A Study Of Attitudinal Meanings In "Pastoralia"

"Pastoralia"(2000)is a representative short story by the American writer George Saunders.It depicts a micro society and mainly narrates a series of events that happens to the protagonist and his colleague Janet when they work together at the theme park.The story describes the working and psychological state of the vulnerable groups,and represents their stories of making money to support their families and yearning for family affection.According to the plot development of the story,it can be divided into four stages: at the beginning stage,the protagonist has been forbearing to give way;at the development stage,the park begins to lay off workers,and the protagonist's attitude wavers;at the climax stage,Janet is laid off;at the ending stage,the protagonist falls into a new set of layoffs.This study aims to reveal the characteristics of the protagonist's attitude and identity,the transformation of his identity,and the reasons thereof.The specific research questions are as follows:(1)How are the attitudinal resources of the protagonist and other characters distributed throughout the short story?(2)How do the protagonist's attitudinal resources and identity characteristics transform at different stages,and what are the reasons?(3)What theme does the short story reveal from the anaysis of attitudinal meanings?The analysis indicates: Firstly,from the perspective of the attitude system,there are many attitudinal resources in the utterance and narration of the protagonist and other characters.Affect resources occur most frequently and the negative affect dominates the short story.Secondly,the protagonist's affect resources change dramatically,and his identity transforms from the intermediate supervisor at the beginning stage to the lowest level staff at the ending stage.This is related to his working environment,family situation,and his relationship with colleagues.Thirdly,the protagonist is not defeated by various setbacks,but works even harder.Although the vulnerable groups are suffering,they are still full of hope for a better life.The analysis of the attitude and identity characteristics of the protagonist reveals the theme of the short story,and also proves the operability and practicality of Appraisal Theory in literary analysis.