Modernistic Research On Character Development In Look Homeward,Angel

Thomas Clayton Wolfe(1900-1938),one of the representatives of the Lost Generation,was also one of the greatest writers of the 20 th century in the United States.Although Wolfe just created a few works,he has a great influence on American literature in the 20 th century.Look Homeward,Angel,a typical Bildungsroman in American literature,was one of Wolfe’s representative works exhibiting concern for human existence at the age of modern time.Many scholars have studied this novel from different angles,but few of them track the protagonist’s development by focusing on modernistic techniques which feature predominantly in the novel.Based on the modernistic theory,this thesis analyzes how Wolfe employs the modernistic techniques involving stream of consciousness,free association,epiphany,shifting perspectives,rich connotations of symbols and presentation of archetype to depict the protagonist’s painful psychological development through close reading.The thesis mainly presents the protagonist’s development from four angles.First,this thesis explores how the novel belongs to Bildungsroman by tracing the psychological development of the protagonist from his imprisoned childhood,disillusioned adolescence to mature adulthood.In addition,the thesis illustrates the unique employment of the perspective,and how Wolfe relies on the shift of perspective to achieve modernism in expression.Besides,through the study of the special images including angel,stone,leaf,door,train and water that symbolize the protagonist’s growth,this thesis analyzes Wolfe’s poignant portrait of the agonized and alienated state of humanity in modern society.Finally,the thesis connects the protagonist’s psychological development with the evolving image of American Adam,deepening the understanding of the modernist theme of Look Homeward,Angel.With the analyses above,this thesis arrives at the conclusion that Look Homeward,Angel reflects Wolfe’s avant-garde modernistic writing techniques presenting characters filled with complexity of human emotions and subtlety of sentiments and his concern about the harsh living condition of modern people who easily lose themselves and then pursue spiritual solution with the suffering alienation,estrangement and depression.It is of great importance for people to solve spiritual crisis by looking for self-identity in modern society.