A Study Of The Initiation Theme In The Children's Book

A.S.Byatt(1936-)is an outstanding contemporary British novelist,poet and critic,and is known as "one of the most imaginative and intelligent novelists" in British literature.As a knowledge-based writer,Byatt is prolific and most of her masterpieces are long ones.She has authored and published 11 novels,5 short stories,and 8 critical works or essays.Her masterpiece Possession won the 1990 Booker Prize and the Irish International Novel Award,which established her prominent position in the world's literary field.The Children's Book is a work published in 2009.It is hailed as the most eye-catching novel after Possession.It was nominated for the Booker Prize that year and the James Tate Black Prize the following year.The novel began in the late Victorian era in 1895 and ended in 1919 after World War I.It tells the story of the ups and downs of four families in southern England.This work is informative in Victorian art,history,society and so on.The grow-up of children in the four families is main focus of the writer and thereby the initiation has become the theme throughout this work.This thesis takes The Children's Book as the research object,and uses the theories of initiation story and Ericson's psychosocial development theory to explore the initiation theme of the novel.This article is divided into three parts:the introduction,the main body and the conclusion.And the main body is divided into five chapters.The introduction extends in four aspects:the reason for choosing the topic,domestic and foreign research review,the significance and research methods of the topic,and the interpretation of the term "initiation story".At present,domestic and foreign research on Byatt is mainly focused on several novels in her earlier period.The study of the work in her late period,The Children's Book,is insufficient,and most research focuses on artistic forms,rather than theme.Initiation is the most prominent theme in The Children 's Book,so it is feasible to study Byatt's work from the initiation theme,and there is also a larger space for interpretation and innovation.This thesis mainly uses the theories and methods of initiation story,Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development and Social-historical Criticism to explore the novel's initiation theme.The first chapter explores the influence of initiation guides in the novel.The influence of initiation guides includes the positive effects,the negative effects,and the effects on shortage of initiation guides.Positive effects are mainly reflected in Ansel's father-like care for Dorothy and Susskind's partner-like guidance to Charles;the negative effects are mainly reflected in the psychological trauma caused by Benedict to his daughters and the negative model Humphry sets for his children;the effects on shortage of initiation guides are prominent in the Cain family and Warren family,the former causing the children to lack material and spirit,and the latter leading to the lack of children's gender roles.The second chapter explores the influence of initiation companions in the novel.The influence of initiation companions includes the positive effects of initiation companions and the effects of the lack of initiation companions.The positive impact is mainly reflected in the influence of Griselda and Philip on Dorothy:Griselda is Dorothy's sister,and she has been supporting and encouraging her in the process of growing up,and they two grow up hand by hand;Philip is Dorothy's spiritual example to follow.When she is lost,he will give her motivation of grow-up and soul comfort.The lack of initiation companions will have a negative impact on the initiation protagonist in the initiation story.And Tom is just the victim of this.In the absence of a suitable or specific initiation companions,he has nobody to share his own emotions and thoughts,and gradually loses his sense of stability and belonging.He can only rely on his virtual partner to express his feelings,and finally walks his way into a tragic ending.The third chapter discusses the epiphanies in the process of initiation in the novel.Epiphanies in the process of initiation include spontaneous epiphany and shocking epiphany.Spontaneous epiphany is usually manifested in daily trifles:for Dorothy,the idea of becoming a doctor is her first epiphany;for Imogen,her epiphany comes from Prosper's acknowledgement of her talents so that,he insisted that Imogen should sign up to study at the Royal Academy,Consequently,Imogen clearly realized her own advantages,and thus achieved her epiphany;for Geraint,his full understanding of the status quo of his family was his epiphany;and for Charles,the thinking of the poor was an epiphany when he embarked on the political path.The shocking epiphany is embodied in two forms of death and sex in the novel:the death of parents,the death of Benedict,and the death of a large number of people on the battlefield of the First World War all of which shocked the initiation protagonist and led to their epiphanies;while both Elsie and Florence lost their virginity under the temptation of Methley,they completed the epiphanies in life through sex,and began to move towards independence.The fourth chapter discusses the crisis and dissolution of character development in the novel.The initiation protagonist will encounter identity crisis during adolescence,and it is necessary to resolve the conflict between self-identity and role confusion.Only by successfully crossing the seven aspects can the identity be established,represented by Dorothy,Charles,etc.,On the other hand,it enters a state of identity confusion,with Tom as a typical example.The initiation protagonist will encounter intimacy crisis in early adulthood,and the conflict between intimacy and loneliness needs to be resolved.Only by successfully solving this conflict can intimacy be obtained.For example,Charles and Elsey realized integration in identity,and obtained stable love and a happy marriage.In the previous stage,Tom,who had not resolved the identity confusion,was unlikely to gain intimacy at this stage.Dorothy,because there is no suitable person to establish an intimacy with,has not yet obtained a sense of intimacy.Chapter five explores the reasons why the author chose the initiation as the theme.Personal reasons include three aspects.The writer's depresses childhood environment and the experience of teaching and educating are the materials and sources of writers' writing initiation story,and the thoughts about the change of parenting ideas in the late Victorian era is the direct motivation for the writer.In addition,the author is also deeply influenced by the writing tradition of British initiation stories.Social reasons include two aspects.From the background of the story,the historic trend requires attention to children's education and children's literature;from the background of writers' creation,the excessively rapid development of industrialization and urbanization has caused many mental illnesses to children,which further requires the society to pay attention to children's grow-up.The conclusion,see Byatt's breakthrough and contribution to the development of British initiation story from The Children's Book:the novel breaks through the single-character initiation model of traditional initiation story in content,and breaks through the traditional single line in form.The narrative method breaks through the traditional narrative mode in structure.By vividly narrating the different initiation trajectories and initiation results of a group of initiation protagonist,it reflects the writer's innovation in British initiation stories.Meanwhile,sum up the realistic meaning and value of the theme of initiation,and call on society to pay attention to children's initiation issues:the emergence of the theme of initiation not only gives young people a chance to examine themselves,but also serves as a mirror for readers to reflect on their own initiation.And call on the whole society to pay attention to the initiation of children.