On The Artistic Characteristic Of The Tree Of Man And Its Reflection Of The Novel's Theme

Patrick White (1912-1990) is the only Australian writer to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1973 and was praised for introducing a new continent into literature. Patrick White tries to deepen the thematic meanings and techniques of expression. The focus of White's fiction is no longer the conflict between human and the nature as expressed in Australian traditional novels, but their inner world.His representative work, The Tree of Man was written in 1955 which first secures his status in the Australian literature and wins him international acclaim. The Tree of Man is not a novel to attract the readers with a fascinating plot but with its penetrating and painstaking psychological description which is the novel's unique artistic characteristic. White employs psychological narrative to show the character's complicated inner world and reflections on the external world, thus reflecting the novel's theme which is contained in the reflections. The protagonist, Stan Parker has a spiritual quest and experiences sufferings and failures in which he pursues the core of reality and explores the meaning of life. Stan's quest is also the Australians' quest.Through the description of Stan Parker White points out that Australians should depend on themselves and establish their own belief.This thesis consists of five parts. Part one is a brief introduction to Patrick White and defines psychological narrative-the artistic characteristic of The Tree of Man. The second part analyzes the interrelation between psychological narrative and the novel's theme. The third part concerns the techniques employed in psychological narrative and the fourth part analyzes the novel's theme which is thematically multi-level and multi-facet. The last part concerns the consistent and broad theme of all his novels and his outstanding achievements and contribution.