Analysis Of Predicaments Of Characters In Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled From The Perspective Of Spatial Theory

The Japanese-British writer Kazuo Ishiguro is a well-known contemporary writer.His works are often connected with the times and closely related to people’s lives.In The Unconsoled,he interweaves space writing and character’s memory,revealing the plight of people in this mysterious city.Based on the spatial theory,this thesis attempts to give a detailed analysis of characters’ predicaments,so as to experience Ishiguro’s humanistic concern toward contemporary people.This thesis is divided into three parts.The introduction part first introduces Ishiguro’s international writing tendency and its manifestation in his work,aiming to pave the way for the discussion of the manifestation in The Unconsoled;secondly,it gives a brief review of The Unconsoled at home and abroad,and draws the research space of the thesis;finally,it summarizes the main space ideas from the seventeenth to the twentieth century,and clarifies the space concepts adopted in this thesis.The body part consists of three chapters.The first chapter analyzes the physical space’s restraint on characters.In private space,Sophie’s persistent pursuit of houses and Ryder’s fascination with various "houses" actually reflect the house’s restraint on them.In public space,the city is like a labyrinth.The starting point of a place often overlaps with the ending point,making Ryder walking in it frequently lose direction.When he finally rushed to the concert hall to perform on stage,an inexplicable wall blocked his way,which made his hope of performing in front of his parents fail and the original intention of solving the urban crisis through his performance became impossible.This maze-like urban space exacerbates the protagonist’s predicament while reflecting city’s crisis.The second chapter analyzes the alienation of social space from the perspective of family relations and social relations.Regarding family relations,there was a lack of communication between Ryder and Sophie,and Ryder also intentionally alienated Boris.Hoffman and Christine had a marriage crisis due to their lack of trust,and their son Stephan became a victim.In terms of social relations,citizens on the surface admired artists,but actually treated them as tools for addressing their crisis,and did not care about their personal situation.There was no sincerity between ordinary citizens.The misfortune of Fiona and Gustav was a testimony of people’s selfishness and indifference.If the first two chapters analyze the plight of characters from external factors,then the third chapter focuses on the internal factors of the characters themselves.Ryder was affected by the discordant relationship between his parents.In real life,he lived the way as his parents,and made his traumatic memories more deeply entrenched.Sophie was so unforgettable about an isolated experience that her normal social life was negatively affected.Stephan lost himself in the expectations of his parents and suffered psychologically.Brodsky was badly injured physically and mentally for his obsession with his physical wound.Based on the above analysis,it shows that the nameless city in the novel is filled with a repressive atmosphere.The dreamlike physical space represents a crisis in itself,and meanwhile,makes people living in it suffer from it.Townspeople not only have tense family relations,but also show indifference to members of the society.None of them can get solace from anyone,and they are psychologically tortured.However,this is not a phenomenon only unique to the novel.The tendency of Ishiguro’s international writing and the time and space depicted by him in the novel through surrealism means that he is projecting a broader human society.In this sense,the space perspective reflects not only the fictional world,but the real world.Therefore,the analysis of the plight of the characters in the novel can prompt people in the real society to think deeply about their situation.