Suffering And Releasing:Body Narrative In Samuel Beckett’s Fiction Trilogy

Samuel Beckett, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, is an innovative experimental writer in the 20 th century. His fiction trilogy, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable, also is the most pioneering experimental work then. Its disjointed plots, the simplest language and the absurd description of characters in the novel have aroused critics’ interests. Most critics approach the trilogy from its original form, its practical writing skill of the absurd school, or its themes from the perspective of psychoanalysis. However, few people focus on studying the meanings of the body in the trilogy from the perspectives of historical and cultural, especially from the angle of the body itself. This thesis consists of three kinds of body, including the afflicted body, the paralyzed body and the released body. The degree of pain on the body gradually increases along with the development of fiction trilogy. Finally the body is deformed into a round ball, and protagonist in the third story is completely mad in the end, which means their body and soul are completely free without the restriction of social rules. The more abnormal protagonist’s body become, the freer they are. In the end, the thesis tries to show Beckett’s concern and reflection of social reality and his thought on the plight of the people’s plight of people’s existence in fiction trilogy by using some body narrative theories.The thesis consists of five parts. The first part introduces Samuel Beckett and the fiction trilogy. And then it summarizes literary studies at home and abroad on Samuel Beckett’s novels in detail. When the theories of body narrative employed and the impotence of using them for analyzing the fiction trilogy are stated, the main idea of the present thesis will be present.Chapter One specifically studies the afflicted body of Molloy in the fiction trilogy. The ordeal of being alienated affects the physical and mental health of Molloy and Moran. Organs in the body gradually decay. What’s worse, they all suffer from some forms of neurotic disorder. What’s worse, being unable to live a normal life, Molloy and Moran can only communicate with others in ways of sexuality and violence. After suffering from physical and mental diseases, Molloy and Moran gradually transforms into one person with two stiff legs and unclear mind. Body is subject to historical and cultural change, so the alienated body in fiction trilogy symbolizes the society in chaos and turmoil after the World War Two. For individuals, the body is also a visible link between the innermost self and the outer world. Body’s suffering from physical and mental diseases shows people’s miserable life in the society after the various wars. Being unable to change the cruel reality, people bear the sufferings and then turn to the inner world to find self.Chapter Two analyzes the paralyzed body and the impotent body in an enclosed environment. When the story came to the second the part, Molloy(or Moran) became Moran, who can only lying on the bed to write stories. After being trapped in the room in the room for such a long time, Moran’s body become docile and impotent, making it impossible to escape from that place. Malone is doomed to die as said in the beginning of the trilogy, but he write stories to enrich his time of waiting for death, which can be considered as a way to fight against the fate. Body here becomes the place where resistant power originates.Chapter Three mainly analyzes the released body in the Unnamable. In the trilogy, Malone finally become a round ball with a new name, the Unnamable. The Unnamable only has one mouth talking endlessly. The deformed body is filled with nothingness and uncertainty. The Unnamable knows nothing but memories about Molloy, Moran, Malone,Sapo and Mahood. They all suffered from various diseases and tried to find a solution to escape from the world. The space these protagonists live in is gradually reduced to a round ball, which is similar to the shape of mother’s womb. When they return to the womb, they can escape from chaos and violence in the world and go back to the primordial peace, where their body can be released. Another way to release the body is to create another body to replace theirs in their made-up stories. Instead of accepting their miserable fate passively, they tried their best to change the worst thing. Being in the world is a brave act for us to admire.The last part is the conclusion which sums up the characteristics of Beckett’s trilogy in the angle of body narrative and points out the theme. By depicting the afflicted body, the paralyzed body and the released body, Beckett described people’s living condition after the World War Two in an exaggerated way, and his treatment of body’s changes in the fiction trilogy shows his concern on society and politics and thought on plight of people’s existence.