Repression,Alienation,Solitude:the Living Space In Reflections In A Golden Eye

Based on Henri Lefebvre's spatial theory,this paper analyses the repressive physical space,alienated social space and solitary individual space in contemporary American woman writer Carson McCullers' s Reflections in a Golden Eye.Through my studies,this thesis reveals that space has the function of discipline and that the inner loneliness of characters comes from the spatial repression and spiritual isolation.The depressed physical space includes the army post and the natural space.As an enclosed space,the army post separates all the characters from the outside world and has the function of surveillance and discipline.The people there cannot break the confinement of space so that they are trapped into a lonely identity prison.The cold and changeable weather indicates that people are unable to change their situations but to abide by their destinies.The alienation in social space refers to the indifferent relationships.Being alienated from his fellows,Private Williams gradually loses his social attributes and lives like an animal.The Captain has few chances to connect with Private Williams because of the hierarchy in the army.As the most clear sight character in this novel,Alison Langdon is regarded as a crazy woman because she does not fit in with others.The broken family space and the loss of family ties form the characters' cold personalities.The gender inequality in southern society results in the breakup of two marriages in the novel.Lack of communication and love finally deepens the characters' sense of loneliness.Both the depressed physical space and alienated social space confine people into a solitary individual space.They try to break the confinement to get freedom and love.However,the more they struggle,the more they are suffering from the loneliness.They finally give up in despair and end their pain with death.Through analyzing multiple spaces,I would conclude that the inner loneliness of the characters is produced by spatial confinement and oppression.The repressive physical space cuts off characters from the outside world and the alienated social space keeps characters from establishing connection with each other.They are finally trapped into solitary individual spaces.The loneliness is inevitable and unable to shake off under the spatial confinement.Only love and mutual communication can break the confinement of space and dispel the inner loneliness of human beings.