Comleteness And Incomleteness

Jane Smiley is one of the most distinguished female writers in contemporary Americanliterature. Most of her works revolve on the life of the middle class family, which impressreaders with its touching details and smooth depiction. In1991, Smiley published hermasterpiece A Thousand Acres, which wins the Pulitzer Prize for fiction as well as theNational Book Critics Circle Award in1992.Since publication, A Thousand Acres has become the focus in literary circles, andscholars at home and aboard study it from a variety of angles, such as its resemblance to KingLear, the feminist interpretation, the psychological interpretation, etc. Since A ThousandAcres mainly prescribes family life, the images of the male are very important because oftheir influence on the destiny of the family. There exist four main male characters ofdistinctive images in the novel, Larry Cook, Pete Lewis, Ty Smith and Jess Clark. They are indifferent sexual traits and they possess various degrees of the masculinity and femininity,which results in their different destiny. Androgyny can exactly provide a perspective toexplore the novel as well as the temperament of the main male characters.That is way the thesis analyzes the four male characters in A Thousand Acres withandrogyny method. The whole thesis is divided into seven parts: introduction, five chaptersand conclusion.Introduction starts with Jane Smiley, A Thousand Acres and the researches on the novelat home and abroad. Besides, the significance of the thesis is also stated. That is, to analyzethe four male characters in the novel and discover their femininities through the application ofandrogyny, which is of benefit to renew the twisted male images in feminist works and use amore tolerant view to consider them. Chapter One mainly presents the theory of androgyny through its origin, developmentand application in literature. Androgyny is widely used in many academic fields, such asmythology, philosophy, psychology and literature. In literature, androgyny is no longerrestricted to its original meaning of boasting both male and female organs. It represents anambiguous state of mind, a case of sex transcendence in mind and psychology. It advocatesthat if the male and female elements are combined into a person, she or he can fully releasethe potentials.Chapter Two is an analysis of Larry Cook. Larry is father of the Cook family, who islabeled as a man of single masculinity. In the first part, Larry’s masculinities of beingpowerful, irritable, inconsiderate and selfish are presented. He is a role of “oppressor” and“enemy” in the eyes of feminists and there is not any harmony and warmth in his world. Thesecond part reveals the negative effects of his lack of femininity on his life and destiny. Thedeficiency of femininity leads to his tragic ending.Chapter Three is a study of Pete Lewis. Pete is one of the sons-in-law in the Cook family,Rose’s husband, who is a purely feminine man. The first part illustrates his femininity ofbeing good looking, easygoing, easily satisfied and dependent. In the second part, it isdemonstrated that he fails in life due to his short of masculinity.Chapter Four discusses Ty Smith’s temperament. Ty is Ginny’s husband, anotherson-in-law in the Cook family. He is a man with the mixture of the masculine and feminineprinciple, aspirant, inclusive, rational, mild, sensitive and considerate. The co-existence of themasculinity and femininity brings him a good ending though he has experienced a lot ofconflicts.Chapter Five is about the other androgynous man in the novel. Jess Clark is a neighborof the Cook family. He is also a combination of the masculine and feminine characteristics,tough, intelligent, sensitive and affectionate, and who can enjoy good times at will. From what has been analyzed above, it is concluded that the androgynous men tend toseek balance and co-existence between the masculinity and femininity in their mind, and it iscomparatively easy for them to achieve a better ending. However, the reverse is not the case.Additionally, the androgynous analysis of the males may make some contribution to renewingthe traditional male image in the patriarchy society. The males should not be simplyconsidered as oppressors and autocrats; they can also possess femininity, and, to some extents,it is the combination of two sexual principles that enable them to take control of their lives.Thus, the reflection may provide a new view to study the theme related to the male, thefemale and the two genders in future.