A Study On Paul Harding’s Tinkers From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

Tinkers is a work created by American writer Paul Harding that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010.The novel explores the impact and reactions of a small village in New England under the wave of capitalism.Tinkers has distinctive spatial features.This thesis adopts Henri Lefebvre’s space theory to interpret the predicament in physical space,and confinement in social space that the villagers of the small village in West Cove face during the development of capitalism,and their repair measures in mental space.Chapter One analyzes the predicament that the villagers in West Cove are subjected to in physical space.Physical space not only includes geographical space but also body space.At the geographical level,the houses and roads in West Cove have collapsed or displaced due to the impact of capital expansion.These changes in the landscape cause the villagers to suffer the pain and confusion of losing their homes and roots.At the same time,the chaos and disorder in the body space of the three generations of repairmen in the Crosby family further reveal the impact that the villagers in West Cove have suffered at different stages of capitalist development.Chapter Two explores the confinement of West Cove villagers in the social space.Social space not only encompasses social relations,but also includes social actions.There are three kinds of imbalanced relations within the village.One is reflected in Catherine’s restriction of her children and her sick husband,and the young generation’s rudeness towards their dying grandfather.One is evidenced by the whites’ expulsion,surveillance,and demonization of Indians.Lastly,the disharmony between individual and social environment drives the hermit and rural women to make a series of abnormal social actions,exacerbating their confinement of being marginalized in social space.Chapter Three analyzes the restoration in mental space of villagers in West Cove.George constructs a generational cycle through imagination,so that he repairs the trauma of memory.Howard reconstructs self-subjectivity by actively responding to his body perception.With the help of decoding signs,Indians,the hermit,and rural women free themselves from alienation and marginalization,and rebuild their spiritual home.Conclusion points out that adopting Henri Lefebvre’s space theory to analyze this novel,it can be found that almost all characters in the novel are tinkers who face different dilemmas from physical and social spaces,and ultimately,they repair their own problems through the transformation and construction in the mental space.This novel not only present the living conditions of common people in American society during the process of capitalist development,but also has enlightening significance for people coping with the impact of capitalist development.By actively responding to body perception and establish a harmonious relationship with the outside world,people can handle the influence of materialism and consumerism in mental space,thus being a tinker of their own in mental space.