The symbolism in The Egg《鸡蛋》中的象征意义-2019年文档

2021年1月21日发(作者：韩莎)
The symbolism in The Egg
《鸡蛋》中的象征意义



【】
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.


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
restau
rant
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.


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.


of “The egg” for the narrator



At
the
beginning
of
the
story
，
the
boy
admits
himself
as
“a
gloomy
man
incli
ned
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