A Biblical Archetypal Study Of The Grapes Of Wrath

In the history of literature, the myth provides a system of commenting the modern events for the writers. The use of archetype offers not only the modern story the depth of history but also the general meaning beyond the story itself. And The Holy Bible is the most representative. The Biblical element endows the modern novel with the eternal meaning. The Biblical influence on the western literature covers the woks’ contents, language, style, themes and so on. The archetypal criticism is very popular at home and abroad these years. The articles on the archetypal criticism are common in various journals and magazines. And the articles that apply the archetypal criticism to the study of literary works are also a great many. However, most of the articles are limited to one aspect of the works, such as characters, images and narrative patterns. Although the partial and localized criticism is useful to understand works, it is not enough to make best use of archetypal criticism because the most obvious feature of the archetypal criticism is the integrity criticism. Northrop Frye, the most representative person of the archetypal criticism, emphasizes that critics should study a work on the whole which means critics should study a work in a certain literary or cultural background.John Steinbeck(1902-1968) is among the writers who apply the Biblical archetype to his works. And his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath not only has a great many readers around the world but also catches much attention of the critics. In the novel, John Steinbeck skillfully makes use of the multi-level themes, various styles and writing technique so that the novel contains much more themes and meanings. He broadens the novel’s artistic connotation and enriches the means of writing in this way. The thesis aims to use the integrity of the archetypal criticism to study the Biblical archetypal influence on the novel’s characters, language, narrative pattern and themes. The thesis analyzes and studies the influences of the biblical archetypal criticism on the narrative structure, characters, images, language and the themes of the novel The Grapes of Wrath so that readers can get a better understanding of the novel. This study will be helpful to the research and creation of modern literature and provides guide for the people in difficulty. The thesis is made up of three parts:an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. Its main content is as follows:Part One is the introduction. It introduces the John Steinbeck’s life and main works and the book The Grapes of Wrath briefly. It focuses on the study achievements of The Grapes of Wrath at home and abroad and elaborates the theoretical meaning and practical values of the study. John Steinbeck’s masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath is loved by a great many readers and studied by many scholars. Scholars and critics at different times have studied the novel from different aspects, such as symbolism, feminism, ecologism etc. Although there are some study focus on the connection between the novel and The Holy Bible and Christianism, most of them are focus on one or several aspects. The Holy Bible stands an important role in the western society and literature. Based on the archetypal criticism, the thesis is centers on the Biblical archetypal influence on The Grapes of Wrath. It aims to dig the implied thinking and social meanings that Steinbeck skillfully hides in these Biblical archetypes.The second part is the main body that consists of four chapters.Chapter One focuses on Northrop Frye’s the Biblical archetypal criticism. Northrop Frye is the most distinguished representative of the mythic archetypal criticism. The theory bases on the myth. Frye holds that myth plays an important role on the development of man’s civilization and thinking and myth and archetype are related and even equal to some extent. Frye thinks that, as the oldest narration, myth is the basic literary archetype from which the other literary genres evolve. He holds that The Holy Bible which is the representative of the western myth is the core myth. Analysis a work as the whole is emphasized in the mythic archetypal criticism. Steinbeck’s faith in the Christianity, the religion environment, the characters and structure in The Grapes of Wrath all show that Christian and Biblical influence on the novel.Chapter Two is about the Biblical archetypal influence on the story of the novel. At first, it analyzes the Biblical archetypal influence on the main characters, such as Jim Casy, Tom Joad, Ma Joad and Rose of Sharon. The words, thinking and action of Casy are similar to those of Jesus Christ and they have the same initials. Tom changes a lot under Casy’s influence, just as Moses with God’s guide. The behaviors of Ma and Rose of Sharon remind us the action of Christ and Virgin Marry. Then the Biblical archetype exerts influence on the several images like water and flood, land turtle, grapes and the Joads. All the images have their connotation and recur in The Holy Bible. These characters and images have close connection with The Holy Bible.Chapter Three is centers on the Biblical archetypal influence on the style. It is not difficult to find that the novel borrows the plot of the Exodus, and use the structure of the narrative chapters and inter-chapters. The former are about the whole story of the Joads and the later are the background at that time. Then, as for the language style, the simple words and grammar, no abstract words, a great many simple sentences with "and" connecting and the parallel structure are the common features in The Holy Bible and the novel. At the end of the chapter, the tone is discussed. The novel uses the objective and calm tone of Exodus in the narrative chapters and the lyric and prophet tone of The Holy Bible and Genesis in the inter-chapters.Chapter four discusses the Biblical archetypal influence on the two typical themes, journey and love. As for the journey, there are two levels of journey, geographic and spiritual. It is obvious that California is not the Promised Land for the Joads and the general migrants, so the journey is failure in the geography. But the main characters of the novel all finish a journey of spirit that is from "I" to "we". Next, the theme of love, the characters have deep understanding of love that is beyond the love among the family and begin to move towards it.The last part is the conclusion. The thesis focuses on the study of the mythic archetypal criticism in The Grapes of Wrath to have a better understanding of the novel. Based on the study, it is available that the Biblical archetypal influence on the novel covers many aspects:characters, images, narrative structure, language and themes. In particular, the study of the themes of the novel deepens the readers’comprehension of John Steinbeck and his The Grapes of Wrath, increases the knowledge of American society and the tradition, enlightens the study and writing of the nowadays’literature and guides the people in difficulty and at sea. No matter how difficult it is, people should keep the optimistic and confirmed spirit and bravely fight for the living right at any time rather than become the oblation of disaster.