The Integration Of Characters And Author

Growth is an eternal theme in nature and society. For individuals, growth journey is an important element of life. Pains and gains obtained from growth processes influence one's entire life. Focusing on protagonists' growth journeys, Willa Cather's. three early frontier novels, O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Antonia (1918), are defined as initiation novels, and reread from perspective of initiation theories.By focusing on the growth journeys, the author reveals the importance of the growth for one's whole life. The growth journey can be considered as the formation process of identity. In her early frontier novels, the protagonists' growth journeys reflect a common theme, growth with the prairie root. The author's own growth journey integrates with the characters' growth adventures, which reflects the connection between the real world and author's ideal world. The west prairie is Willa Cather's ideal world, and she finds a balance between the reality and the ideal through the integration of the author and her characters in fictional world. The connection of the ideal and the reality shown in the integration of Cather, the author, and her characters provides people with a positive way to survive in modern society.The thesis is divided into three chapters besides Introduction and Conclusion.Chapter One offers a brief survey of basic knowledge of initiation theory, and claims that initiation novels are the reflection of the real world. Chapter Two deals with the initiation theme in Willa Cather's early frontier novels. It also shows the relationship between the author and her characters, and between the real world and the ideal world, and shows the union of the ideal world and the real world.Chapter Three takes The Song of the Lark as a case study to analyze the initiation theme in detail. Cather's own experiences are reflected in Thea Kronborg's growth journey. The process of Thea's pursuit of artistic success is equal to Cather's adventures of literary creation, and there is a harmonious integration between the characters and the author.