An Interpretation Of Typical American From The Perspective Of Myth-Archetypal Criticism

Typical American is the first novel of Gish Jen, one of the most outstanding Chinese American writers of the post war era. As one of the most prominent novels of the20th century, Typical American has drawn the attention of Chinese American literary circle since its publication. This thesis aims at analyzing Typical American from the perspective of myth-archetype. By analyzing the archetypes of characters, images and plot inherent in the novel, the author argues that the American dream of Chinese American immigrants is achieved at the expense of Chinese virtues and culture and that so called American dream is disillusioned from the very beginning.According to the myth-archetypal criticism of Frye, the archetypes can be the characters, plots, images and themes. Based on Frye’s theory, this thesis probes into the archetypes of characters, images and plots of Typical American. It is divided into five parts. The first part introduces the writer, the novel and meanwhile conducts a literature review both at home and abroad. It also has a review over relevant archetypal criticism. The second part interprets the archetypal characters of the novel, namely, the archetypes of Ralph, Theresa, Helen and Grover. The character of Ralph can be traced to Icarus and Midas. Icarus is the archetype of Ralph, for both are characters disregarding advice and warning from the experienced ones and both submit themselves to temptation. Apart from Icarus, Midas is also the archetype of Ralph, for both are characters frantic with money and are finally punished for their avarice. As to Theresa, her archetype is the Scapegoat. The reason is that both Theresa and the Scapegoat are victims or dissidents that are persecuted and exiled by a certain circle. And the character of Helen can be interpreted as a displacement of Eve and Pygmalion’s lady, for both are characters submit themselves to temptation and the patriarchy system. As to Grover, his archetype is the Serpent, for both act the role as seducers that seduce and ruin the innocent ones. The third part deals with archetypal imagery. According to Frye, archetypal imagery can be divided into two subsidiary items:apocalyptic and demonic imagery. Based on Frye’s theory, this thesis classifies images of this novel into two categories and probes into the images of song, basement, winter, car, blood, rain and vegetation. By analyzing the archetypal imagery, the symbolized meaning of this novel will be revealed and the theme of the disillusionment of American dream will be exposed. The forth part studies the archetypal plot. By analyzing the plot, a conclusion can be drawn that Ralph’s quest for American dream is in fact a variant of the cyclical and the inverted "U-shaped" plot and that American dream is doomed from the very beginning. The last part is the concluding part.After a careful analysis, the author concludes that Jen’s employment of archetype is intricate and ingenious. With the application of these archetypes, the novel not only achieves an integrity but is endowed with rich implication and profound meaning. And by revealing the theme of the disillusionment of American dream, the information Gish Jen wants to convey is that Chinese Americans should combine the essence of both Chinese and American culture instead of merely clinging to Chinese culture or throwing themselves into the "melting pot".