A Structuralist Study Of To Kill A Mockingbird

Harper Lee is one of the representatives of southern literature.Her novel To Kill a Mockingbird won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.In this book,the author reveals the racial discrimination and class concept in South American through a child's view,and also explores the importance of humanity and morals.This thesis is based on the structuralist analysis to discuss the structures hidden in the novel,and the themes that the author has always emphasized.After explaining relevant information about To Kill a Mockingbird and structuralism,the main body of this thesis is divided into three parts.The first part analyzes character binary oppositions in the white/the black,adults/children,men/women,location binary oppositions in town/countryside,home/school,and theme binary oppositions in evil/justice,prejudice/acceptance,innocence/maturity.Structuralist binary opposition analysis makes it possible to clarify many of the relationship items in the novel,and to clarify the complex superficial phenomena.The second part analyzes the narrative structure of the novel by using Todorov's narrative syntax.The narrative structure of this narrative works is composed of two narrative sequences.One is the sequence of growth of the brother and the sister,and the other is the sequence of the case.These two narrative sequences influence each other and promote the development of narration.In the third part,Greimas' actants'mode and semiotic square are used.Actants' mode is used to analyze the action structure of the relationship between characters and plot.There are people who promote and people who block,eventually the narration develops in twists and turns.The semiotic square analyzes the deep structure of meaning and expands the intrinsic value of the classic text.The structuralist study of To Kill a Mockingbird not only can help grasp the novel from the macro point of view,but also can help understand the connotation of bildungsroman.Bildungsroman,or all narrative novels,has varied forms,but the prototype structure is relatively limited.The prototype structure is the outward appearance of the cultural model.Outstanding works are not only the expression of the authors' own joys and sorrows,but the self-expression of nation and times.Only in this way,can structuralism realizes the ultimate goal of generating eternal meaning.