On Graham’s Self-regulation In Wells’s When The Sleeper Wakes

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) is one of the most excellent novelists in the field ofscience fiction. When the Sleeper Wakes, published in1899, is generally regarded as one ofhis best dystopia fiction. The dystopia is the opposite side of the utopia. This novel, throughwhat the protagonist Graham saw and what he thought, depicts a rapid economic developmentof future world, and embodies the oppression and distortion of human nature under the coldmachine. In this novel, the protagonist’s self-regulatory reaches the inner transformation andruns throughout the whole text. For the past a few years, When the sleeper Wakes has attractedattention of the critics in our country, but few of them have studied the protagonist from theperspective of inner transformation.Self-regulation theory is a branch of social cognition psychology. In Bandura’s view,only the three subfunctions: self-monitory, self-judgment and self-reaction complementingeach other, can people’s self-regulatory mechanism run normally. Self-regulation can providea reference for the theory with the character’s inner transformation in the text. To know thebackground of the Wells’s creation of the novel and the historical context in the transitionalperiod, and from the perspective of Bandura’s self-regulation theory to analyze this novel, wecan realize clearly the process of Graham’s inner transformation.Self-regulation is one of the keywords in the thesis, and the changes of three stages ofGraham’s perplexity, vigilance and transcendence are the research objects. Fromself-monitory, self-judgment and self-reaction, the three cultural and psychologicaldimensions, this thesis analyse Graham’s lack and recover of his authentic self under theculture shock. In the introduction of the thesis, the literary reviews and research achievementsof the predecessors about When the Sleeper Wakes are mentioned. And then the followingquestions are put forward: facing the change of his identity, how Graham struggles in hisinner heart and how Graham regulates himself and makes his own choice in New London. Itwill talk about what Well’s intention of writing the novel and what enlightenment he gave us.In chapter one, this thesis from a standpoint of self-monitory analyses Graham’s upsets ofbecoming the owner of the world. With the sudden huge wealth and the supremacy, Graham ishard to identify with his new role in the society. He cherishes the memory of the old London in Victoria era. In chapter two, from a viewpoint of self-judgment, we discuss the hero’sawareness of himself as a figurehead. Graham is dissatisfied with the present situation ofbeing monitored, and is aware of the responsibility as the king of the world. In chapter three,the thesis, from a perspective of self-reaction and his longing for democracy and peace, showshow Graham leads the working class to fight against Ostrog’s government. Then, Grahamtranscends himself. Finally, the conclusion is the answers to above questions, and thenexpresses that the future world in When the Sleeper Wakes is the exaggerated model ofcapitalist society. In the novel, the big cities are rising rapidly while the carefree and naturalsmall towns or villages are disappearing gradually. Behind the rapid economic development,it reflects people’s lack in faith and spiritual emptiness. The process of Graham’s regulatinghimself is also a process of recovering his authentic self. This novel expresses Wells’s deepintrospection to the problems about people’s losing their belief and their authentic selves inthe background of the transition in England.