“Corvair”strengthened up the theme again.In his inner world,“Corvair”looked like a lighting lamp.When he was getting closer and closer to his salvation,he was more excited.

　　When Stacey asked Theo the question in the car,“Corvair”appeared again.And the theme is reinforced once again there.

　　“You’re very kind,”she said,“giving a girl a ride.”

　　He shrugged.

　　“Does your wife know you’re buying the Corvair?”she said.

　　He hesitated.“Now why would you ask that?”he said.(Smith,2015:323)

　　Stacey asked Theo that if his wife know that.The question may mean whether his wife knew his thought of pursuing his freedom more deeply.Though his wife didn’t know it,he insisted on pursuing the“Corvair”.He is eager to get released which has been expressed here extremely.

　　As they arrived at the auction,Theo was satisfied with“Corvair”and even more.But when he knew that the“Corvair”was more expensive than he imagined,he was disappointed.It’s obvious that he became upset.Maybe his hope came to naught in his eyes.So the theme has been intensified again.

　　Theo stuck a deal with Stacey that he would take her back to home and she paid him 3174 dollars so that he could buy his salvation.

　　When they pulled out of the parking lot in the white Corvair,Theo felt as though he’d been reborn.The afternoon sky was a deeper blue.The trees were a crisper green.In the seat next to him,Stacey was radiant,and he felt blood rushing everywhere in his body.Everywhere.(Smith,2015:334)

　　During the time when Theo pulled out of the parking lot in the white Corvair,he felt everything became better even the woman who once made him annoyed.Theo got his salvation finally.He felt himself released at that moment.All his pressure was liberated when he got the“Corvair”

　　The last appearance of the“Corvair”in the whole article is at the end of the article.After he sent Stacey back to her home,he had to returned to home where made him feel great of pressure.

　　He pulled a U-turn in the parking lot and felt the Corvair’s engine rumbling behind him……Gorgeous.The sky was full dark now,and the air had cooled.He could smell the thick,tangy air of the Gulf off to the west,and he pointed the Corvair northeast,headed back toward the Atlantic……There would be hell to pay when he got home.But the devil was in the back seat,keeping time to music,and hell was a long way up the road.(Smith,2015:335)

　　“Corvair”was just mentioned a bit there,but it contains a lot.When the protagonist knew he would go home,everything was getting worse around him even he was sitting in his salvation.His salvation became negligible in front of the coming pressure.Suffice it to say that how heavy the pressure he born usually.But the reality is so cruel that he must to face it.He thought there would be hell to pay when he got home and hell was a long way up the road.There would be more pressure to hit him in his opinion even if he had escaped a period of time.

　　“Corvair”is not only a car,but also symbolizes a salvation of the proganotist.Laura uses“Corvair”constitute the structure of the novel.From the protagonist’s discovering the“Corvair”and then he pursued the“Corvair”,finally he bought the“Corvair”.The whole article revolves around“Corvair”.After Theo coudn’t stand the pressure from family and business,he got his salvation“Corvair”finally but he had to returned to the reality.The sense of helplessness to life stress is reflected in the article.

　　As the protagonist of“Unsafe at Any Speed”,Theo Bitner has been pursuing his salvation on his mind in the whole article.When he was under the pressure from his family and business,he found his salvation by accident.Then he was determined to get that car.On the surface looks,it’s a“Corvair”car.But there’s a saying“See the essence through the phenomena”,so in the article,the car is not only a car,but also the salvation for the protagonist.It’s the protagonist’s desire to release the pressure of his own lives.The story with a quirky twist is not only said for the protagonist,but the man who is under pressure from the various aspects in the real world.When encountering setbacks and pressure,most people would want to get out of it and look for comfortable place.But what they ignored is that escape can’t solve the fundamental problem.We had to return to reality after the escape to face the trouble and pressure finally.

　　Therefore,the thesis wants to take the image of“Corvair”as an example,analyzes the symbolic meaning and the narrative functions of image in the article.Image is a kind of unique art created by the objective object through the creation of the main emotional activities.It not only appeared in novels,but also appeared in ancient poems.A large number of images has built in the process of development of ancient poems which can express the feelings of the poet,text distribution,creating the mood of the poems and transferring philosophy of lives.In the novel,images can deepen and expand the narrative connotation,strengthen the structure and enhance the expression of thoughts and feelings.

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