On The Spatial Study Of The Corrections

The Corrections,published in 2001,was written by famous contemporary American writer Jonathan Franzen.It won the National Book Award.Taking the1950s to the late 1990s as its background,the novel begins with the mother Enid’s hope that she wants her three children to return to St.Jude in the Midwest for Christmas.It vividly and meticulously tells the living conditions of the elderly couple Enid and Alfred in their home St.Jude and the living conditions of their three children in the eastern cities of Philadelphia and New York City.The life scenes and living conditions of the American middle class offers a window for people to explore the inner world of Americans.Since its publication,The Corrections has attracted wide attention from scholars both at home and abroad.Most of these scholars’research perspectives focus on the narrative techniques,social and economic problems,and ethical and moral values reflected in the novel.With the help of theories of topographical space written by Zoran and power space and mental space written by Lefebvre,the author intends to make a thorough and detailed analysis of the living environment and mental state of the characters in the novel The Corrections and the study of the influence and reasons for the formation of these different spatial characteristics,in order to reveal the plight of the characters and the complex and abundant inner world of the characters,presenting the living status and spiritual picture of Americans in the middle and late 20^thcentury,starting from the characteristics of geographical environment,the features of power spaces of different generations of families and the characteristics of the main characters’mental spaces.The thesis consists of three parts.The first part is an introduction,which briefly introduces the life of the author Jonathan Franzen,the main content of the novel The Corrections and the related researches on the novel both at home and abroad.The second part is the main body of the thesis,which consists of four chapters.The first chapter combs the relevant research of foreign space theory and describes the main concepts used in this thesis,namely,the concepts of topographical space,power space and mental space.The second chapter is the analysis of the topographical spaces in the novel.Under the guidance of Zoran’s topographical theory,starting with the living environment of the main characters,this chapter makes a comparative study of the town of St.Jude where the parents live and the big cities where their children live,analyses the living conditions of the characters in different geographic environments,and explores the impact of different topographical environments on the characters.The third chapter is the study of different power spaces of the two families.With the help of Lefebvre’s description of the power space in The Production of Space,this chapter presents the power spaces between husband and wife,and between father and children in two generations of families,explores the causes of different power spaces in two generations of families,interprets the relationship between family members,and explores the causes of family contradictions and the influence of different power space on people.The fourth chapter is the analysis of the main characters’mental spaces.This chapter is based on Lefebvre’s mental space in The Production of Space.By analyzing the composition of different mental spaces of four main characters,Alfred,Gary,Chip and Denise,it explores the inner world of the characters,thus forming a better understanding of the characters.The third part is the Conclusion.Through the analysis of the topographical spaces of the family of Alfred,the power spaces between family members and the mental spaces of the individuals,it can be seen that the tortuous lives of main characters and the intense conflicts of family are the embodiment of the differences between the Midwest and the East of the United States,the concentrated epitome of the struggle between American Puritanism and consumerism,and the product of the individual’s character flaws.Thus,different living environments,different cultural trends of thought and different ideas are all important factors that cause interpersonal conflicts and human survival dilemma.Under the collision of social change and old and new cultures,it is necessary to strengthen communication and understanding between people in order to shape harmonious social and interpersonal relations.People need to be tolerant of looking at the old and new things,not blindly resist the old,nor worship the new.