A Brief Analysis On Tragic Awareness In Babbitt From A Naturalistic Perspective

Sinclair Lewis was one of the foremost American writers of the 1920s. Due to his delicate and exquisite brushwork, rich humor and wisdom, and cartoon style satire effect, and with his unique style, Lewis created many excellent works, which are deeply adored by readers of the world. Of all his excellent works, there stand out Main Street (1920), Babbitt (1922) and Arrowsmith (1925), which on one hand satirized and attacked the vanity, superficiality, hypocrisy and indifference of the American bourgeoisie from middle and upper classes, on the other revealed traces of anxiety within characters concerning survival problems. In 1930, Lewis was granted Nobel Prize in literature, mainly because of his outstanding literary ability shown in his novel Babbitt(Wang Yongnian 2). Judged from this novel, we can say that Lewis is a writer who is deeply concerned with human fate. Characters in the story are controlled by a power of the irresistible, abandoned by fate on the wilderness of live. They look like have a choice, but in fact they do not; it looks like they have taken some action to fight, but in fact they did not. The only thing they can do is to lie supinely on their backs before the fate, follow the currents of live, and struggle helplessly in the swirls of live till they are submerged by them.Employing the elements of tragedy, and in the perspective of Naturalism, this thesis made an analysis of the painful living condition of characters, the turning of characterization and why the tragedy of the life is inevitable, so as to show the weakness of modern men. They are too weak to control their lives. And consequently show Lewis'strong humanitarian concern over human race.This thesis is divided into three parts. The introductory part includes a brief literature review on Lewis and his works, especially Babbitt, a concise explanation on the thesis'understanding on the relationship between American naturalistic concepts and tragedy, and a brief introduction to the major chapters in the thesis.Chapter One emphasizes on presenting the painful living condition of the characters. Though a comparison with traditional presentation of life predicament, the thesis places an emphasis on what kind of predicament modern time and society have brought them. What they are facing is not just challenges of life and death, but also spiritual bounds and torments. They loss their freedom, neither do they know the essence of live. In pursuance of material satisfaction, they have severely ignored spiritual live. Even they try to acquire love and live, they do it just in vain.Chapter Two illustrates the shaping of tragic figures in Babbitt. Living in such a painful condition, men are reduced to animals, and are disarmed of their dignity, sublimity, moral standard and ability to love. These all lead to the alienated human relationship, and finally, lead to the alienation of human characteristics.Chapter Three discusses the reason to the inevitable tragedy of life. The industrialized social environment has formed the unprecedented living pressure to humanity. They struggle to subsist in confusion and anxiety. Those who are fitter to the situation stand out to be the strong. However, behind their so called success there is filled with dirt and stench. In pursuing benefit they do is against conscience and morality. Therefore, whether being success or failure, life of humanity can never escape from the tragic ending.The conclusion part sums up the whole thesis, restating the purpose and significance of naturalism and its application to novel Babbitt, and calling for further study on Lewis and the text.