On The Symbolic Meaning Of The Images In Love Medicine

In the 1960s and 1970s, American Indian literature rises as a new force of American literature and becomes one of the most important ones which can not be ignored.Louise Erdrich, American Indian contemporary woman writer, the representative person in the second American Indian Renaissance, one of the most accomplished, creative and prolific writers in contemporary America, has published more than ten novels, each of which is considered as good. Her works include novels, stories, poems and children's literature, of which she is good at the first two kinds. Love Medicine, published in 1984, has the characteristic of both the story's storytelling and the novel's bridging. The novel, with The Beet Queen, Tracks, and Bingo Palace together, comprises Erdrich's Indian Tetralogy which describe the Indian family life in North Dakota, and reflect the contemporary mental and material situation.This thesis intends to focus on the imagery in Love Medicine and the symbolic meanings on the basis of the theories of images and symbols, integrating the United States'history and the Indian cultural features. It will help readers understand Louise Erdrich's unique design. Introduction introduces the writer Louise Erdrich and Love Medicine, literature review, and the study method and significance of this thesis. Chapter One mainly introduces the concept of imagery, symbol, the use in literary works and the symbolic meanings of the imagery. Chapter Two excavates and analyzes the imagery in Love Medicine. It analyzes the imagery in Love Medicine from three aspects. The first is images of natural scene; the second is images of objects; the third is images of characters. Chapter Three explicates the symbolic meanings of imagery in the novel from three aspects, the first is the cultural shock from the white to the Indians; the second is the death of body and the revival of spirit; the third is cultural inheritance in the residence and the future of this place. In Conclusion, it concludes that it is the use of images that makes the text more than the literal meaning, richens the theme of the novel, and deepens the symbolic meanings. The use of these techniques is not only good for unearthing the characters'microscopic world but also for showing readers macroscopic social background and conveying writer's special feelings and attitude.