The symbolism in The Egg《鸡蛋》中的象征意义

【摘 要】舍伍德・安德森是19世纪20年代短篇小说家。短篇小说《鸡蛋》选自其短篇小说集《鸡蛋的胜利》，其中安德森讲述了“鸡蛋”联系在一起的一家三口的命运。在小说中，“鸡蛋”有着重要的象征意义，它代表着“美国梦”。但对于每一个角色，这个“美国梦”又是不一样的，他们对于“鸡蛋”的存在也有不一样的看法。

【关键词】鸡蛋；象征；美国梦

【Abstract】Sherwood Anderson was a short story writer in 1920s. In the short story The Egg from the collection The Triumph of the Egg， Anderson told that one family’s fortune related with the egg. In the short story， the egg is the most important symbol. It represented the American dream. But for each character， the dream is different， and the egg has its different understanding.

【Key words】egg， symbol， American dream

Introduction of The Egg

Sherwood Anderson （1876--1941） was an American novelist，short story writer， playwright， essayist， and newspaper editor. He was born in Camden， Ohio. The Egg tells a story about the process of “my” father’s twice failure in business. “My” father was nature to be a cheerful man. After marring “my” mother， he gave up his place as a farm-hand and started raising chicken encouraged by “my” mother for “my” bright future. However， the chicken always got diseases. So taking “my” mother’s advice， he gave up chicken raising and moved into a town of Bidwell and embarked in the restaurant business. “My” father tried his best to run the restaurant but it didn’t work. Out of desperation， “my” father determined to entertain a guest by using the egg as prop. But the failure came again， and he lost patience and confidence to the core.

I.Symbol of “the egg”

Sherwood Anderson lived in Midwestern America at the end of the nineteenth century and belonged to those who had watched how people pursued their American Dream and got disappointed before the First World War. American dream implies an opportunity for Americans to achieve prosperity through hard work. According to The Dream， this includes the opportunity for one's children to grow up and receive a good education. It is the opportunity to make individual choices without the prior restrictions that limited people according to their class， religion or ethnicity. As the most important symbol， the egg assumes association beyond those of the culinary. “The egg” is always related with the narrator’s family especially his father， but in each period it represents different symbolic meanings.

A.Symbol of “The egg” for the mother

At the beginning of the story， the narrator tells us that his father is portrayed in a romanticized picture as a single farm-land. After his marrying， we are told that the boy’s mother was incurably ambitious for his father and himself. She is a school-teacher and reads of how Lincoln， Franklin， and other Americans rose from poverty to fame. Too much hope was loaded on them as well as on the egg. At first， she successfully introduces ambition into her husband’s idyllic existence. When the farm business turns out to be a disaster， she decided the family moves into the town of Bidwell， Ohio. And there was another motive in it. That is his mother was ambitious for the boy. She wanted him “to rise in the world， to get into a town school and become a man of the towns”. Since his father failed to realize his mother’s ambition， he became the last egg that was loaded with hopes. And there was another motive in it. That is his mother was ambitious for the boy. So for his mother， “the egg” is any hope or dream loaded on first his father， then the boy himself.

B.Symbol of “The egg” for the narrator

At the beginning of the story， the boy admits himself as “a gloomy man inclined to see the darker side of life，” and he attributes such inclination to his childhood on a chicken farm. When the family moves to the town， he temporarily gets happy. The boy could never love the egg or hate the egg， for it had been an inseparable part of his life. What he could do is to accept it and continue his life. The author chose the boy as the narrator， because he witnesses that the whole family’s dream broke down， and his father’s personal failure. The author wanted to tell us the boy was more influenced and suffered from the egg. For the boy， the egg symbolizes the futility of life itself.

C.Symbol of “The egg” for the father

In the short story， the appearance of the egg is always associated with the fortune of the father. So the egg has the most symbolic meaning for his father. When he accepted his mother’s suggestion to set up a chicken farm， the egg is the rising of the American dream. He believes s that everyone who works hard can be in wealth. Then when the hens in the farm became sick and died， “our hopes for so much from a chicken and is so dreadfully disillusioned，” the egg is the broken American dream. After the farm business was fail， the father started to put the grotesque eggs in the glass bottle， regarding them as his fortune. At this moment， the egg is the freaky American dream.

Ⅱ.Conclusion

Mentioning the symbolic meanings of the egg， I tend to view it from the mother’s， the father’s and the narrator’s angle. Sherwood Anderson adopted the boy’s point of view to make us notice more. Childhood should be naive and happy， but this child could not feel any happiness after having witnessed so many deaths and grotesques. And he was deeply involved in the dreadful cycle. The “egg” was harmful to the next generation as well as to adults. If they failed to abandon it， the dreadful cycle would be continuing from generation to generation. The grotesque condition created the failure or unhappiness of most Americans. Only after the whole society establishes the right value， can the people who pursuits the American dream get closer to it.

【Reference】

[1]戴炜栋.文学导论[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2010.

[2]杨金才.新编美国文学史（1914-1945） （第三卷）[M].上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002.

[3]何婷.舍伍德・安德森短篇小说《鸡蛋》的象征主义手法的运用[J].武汉：湖北广播大学学报，2007（6）.

[4]Sherwood Anderson[EB/OL].2013-05-29.

http：///sherwood-anderson

作者简介：伍康琳（1991―），女，布依族，贵州人，现就读于西南大学外国语学院，主要研究方向：英语教育。

熊俊娜（1990―），女，汉族，湖北人，现就读于西南大学外国语学院，主要研究方向：英语教育。

赵闪闪（1989―），女，汉族，河北人，现就读于西南大学外国语学院，主要研究方向：英语教育。

魏绥周（1991―），女，汉族，四川人，现就读于西南大学外国语学院，主要研究方向：英语教育。