LITERATUREYangChunquan/AGreatSaintAppearingSlowWitted
AGreatSaintAppearingSlowWitted
———AnAnalysisofSinger’sGimpeltheFoolfromFreud’sPsychoanalysis
○Yang
Chunquan
（SchoolofForeignLanguagesandCultures,NingxiaUniversity,Yinchuan750021,China）
［Abstract］ThestoryGimpeltheFoolisaboutthethemeofmorals'returningandtheconflictbetweenbenevolence
andevil,andSingersuccessfullyportraysawisefoolwithoutanyspecialdesires.ThispapertriestointerprettheshortstoryinthelightofFreud'spsychoanalyticaltheoryandthetheoriesofunconsciousnessandpersonalitystruture,andthentheauthorputsforwardtheviewthatGimpelisactuallyagreatsaintinsteadofafool.
［Keywords］Gimpel;fool;Freud;Psychoanalysis;saint
［中图分类号］I106.4［文献标识码］A［文章编号］1672-8610（2009）02-0042-04
GimpeltheFoolisashortstorywrittenbyIsaacBashevis
Singer,acontemporaryAmericanJewishwriterwhowontheNobelPrizein1978.IsaacBashevisSingerwasborninPolandin1904,andhewas“thesonofarabbi,andgrewupintheJewishghettoinWarsawinafamilywheremoneywasscarce,butintellectualstimuliplentiful.”(Singer,page78)GimpeltheFoolisastoryaboutasimplemannamedGimpelwhoiseasytotakein.Heisconsideredbymanytobeafoolbe－causeheisaprettygulliblemanandconstantlyfallingforallkindsoftrickslaidoutbyalmosteveryonearoundhim.Heisanorphan,laterturnedovertoabaker,andalsohasabadtimethere.Whenhedecidestogoofftoanothertown,every－onegetsbusymatch-makingandfinallyGimpelispersuadedtomarryElkawhoisnotvirginpureandhasa“littlebrother”.ElkatreatsGimpelveryrudely.What’smore,thewomanisdisloyaltoherhusbandGimpelallthroughherlife.Shegivesbirthtoaboyonly17weeksafterthewedding.Gimpeldoubtsifthechildishis,buteventuallymanagestobelievethatsomebabiesarebornpremature.GimpelalsocatchesElkahavinganaffairwithsomeoneelse,butlaterpersuadeshimselfintothinkinghehasmadeamistakeanddoneheranunjustice.WhenElkaisdying,shetellsGimpelthetruththatnoneofthesixchildrenareactuallyhis,andshedeceiveshimallthoseyears.OnenightafterElka’sdeathGimpelhasadream,andthenheplanstodeceivethewholetowninhisturnbybakingbreadwithurinemixedinit.Also,Elkaap－pearsinGimpel’sanotherdream,andthushedecidestogiveuphisevilplanandburiesthebread.HethendividesallhismoneyamonghischildrenandleavesFrampoltoliveawan－deringlife.Aftermanyyearsheunderstandsthattherearere－
allynoliesandwhateverdoesn’treallyhappenisdreamedatnight.ThestoryendswithGimpeldyingandgoingtoaplacewhereevenGimpelcannotbedeceived.TofindthementaljourneyofthecharactersinGimpelTheFoolIdecidestoana－lyzetheplotandcharactersfromFreud’spsychoanalysis.
SigmundFreudisafamousAustrianpsychoanalystwhohasfirstusedtheterm“psychoanalysis”anddevelopedthesystematictheoriesofpsychoanalysis.Atfirst,Freuddevelopesthetechniquesof"Psychoanalysis"forthetreatmentofpsycho－logicalandemotionaldisorders,butlaterthetechniquesarealsousedinmanyotherfieldsofsocialscience.Thusthethe－oriesofpsychoanalysishavebocomethetechniquesthatcanbeusedtounderstandhumanbeings’motives,personalitiesandmentalprocesses.Psychologicalcriticismisadiversecat－egorywhichadoptsSigmundFreud’spsychoanalyticaltheoriestoexamineliteraryworks.Freudbelievesahumanbeing’smentalprocessincludesthreelevels---theunconscious,thepreconsciousandtheconscious.
Freudcametoseepersonalityashavingthreeaspects,whichworktogethertoproduceallthecomplexbehaviours:theId,theEgoandtheSuperego.All3componentsneedtobewell-balancedinordertohavegoodamountofpsychologicalenergyavailableandtohavereasonablementalhealth.How－ever,theEgohasadifficulttimedealingwiththecompetingdemandsoftheSuperegoandtheId.Accordingtothepsy－choanalyticview,thispsychologicalconflictisanintrinsicandpervasivepartofhumanexperience.TheconflictbetweentheIdandSuperego,negotiatedbytheEgo,isoneofthefunda－mentalpsychologicalbattlesallpeopleface.Thewayinwhichapersoncharacteristicallyresolvestheinstantgratificationvs.
［作者简介］杨春泉，男，宁夏大学外国语学院讲师，硕士，研究方向：翻译理论与实践。
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