An Ethical Literary Interpretation Of Oates's I'll Take You There

Joyce Carol Oates is one of the most important and prolific contemporary American writers, who has received a great deals of awards and has been nominated several times for Nobel Prize in literature. The academia abroad has been studying her works for several decades; while at home, the research on her works is still on primary stage which is not sufficient for such an important writer. The previous studies mainly concentrate on the issues of violence and feminism and her experimentation in different styles and genres. There has been little study and research at home approaching to Oates's works from ethical perspective. Therefore, this thesis attempts to reveal Oates's ethical ideas and her understanding about human nature by applying the method of ethical literary criticism to her work I'll Take You There.The thesis comprises six chapters.Chapter one is the introduction of the thesis, in which Oates's life experience and the literature reviews about her works are presented.Chapter two is the theoretical basis of this thesis. It introduces the main ideas of ethical literary criticism advocated by Professor Nie and its development status in China.From Chapter three to Chapter five, these three chapters are the main body of the thesis. Chapter three discusses the relationship between man and society. After Second World War, racial discrimination is very severe and social justice cannot be protected, which strengthened the contradiction between an individual and society. Chapter four makes a study on the relationship between man and others and lack of love and concerns through the analysis of the relationships between Anellia and her families, her black lovers and her classmates and teachers. Chapter five explores the relationship between man and oneself, in which it analyzes the process of Anellia's self-recognition and the pursuit of self-identity and her struggle out of the double dilemma in both her survival and spiritual life.Chapter six is the conclusion. It makes a summary of the ethical issue in this novella from three aspects and tries to manifest that ethical literary criticism provides a new way to understand Oates's communal consciousness and humanistic ideas.