The Research Of Self-growth Images In Maugham's Novels

William Somerset Maugham was a distinguished British playwright and novelist in 20 th century.He was among a chaotic and restless era when he suffered sophistication and vicissitudes of life in miscellaneous world civilization.Maugham always observes different kinds of dimensions of people who lived in the specific and appreciable social reality through a cold and sharp vision in his works.Self-improvement is taken as the highest ideal he pursuits in life.He devotes himself in tireless search and put them in his works,which results in the trilogy Of Human Bondage,The Moon and Sixpence and The Razor's Edge,where he discusses the homeland of human beings in self-growth images of three protagonists.They establish their own social protagonists,multi-dimensional developments and self-identification in deviated course through their inner desires,making their paths of growth to clear and open-minds from chaos and mistiness.The thesis is divided into five parts;there are three chapters except introduction and conclusion.This thesis mainly study around self-growth images in three novels and analyze their images,causes,values and significances.The first chapter is “self-growth image in Maugham's novels”.It takes detailed reading of the text as the principal item;elaborate analysis of the self-growth images in three novels are implemented respectively: Philip in Of Human Bondage dare to smashes layers of bondages that put on his life and become a person who besieged from earth and has his own independent personality;Strickland from The Moon and Sixpence gets rid of rules and regulations in life,ignores mundane moral values and seeks self-satisfaction in spirit on the way of art;Larry,in The Razor's Edge,then neglects rules of conduct in society and takes a free life attitude as his own standard of behavior,he realizes life meaning by ceaseless walking and meditation.The second chapter is “exploration in the cause of self-growth images”.The causes of self-growth images are mainly discussed in this chapter through chaotic,turbulent and progressing time background,it also analyzes the behavior,ideology and interpersonal relationship rules of the character in specific time when facing the social areas of growth;this chapter relates the idiosyncrasy of self-growth images with Maugham through combing of Maugham's life experiences to show how a person realizes his all potential to reach self-improvement by overcoming obstacles he faces;Maugham put his pessimistic which learned from Schopenhauer into behaviors and destinies of self-growth characters under his pen.The third chapter is “the value and significance of self-growth”.This chapter mainly discusses the positive self-growth construction of these images on their paths of growth,they handle crisis without difficulty and gain private self-growth during their rebellion and escape from society;the multi-dimensional study of their human natures and growth analysis reveals unique life of growth and value orientation of self-growth images;they scan the real world which they live in carefully and prudently after grow from various sufferings,self-growth characters found self-identification after cutting through fogs and layers of bondages and in society through extraordinary actions.