Comparison On The Motifs Of Journey To The West & The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn

By analyzing the subtle aspects such as plots, protagonists, types of writing, social significances, religion-related aspects, and epilogues, this paper aims to compare the motifs of the two long and wide spread magnum opus of adventures, Journey to the West and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and to discussing some points compared with some existing opinions, hoping to supplying a gap in conducting comparative research upon the motif of the two magnum opus.After repeated intensive readings of Journey to the West and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the author of this thesis finds the two works, though coming into being in different nations and ages, have many common grounds, especially the profound and multi-layered motifs, which are very significant in throwing light on understanding the societies of their eras.The two works both enjoy important places in respective national and even international literary history, and have been spread abroad all over the world in different forms, versions of literature. Their lasting appealing charm and great vitality mainly lie in their motifs: profound, multi-angled, renewable along with times, inspiring readers of different ages. And they have been given much attention by international scholars and researchers.The researches into the two works have already been conducted all along from far-ranging perspectives in the academia; however, all the researches have been conducted respectively and surprisingly, there is hardly any research or writing on comparing of the two works. After comparative reading, the author of this thesis discovers: the two works both involve journeys, adventures in plots; both protagonists, the Monkey King loved by Chinese readers and Huck cherished by the American people, are quite similar in rebellion, freedom-pursuing, humor, and diction, etc.; informal languages and buffooneries are both partially employed as to type of writing; social evils, corruption are revealed as to social significance; both the Monkey King and Huck who emerge onto stage rebellious and antisocial make certain compromises back into society in the epilogues. Therefore, applying the certain framework theories of comparative literary criticism, this thesis aims to explore the historical connotations and time inspirations of the two great works.