A Study Of Images In At Fault From The Perspective Of Conceptual Integration Theory

The Awakening(1899),by Kate Chopin(1850-1904),an American woman writer,is considered as a classic in the pre-feminist literary field after being published for more than one century.Her early novel At Fault(1890)also has its significance in reflecting the intrusion of northern industrialization to the southern plantation,Place-Du-Bois,after the Civil War.The conceptual integration theory proposed by Fauconnier and Turner holds a significant position in cognitive linguistics,providing the theoretical foundation for exploring dynamic meaning construction.With the help of this theory,this thesis chooses the five images—the forest,Thérèse's room,the train,Marie's cabin and the moon as the research objects to explore their meaning constructions and implications in their context according to the development of the plots in At Fault.The concrete will be shown as follows:Firstly,the forest has to change its function as the “protector” for Place-Du-Bois into the “provider” of wood for the northern industries,symbolizing the intrusion of northern industrialization to the southern plantation.Secondly,the heroine Thérèse considers her room as her shelter all the same whenever facing any emotional dilemma,which shows that the local inhabitants fail to change their views at the same speed as the industrializing process.Thirdly,some local inhabitants have turned the image of train from being “evil” into “an ordinary vehicle,” which symbolizes that they have accepted this industrializing change.Fourthly,Marie does not move her cabin as Thérèse concerns,as a result,both Marie and her cabin are washed away by the flood,which embodies that the former natural environment has been destroyed,as well as the belief in God and the related points of view have been in danger.Fifthly,the moon image doesn't appear when Thérèse in her widowhood,acting as the planter like a male but after her marrying Hosmer,a mill-owner from the north,which indicates Thérèse's return to her female role and the New Order's occurrence in Place-Du-Bois.In conclusion,this thesis tries to represent how the New Order comes to appear in Place-Du-Bois,by exploring the symbolic meanings of the five images with the conceptual integration theory,which also reminds us of Kate Chopin's expectation of the more beautiful and harmonious future for the South and her reasonable attitudes to the social changes with the industrialization after the Civil War.In a word,this preliminary research aims to be helpful for any other further study on Chopin's At Fault.