Interpretation Of The Novel Everything I Never Told You From Uncanny Theory

Since the beginning of the 20^th century,Chinese American literature has chiefly focused on the Chinese Americans'cultural identity and their sense of belonging in American society.Celeste Ng,a contemporary rising Chinese American writer,has firstly applied the setting of suspense,the collage of fragments and the juxtaposition of time and space to her popular debut novel Everything I Never Told You?2014?,which has panoramically presented the tragedy of a mixed-race family from the 1950s till the 1970s,while delving into the problems of racial integration between the Chinese descents and the white people,women's dilemma between career and family,and the biracial children's predicament in growth due to the dual impacts from society and family,simultaneously uncovering the main characters'distinct manifestations of their mental fear and anxiety surrounded by social environments.Up until now,Chinese scholars have a tendency to analyze the story from the aspects of the other and family education.However,the literary studies on this book conducted by the overseas scholars have not been discovered yet.In view of the novel's profound thematic ideas,this thesis's interpretation from Sigmund Freud's uncanny theory is a new perspective to reveal the racist and patriarchal society's influences,mentally and behaviorally,upon the father James,the mother Marilyn and the daughter Lydia of this interracial family,so as to draw readers'attention to those individuals'respective uncanny at that time,also to contemplate how to solve this kind of phobia in current stressful society.This thesis consists of three main parts,the introduction,the body part and conclusion.Chapter One introduces Celeste Ng and her works,emphasizing the far-reaching theme of Everything I Never Told You.Besides,this chapter also expounds the domestic and the overseas studies concerning this novel,and then states the significance and major arguments of the thesis.Finally,Freud's uncanny theory and its application to literary criticism are presented in this chapter.The body part is made up of three chapters in accordance with the theoretical framework of the uncanny theory:the concurrence of the familiar and the unfamiliar,the coexistence of the homely and the unhomely,and the impacts of the past on the present,so as to demonstrate the mental uncanny and behavioral reactions of James,Marilyn and Lydia in details.Chapter Two,focusing on the oppressive racial discrimination,analyzes James's inferiority complex and his responsive excruciating manner are exposed.Concentrating upon the suffocating gender bias against women,Chapter Three unveils Marilyn's collision between career and family as well as her failed career pursuit and futile child education.Taken both social surroundings and family situation into consideration,Chapter Four reveals the tormenting impacts of Lydia's past predicament in growth on her present distressful actions,probing into the causes of her tragedy.Last but not least,based on the summary of the entire thesis,the final conclusion part points out the intertwining relationships among society,the family,the individuals'mental uncanny and their behavioral responses,and then tentatively predicts other possible approaches to comprehending Everything I Never Told You in the future.