A Study On The Symbolic Image Of "Garbage" In E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime And Homer & Langley

The problem of garbage in the urban area has become increasingly dire with the rise of consumerism in the 20 th century.It has captured not only the attention of ecologists but that of some world-renowned contemporary American writers,among whom are Don DeLillo,Thomas Ruggles Pynchon,Jr.and Edgar Lawrence Doctorow,who is best known for his historical narration.They have received extensive critical attention on account of their concerns for garbage and human living conditions.Starting with the source of garbage — consumer society and consumerism,this thesis will probe into the alienation in postmodern era as well as the effect garbage has exerted on human beings and society as a whole.From the analysis of two artist's transformation of garbage into artwork in Doctorow's Ragtime,the thesis argues that art,as a means of salvation,constructs a counter-narrative against consumer society so that the artistic utopia has become a real possibility.From the cultural interpretation of behavioral eccentricities exhibited in two protagonists in Doctorow's Homer and Langley — “hoarding” and “eremitism”,the thesis reveals the growing impotence of transformative power of artists in the late capitalism featuring more rampant consumerism so that garbage has become a symbol of death.Through a study on the different images of garbage in the two novels,this thesis maintains that in contemporary consumer society,the artist's transformation of garbage — the detritus of consumer society has manifested the redemptive power of art but such power is less felt within today's world characterized by fluid object-signs.The research on different images of garbage in Doctorow's two novels contributes to the revelation of human alienation in consumer society incurred by overconsumption.And it also offers a new perspective for the research into Doctorow's works as well as the history of American twentieth century.