An Interpretation Of Symbolism In Darkness Visible

William Golding is a great novelist in Britain in the 20 th century. His novels are full of connotations, widely blended with classical literature, mythology, Christian culture and symbolism. Golding was called “the Fable Compiler” in Europe. He used the narrative methods of realism to compose fables and mythology, and followed the traditions of Western ethics to mainly express the theme of inner darkness. He showed his great concern about the future of humankind. His novels are with the perspicuity of realistic narrative art and the diversity and university of myth, illuminating the human condition in the world of today. In 1983, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.Darkness Visible was published in 1979. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize,which is a time-honored and prestigious literary book award in Britain. It tells a story about the fight between the good and the evil, the bright and the dark. The male protagonist Matty represented good. His mind was upright. After making a mistake unintentionally, he tried to seek a way for redemption. The female protagonist Sophy represented evil. Her heart was dark, and eventually she went on an evil path where there was no turning back. At the end of the story, the good Matty represented defeated the evil Sophy represented. The work shows that the darkness of human nature is not only in the inside of human mind, but also in the outside world. As an outstanding symbolic novel, the work is full of various symbols, and also has a deep and lasting influence on the later literature. Darkness Visible has important research value and a lot of room for comment. Researchers can interpret it from different angles, such as composing thoughts, the art of writing, comparative studies and literary theories. The thesis chooses the perspective of symbolism to interpret the work. It uses the related theories and writing techniques to analyze and study the symbols in the work. The internal relations between symbolism and the work are summarized. And the concrete application and features of symbolic characters, symbolic images and symbolic environments are also analyzed sequentially. Furthermore, the functions and influences of symbolism towards both the work and later literary creation are discussed.The thesis consists of three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. The main contents are as follows:The first part is introduction. This part mainly concerns a brief description of William Golding and his achievements. The background of creating this work and the main contents are also introduced. It involves the research status of the work at home and abroad, pointing out the possibility of interpreting the work from a symbolic perspective. Moreover, it explains the purpose, significance and innovation of the thesis, and the remaining research capabilities. First of all, as to the width, the thesis covers a wide range of symbols, not only including the symbols of main characters and repeated images, but also including very important symbols of environments. Second, as to the significance, the thesis connects the various symbols with the stories of the Bible, religion, mythology, cultural background, social situation and others. In this way, the meanings of the symbols become more abundant and realistic. Third, as to the structure, the thesis considers all the symbols as a whole. It sorts them out in a systematic and macro way, which makes the symbols into an organic whole. Thus the readers could better understand the symbols in the work.The second part is the main body of the thesis, which consists of three chapters. The first chapter involves two aspects: in the first place, it briefly introduces the concepts, representatives, main characteristics, affected fields, and the future development trend of symbolism. Then it pays close attention to Golding’s achievements in symbolism, and focuses on the ideas and styles of his symbolic writing by taking his life experiences into consideration; in the next place, it concisely explains the relationship between literary works and symbolism. Concerning the novel Darkness Visible, it illustrates the internal relations between the novel and symbolism in many respects, such as the theme, narrative mode, and language style.The second chapter concerns the embodiment of symbolism in the work and the concrete application and features of symbolism. The symbols in the work include three aspects, that is, the symbolic characters, the symbolic images and the symbolic environments. To create these symbols, the writer made full use of symbolism. The symbolic characters concern the major figures like Matty and Sophy; the symbolic images concern the important things repeated throughout the text and the protagonists’ personal belongings. The images concerned include fire and journal. The symbolic environments concern the important places and scenes appearing in the text, for instance, the town and some unreal fantasies.The third chapter focuses on the connotations of symbolism. It involves the functions and influences of symbolism in the work, as well as the effects of symbolism on the later literary creation. These are shown in three aspects: first, symbolism has the feature of mysticism, which makes symbolic works bring people a lot of sensual pleasure; second, symbolism is concerned about the inner activities of characters, so the works reveal the highest truth of the spiritual world; third, symbolism uses symbols as its primary means. As the meanings of the symbols are rich and deep, the works could be of different interpretations from different angles.The third part is the ending part of the thesis. Aiming at the great significance of symbolism towards the work and Golding’s tremendous achievements in symbolism, this part explores them and makes a summary. It also sorts out and summarizes the symbols in the entire work, making them into a whole. Thus for general readers, they could have a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the symbols. Darkness Visible tells a story about the good and the evil, the bright and the dark. Through the philosophical contents, the writer expressed his serious thoughts and deep concern about the human society. The work is filled with symbolic theories and writing techniques. It presents a dark picture of the society and reveals the defects of human nature. With rich connotations and deep meanings, the novel has unique artistic value and charm, playing an important role in the development of the fiction in the West and even the whole world.