The Discussion On The Gothic Writing Of William Styron’s Novel

William Styron (1925—2006) is not only one of the representative writer in southernAmerica, but also a shining star in literary area after the Second World War. The creation ofhis novels is not much, mostly involving the violence theme. War, murder, incest, hatred,death, the violence of collective and individual gathered as whole, which have profound andexquisite description. His work is known for the tragic plot and focusing on exploring thehardship of the historical journey, from which to criticize the dark side of the history andsociety, to explore the reversion of the human mind and moral. That all his works haveobvious characteristics of the time and the nation. Styron’s Sophie’s Choice, published in1979,is a "milestone work in the history of the western novels", Styron broke through the southerngeographical restrictions and to use the gothic horror and mystery to depict the personalexperiences of a non-Jewish Catholic woman Sophie in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.Thus to awaken the people to criticize the sin and the war against humanity. Styron used thegothic technique to tell stories while having argumentative statements, with the timingreversed narritive, bloodly, violent, mystery and terror plot, the crisis of religious faith andthe kinking figures to show an embarrassment and brutal world, a shocking and deep-thinkingworld. Styron combined the history and reality to dig into the deep reasons of the modernliving predicament and at the same time, to explore a new way of the spirit.Styron’s novels are full of dark, gloomy, violence, horror and mystery, which have thecommon point with the atmosphere and characteristics of the gothic novel. This paperattempts to start from the word "gothic" and to discuss and summary the unique gothic writingand gothic art tension about Styron’s Sophie’s Choice. In the first chapter of the paper firsttraces the gothic novel tradition. In order to describe the development situation from Europeto America and to analysis the reason of the existence and development. Secondly, to navigatethe American South where Styron grew up to analysis the characteristics of the "SouthernGothic ". That is summarized to a developing process which is a fear from the external powerintervention to mental consciousness and the combination of the human mind and moral questand social criticism.The second chapter of the paper, through Styron’s own experience and life experience todiscuss his inheritance and development of the gothic novel, especially the melancholy, coldand domestic terrorist in the "Southern Gothic". He is the same as William Faulkner and otherwriters in south, saw the backward and corrupt of the southern aristocratic class.Through thesouth gothic novel expression he revealed and criticized the darkness of society, makes the southerners in bear guilt on the basis of introspection. Styron tried to awaken people to faceup to reality through the gothic narrative story, and to combine the darkness of social decaywith human moral exploration, which is committed to performance by the southern gothic.But Styron enriched and developed the south gothic novel for his special life experience andkeen insight."Sophie’s choice" is a semi-autobiographical form story,which tells the story ofa polish catholics woman,Sophie, who talked about the southern society before and after theAmerican civil war and people’s plight under the control of the Nazi abuses. Styron brokethrough the regional limitation, amplify the narrative Angle of view to the whole humansociety. Under the terrorist atmosphere, at a deeper and broader level, he is trying to explorehuman nature, which is the philosophy, rational level behind the kind of perceptual. Styronhad profound description of the violence and death to warn the people not to despair, but to a"death to life", the spirit of exploration road.In the third chapter, mainly from the gothic horror and dark scene layout, space and timestaggered, mysterious plot arrangement, grotesque, sullen character shaping and other aspectsto elaborate the Styron’s Sophie’s Choice in detail,and in order to analyses and summarize thecauses behind the gothic horror. Styron made readers to recognize that human evil, is notcaused by some war but the product of modem civilization.We need to see the nature of theproblem through the surface, and carried on deep discussion on the evil of human nature,fromwhich to find a redemption road. Under the great pressure of modern civilized society, to lookfor a new road, which to rehabilitation and development of morality.The last part of the paper analyses the gothic artistic tension. He writes the individualcharacter’s painful experience to reflect the entire nation’s traumatic memory and survival ofthe plight of the modern people. For the grand theme, Styron writes the brutality and horror inthe novel to its extreme with his strong sense of social responsibility and sharp and carefulinsight. Through the gothic writing style, Styron tried to reflect the spirit of the modernhuman crisis, to wake up the thinking of the life and death. He maked the guilty people in themodern civilization to seek spiritual comfort and rebirth. Styron had his unique understandingand exploring for human evil.It is also for the continuous development of the gothic novelprojecting a dazzling rays of light.