Political And Religious Implications Of The Scapegoat Of Adam In "Pale Horse, Pale Rider"

Katherine Anne Porter is an active American writer in the half of the twentieth century and widely renowned for her popular stories and novella. Miss Porter writes in a sharp and concise style and bears a conscientious artistic attitude as well as an acute and keen observation for small output, each of which is profound and significant and inspires people in many angles. Since the 1930s-1940s, critics have paid great attention and attached much importance to Miss Porter. In the 1990s, studies on Katherine Anne Porter came to new heights as scholars from home and abroad approached her works from varied perspectives and with diversified theories. Katherine Anne Porter has one of the subtlest writing talents. Her writing style excels in the clarity of language, the unique image, symbolism, stream of consciousness, allocation of time and irony in works. Miss Porter's novelette, "Pale Horse, Pale Rider", illuminates the dimensions of the above mentioned writing crafts. The heroine, Miranda has been paid great attention and attached much importance to since the publishing of the novelette, while the hero, Adam has been falling into oblivion and taking a back seat. It is unfair to say that Adam is a back-seat character in "Pale Horse, Pale Rider". Katherine Anne Porter seldom depicted one male character like Adam. The interpretation of the hero, Adam would help us to better understand the short story and thoughts that is reflected from the character of Adam.In "Pale Horse, Pale Rider", Adam is referred to be a pure, flawless, and complete sacrificial lamb. In effect, he is one scapegoat of the awful modern American world, and it reflects outlook on politics and religion. This thesis applies archetypal analysis to clarify the imagery of the hero, Adam who belongs to the archetype of scapegoat in "Pale Horse, Pale Rider". Making full using of the method of text analysis, the thesis explores and points 1 out features of scapegoat that are presented by Adam in the novelette. And by means of investigating and analyzing the scapegoat figure it interprets political views and religious thoughts that are reflected by the scapegoat image of Adam. As a matter of fact, Adam is not an individual in the whole society, but represents culture and values of the whole American people. During eventful period, he does not survive; instead, he becomes a scapegoat, bearing...