An Analysis Of Black Humor In Miss Lonelyhearts

Nathanael West(1903-1940),one of the most talented American writers in the1930 s.Not only he was a prolific writer,but did he enjoy a high popularity in his lifetime.After he passed away,he was widely hailed as a great progenitor of black Humor and even as one of the most revolutionary modern American writers.Miss Lonelyhearts came out in 1933.Miss Lonelyhearts,a perfect model,makes us appreciate the embodiment of black humor in the themes and styles.This thesis is composed of three parts,including an introduction,the main body and a conclusion.The introduction part gives a brief account of the author,the work Miss Lonelyhearts and presents a literature review on the researches of the novel at home and abroad.Chapter One is the Theoretical Foundation which introduces the black humor from the aspects of its definition,background,writing style and features.Chapter Two mainly explores how West uses the black humor to reflect the theme of alienation in Miss Lonelyhearts.The theme of alienation is one of the most frequently discussed topics among the black humor writers.In my paper,the alienation is mainly reflected in the important characters’ personalities and the terrible sufferings of females.Chapter Three mainly discusses the element of the black humor in the novel.These elements include the humorous way of narration,independent and broken plots,juxtaposing of comedy and tragedy,rhetorical techniques and ambiguous language and so on.Through the analyses,the black humor and its artistic effects are exhibited clearly and thoroughly.Chapter Four analyzes the characterization of the main characters.In the novel,Miss Lonelyhearts is a typical anti-hero person who is both nice and humanitarian and however,he is morbid and wicked at the same time.What’s more,the novel also shows some distorted characters,such as,weak husband,ugly devil and so on.In short,either in conception or in the writing technique,the artistic features found in West’s novels are always inconsistent to those of the era,which is where his creations are unique and charming.