A Presentation Of American Frontier Spirit In The Virginian

Owen Wister, regarded as the “the father of American western cowboy novel”, occupiesa prominent position in American literature. His The Virginian published in1902is taken asthe first cowboy novel which has been one of the most popular genres since then and isfavored until now. As the first western cowboy novel, The Virginian exerts great influence onnumerous western cowboy novels in themes, plots, characters and leaves a lasting impact onthe American Western culture and later fiction creations of the American West.The frontier spirit cherished by Americans can find its best embodiment in the Virginianwhose self-reliant and adventurous spirit and the spirit of meeting challenges, upholdingjustice and keeping optimistic endow him to conquer difficulties and survive the harsh naturaland social environment. Another important reason for the appeal of this cowboy novel tomodern people is to provide a spiritual home for contemporary vulnerable Americans and tosatisfy the need of the people longing for nature. The thesis is an attempt to study TheVirginian from the aspects of American westward movement, the significance of frontier, thefrontier spirit in the Virginian so as to dig out the realistic significance of The Virginian.The thesis consists of an introduction, main body and a conclusion. The introductiongives a brief summary of the background of the author, the brief introduction of The Virginian,literature review and the layout of the paper. Chapter one focuses on the historicalbackground and cultural influence of The Virginian and the westward movement in Americaand the significance of the frontier. Chapter two elaborates the American frontier spiritembodied by The Virginian. Chapter three makes a further probe into the realistic significanceof seeking for this frontier spirit to Americans. The last part is a conclusion of the wholethesis. The Virginian by Owen Wister embodies the American national experience ofadventure into the West and presents the frontier spirit in the West. With the globalization ofthe mass media and the increasing importance of cowboy novels in American literature, moreemphasis will be put on cowboy novels and cowboy culture.