A Foucauldian Interpretation Of Sophie's Choice

William Styron, a celebrated contemporary American writer, is not a prolific writer. However each novel he writes can be rated as treasure which earns him the Rome Prize, the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the National Medal of Arts. His achievement in novel makes him a leading figure among American Southern writers after Faulkner. Styron not only inherits Faulkner's writing style and literature viewpoints, but also continues his theme—human being's inner conflict. He is skillful in revealing the realistic roots of lost conscience and diminished humanity through presenting the inhibition of individual consciousness by contemporary society and its institutions. He perfectly applies the skill of stream of consciousness into writing and depicts characters'psychology through dreams, reminiscence, interior monologue and introspection. So his novel are always called"psychological novel".Although Styron is greatly influenced by American Southern literary tradition, he still advocates that Southern writers should get rid of local color and turn from concerning Southerners'spiritual crisis to paying attention to the fate of mankind. Sophie's Choice is a bold attempt based on this thought. Through depicting the special abusive relationship between a survivor of concentration camp Sophie and his Jewish lover Nathan and Sophie's miserable experience, Styron shows us the psychological damage and belief crisis which society and war brings to human being.The thesis consists of five parts. The first part is an introduction which gives an overview of William Styron's position in American literature, his creative career and the theme and plot of Sophie's Choice. Then the research themes of some monographs and theses about William Styron and his works are introduced. Finally, the author makes a statement of research emphasis and theme of this thesis. Foucault's power discourse theory and psychological thoughts which analyze the operation of power in specific social practice are based on the research of micro power in society. It fits perfectly into Styron's writing method which presents social problems through demonstrating destiny of individuals. This thesis aims to research the characters'living state under the control of power and explore the underlying causes of protagonists'suicide from the perspective of Foucault. The first chapter is a general overview of Foucault's theory and psychological thoughts which introduces meaning of Foucault's power and discourse, relationship between power and discourse, resistance against power, Power Relations and Power and Truth. The author also compares Foucault's micro power theory with the traditional power mode in order to emphasize that Foucault's theory can deeply reveal social reality from a new perspective.The second chapter, the characters'living state is interpreted from Foucault's perspective. In the novel, all characters are both under the control of power and serve as vehicle and carrier of power. The woman characters and the diagnosed madman Nathan have no authority in society and no right to produce truth, and thus lose their discourse power. Applying Foucault's power discourse theory, the author studies emphatically the cause and manifestation of marginalized figures'loss of discourse power. According to Foucault, where there is power, there is resistance, the characters Stingo, Leslie, and Wanda all make some resistance in different forms. In Foucault's micro power theory, power relations with others is an important part of individual's life, so the last part of chapter two examines characters'living state from the viewpoint of micro power relations.Chapter three focus on the interpretation of cause of protagonists'death. The oppression of power makes characters lose their survival significance. Protagonists lose themselves in the power society, and death is their only way out. Sophie is constantly put in dilemma and forced to make painful choices. The choices made against her will makes her feel extremely guilty and she couldn't come out of his dark past through game of truth and mechanism of confession. After failing to expiate her sin, she forges in her mind a resolve to die. Nathan is viewed as a madman for his refusal of truth. His pursuit of freedom and justice can't be approved by power society and the resulting sense of exclusion is the immediate cause of his death.The conclusion part explores the suppression of individual and the distortion of humanity. The difficulty of individual's seeking for living space in the power society is reflected on the basis of researching characters'spiritual crisis.