Trapped Condition And Rebellious Spirit: On The Double Connotations Of Grotesque In Carson McCullers’ Three Novels

Grotesque is introduced to literary field at first by Michel de Montaigne and fully presented in Francois Rabelais’ Gargantua and Pantagruel.Then the “flower of grotesque” puts forth its blossom and becomes a widely-embodied style all over the western world.Generally,grotesque is regarded as a morbid,scary and insane thing to depict the absurdity of the world,while Carson McCullers’ grotesque is totally different.As one of the women writers of the American South,along with the suffering from her illness,the influence of Russian realism and the impact of the aesthetic of ugliness,she tends to use grotesque and be apt at it in her writings and even forms her unique grotesque style.This thesis seeks to study her grotesque elements in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,The Ballad of the Sad Café and The Member of the Wedding in terms of characters,settings and themes.With the approach of close reading on the basis of some renowned theories about grotesque,it also makes an attempt to decipher the double connotations of McCullers’ grotesque that is not only a manifestation of modern people’s trapped condition in an “inverted” world,but also an embodiment of their rebellious spirit.Based on the above analysis,this thesis aims to make a conclusion that her special treatment of grotesque on the one hand shows her sharp awareness of the morbid and nightmarish world,and on the other hand presents her rebellious spirit against the quandary and a strong sense of responsibility as a writer to showcase a strong love for life and a positive attitude that people should live like Sisyphus though facing a chaotic,pent-up and grotesque world.