| Graham Greene was an outstanding British novelist. His works, nominated Nobel Prize in Literature for21times, cover a variety of genres ranging from novels, plays, comments, biography to children’s literature etc. The Heart of the Matter is one of his masterpieces, which won the1949James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Since the publication of the novel, the scholars,both abroad and at home,have shown their great interest and much of their research focused on the religious theme, humanistic concern and narrative techniques in stylistics. This thesis attempts to discuss Scobie’s tragedy from Foucault’s power gaze.According to Foucault’s power gaze, power is a microscopic network, or namely power relationship. In order to make sure the automization of power, Foucault introduces the Panopticon where the imprisoned is under the constant observation. This kind of conscious and constant visibility guarantees the automatic exertion of power. In The Heart of the Matter, the colony in West Africa is very much like a Panopticon. Scobie, a deputy commissioner acting as an observer in the Panopticon, carries out the responsibility of power to gaze the local people, the smugglers, and his subordinates; as a husband, he is also empowered to observe his wife incessantly. However, based on the theory, anyone can be in the tower of Panopticon to observe others in shadow. Therefore, Scobie is also the gazed while gazing others. In the novel, Scobie is the prey of God, spy Wilson, wife Louise, Mistress Helen and merchant Yusef’s sight. Even though Scobie is skilled at using the knowledge of counter-reconnaissance, still his crimes and secrets are revealed under the gaze from the people around him. In the end, he ends his life by committing suicide, thus becomes the victim of the power gaze.Apart from the introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of four chapters. The Introduction makes a sketch of Graham Greene and his works, skims the novel of The Heart of the Matter, and respectively makes a general literature review on the study of Greene and The Heart of the Matter both abroad and at home.Chapter One introduces Foucault’s theory of Power Gaze with the elaboration of Panopticon which is the principle theory of this thesis. With the support of Foucault’s theory, Chapter Two and Chapter Three analyze Scobie’s binary oppositional identity both as the gazer and the gazed in the novel. Scobie, as an honest and righteous official, exercises his power to gaze others in maintaining the public order and combating the smuggling; as a husband, his gaze at his wife seems full of responsibilities as he manages to meet his wife’s spiritual and material needs. Meanwhile, Scobie is the objective of the gazed and constantly suffers from the gaze from God, spy Wilson, wife Louise, Mistress Helen and merchant Yusef etc. Chapter Four elaborates on Scobie’s futile attempts to evade being gazed and his descent into the victim of power gaze, pointing out that except for the gaze from the outside, Scobie’s excessive sense of pity is an important reason for his reduction into the victim of power gaze.The final part draws a tentative conclusion from the preceding chapters:Scobie’s tragic end illustrates that power gaze is a double-edged sword; in Panopticon, when one is watching others, he is bound to be observed by others in the same way; Scobie’s case can serve as a warning for the people in modern society. |
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