An Analysis Of Characters' Speech In The Magic Barrel

Bernard Malamud (1914—1986) is a famous contemporary Jewish American writer who has achieved significantly in both novel and short story writing. The basic plot of his works often represents Jewish schlemiels searching after a new life or moral rebirth or striving for development and breakthrough in the universal existent predicament. When one juxtaposes his novels with his short stories, the latter, where Malamud's real gift lies, is considered far superior. Among his short stories, The Magic Barrel is acclaimed as Bernard Malamud's superb story and it is taken from the collection of short stories of the same title which won the National Award for him in 1959 and established him as a well-known writer in America.The Magic Barrel reflects the author's style most distinctively. It's generally acknowledged that characterization is Malamud's unique feature. It is evident that the characters' dialogues and thoughts make up a considerable portion of the short story The Magic Barrel. The characterization of his fiction is realized through the choice of modes of characters' speech presentation. This thesis attempts to reach the conclusion that Malamud's unique style is to portray the characters through the choice of the modes of speech presentation by interpreting The Magic Barrel from the analyses on the characters' speech presentation.The thesis contains three parts. The first part briefly introduces Bernard Malamud, his writing and the present research status on Bernard Malamud and his works. This part also states that it is feasible and significant to apply the theory of characters' speech presentation to analyses on The Magic Barrel.The second part consists of three chapters. The first chapter analyzes direct speech and free direct speech and their effects in The Magic Barrel. Malamud employs direct speech and free direct speech to present the characters' dialogue in order to portray the characters' personality. The second chapter analyzes indirect speech and free indirect speech and their effects in The Magic Barrel. Malamud employs indirect speech and free indirect speech to present the characters' thought and psychological activity in order to portray the characters' inner world.The third chapter analyzes narrative report of speech act and its effects in The Magic Barrel. The author employs narrative report of speech act to briefly sum up the characters' dialogue and thought in order to give prominence to the figure of character. Thus, the content of the dialogue and thought appears economical and sketchy, with the meaning clear at first glance.The third part is the conclusion pointing out that Bernard Malamud employs the different modes of characters' speech presentation to successfully portray the characters so that The Magic Barrel enjoys popularity in the world.