Research On The Bildungsroman Characteristics In The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt is a famous American writer with three books published to her name in her thirty years of writing.And all the three books are best-sellers or prize winners.2013 witnessed the arrival of The Goldfinch which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.Amazon selects it as the 2013 Best Book of the Year.And the judges praise it as a book that stimulates the mind and touches the heart.First-person narration is used in the novel.The Goldfinch features the protagonist Theo and keeps track of his initiation journey from thirteen to twenty-seven.Bildungsroman as a genre enjoys a long history,showing the protagonist's spiritual growth and moral consummation.The Goldfinch shows typical Bildungsroman features.The thesis is to answer the following questions: 1.How does the plot coincide with that of a typical Bildungsroman and what is the relationship between “The Goldfinch” and the plot? 2.What influences Theo's initiation journey and how does it contribute to his initiation? The thesis takes Jerome Hamilton Buckley and Susanne Howe's ideas about Bildungsroman as the theoretical basis to analyze the novel.In the first section,the typical plot in Bildungsroman is explored,which includes setting off,ordeal and redemption.Meanwhile,it also shows that the gaining,loss and regaining of “The Goldfinch” is closely linked with the fate of the protagonist.In the second section,main factors influencing Theo's initiation are elaborated.Firstly,two kinds of mentors exert great influence on him,namely the negative mentor— his absent father and the positive mentor—Hobie,the spiritual father and life instructor.Secondly,the quest for love speeds up his initiation process.Theo's debasing love with Kitsey and exalting one with Pippa,a symbol of beauty who saved him from total corruption,form strong contrasts.Finally,three types of friends witness or serve as a foil to his initiation.The painting,linking the novel together,serves as a symbol of art and the power of redemption.It is also a representation of Theo's final reconciliation with the society.The Goldfinch contains typical characteristics of Bildungsroman,such as the plot,the positive and negative mentors and tests from love and friendship,through which the protagonist becomes mature and achieves his redemption.It is concluded that The Goldfinch is a typical Bildungsroman.It is insightful to analyze adolescents' growth in a modern time Bildungsroman.And the analysis is of realistic significance.The journey to maturity may provide instructions or insights for real world adolescents who are bewildered during growth and socialization.