论文总字数：31182字

摘 要

亨利·戴维·梭罗是19世纪美国文学史上一位重要的作家，也是自然写作的代表。他提倡人们应从复杂的生活中解脱出来，回归自然。梭罗把对自然的热爱和对生活的感悟都融入他的杰作《瓦尔登湖》一书中。它独特的语言风格吸引了无数读者。该书大量运用比喻、拟人、讽刺、幽默和象征等修辞手法，不仅使作品在语言风格上更突出，也使其在文学价值方面更加弥足珍贵。本文结合《瓦尔登湖》一书的写作背景，举例阐述了该书中修辞手法的含义。这样，我们就可以清楚的了解梭罗的简单生活观。

关键字：瓦尔登湖；梭罗；修辞手法; 简单生活

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 A Brief Review of the Former and Current Study 1

2.2 The Necessity of Interpreting the Rhetorical Devices in Walden 2

3. Examples and Analysis 3

3.1 Analogy 3

3.2 Personification 5

3.3 Satire and Humor 7

3.4 Symbolism 10

4. A Brief Summary of Thoreau’s Thoughts 12

5. Conclusion 12

Works Cited 14

1. Introduction

Since the Industrial Revolution, environmental pollution has been aggravated alarmingly, and not been fully resolved until today. In contrast to the increasing of material wealth, human’s spiritual world is shrinking drastically. Under such circumstances, many artists and writers started to reflect on the relationship between man and nature. Henry David Thoreau, the greatest American philosopher, poet, and environmental scientist during the Romantic Period, incorporated all his love for nature and his perception of life into his book Walden.

Although Walden was published 100 years ago, as a college student, rather a common person in China, it is necessary to read this book. During the 100 years, China has made huge progress in technology and much improvement in material well-being, which however, results in the damage to the environment and the loss in a bustling tumultuous world. Reading Walden, the classic work in nature writing, and appreciating Thoreau’s thoughts, will calm down one’s relentless heart, reinforce his environmental awareness and encourage him to pursue a kind of simple and meaningful life.

2. Literature Review

2.1 A Brief Review of the Former and Current Study

Thoreau was a paranoiac to the people of his age and his work remained unknown to a great extent until the turn of the century. Since then, many scholars have become interested in him and put a great deal of time and energy into the studies of Walden from different perspectives, among which the most profoundly studied ones are the perspective of eco-criticism, the perspective of translation, and the perspective of comparative literature.

Wang Nuo, an influential Chinese scholar in the field of eco-criticism, emphasized the importance of rereading and reevaluating the literary classics of all times, especially “the classics which greatly influenced human civilization and affected the vicissitude of the times.” (qtd. in Wang Nuo,2007:10) Walden, the earliest ecological work is definitely among the list.

As for the study from the perspective of translation, some scholars compare different Chinese versions of Walden, while others discuss the method of translating some classical or controversial parts. Zhang Lei compared two versions of the same paragraph. He drew a conclusion that “Walden is a prose mainly composed of narration and argument. It is not easy to translate it as the translator has to walk into the author’s heart and figure out his emotion.”(qtd.in Zhang Lei,2011:73) Another scholar, Chen Linyan proposed that “the translation of the puns in Walden should take into consideration the three different types of puns, namely, logical puns, rhetorical puns, and the puns leading to the sublimation of the main idea.” (qtd. in Chen Lingyan,2013:195)

In Walden, Thoreau cited some famous Chinese sayings which arouse the interest of scholars. Du Xinyu analyzed the quotations Thoreau cited from The Four Books and reminded us of the deviation of meaning in the process of citation, that is, “Thoreau’s creative individual explanation of Chinese classic.” (qtd.in Du Xinyu,2009:114) Wang Suwei made a comparison between Thoreau’s thoughts and those of Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu. He concluded that the two reach a consensus on some issues. For example, “they both agreed that man should keep a harmonious relationship with nature.” (qtd. in Wang Suwei,2012:59 )

2.2 The Necessity of Interpreting the Rhetorical Devices in Walden

This paper, different from what is mentioned above, will discuss Walden from the perspective of rhetoric or figures of speech.

“A figure of speech is the use of a word or a phrase which transcends its literal interpretation. It can be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile, hyperbole, personification, or synecdoche. ” The above is the definition of a figure of speech from Wikipedia.

Although there are different definitions of figures of speech, an agreement has been reached on the function of rhetoric. To the writer, he can get his thought across more easily and effectively. By means of rhetoric, he can infuse simple words with abundant meaning, make the abstract ideas become concrete, and better express his emotion. Hence, the writing is more powerful and impressive. However, without rhetoric, the writing is comparatively inexpressive and unattractive. To the reader, an appropriately-employed rhetorical device can spark his imagination and link the writer’s experience to his own. Accordingly, he can better understand the writer’s thought and have more joy in reading.

Walden is a book of distinctive linguistic style, so it deserves our attention to its rhetorical techniques, the necessity of which is as follows: First, it is written by a gifted writer who uses surgically accurate language and never hesitates to use all kinds of rhetorical devices. Second, Walden’s logic is based on an understanding of life quite different from the common sense deeply-rooted in most people. Thoreau, fully aware of this, fills Walden with sarcasm, paradoxes and puns to tease and challenge his readers. And lastly, words appear to be inadequate at expressing some of his insights. To express these ideas, Thoreau must use non-literal language. So, readers must reach out to understand. This is also what the writer of this paper tries to do.

3. Examples and Analysis

3.1 Analogy

3.1.1 Examples of Analogy

The scenery near Walden Pond is fresh and serene. Thoreau, inspired by the beautiful scenery, uses fluent words and rich imagination to present the beauty of nature and the unwise behavior of contemporary people. The two are undisputedly interwoven with his thinking. In Walden, analogy is often employed as a bridge to show his profound thought.

A. About the pond

In the description of the scenery of the pond, Thoreau uses a lot of analogies to express his admiration. Here is an example of the most impressive ones：

“A lake is the landscape"s most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth"s eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature. The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows.” (Thoreau 162)

This sentence describes the pond and landscape around it. Thoreau imagines the pond to be the earth’s eye, the trees its eyelash, the hills and cliffs its brows. They together form a shape of eye. Here, “looking into which” means “looking into the earth’s eye” while “looking into” corresponds to “the eye”, making a further description of the pond, that is, the pond, earth’s eye, has the ability to measure the depth of the nature of those who visit it. The whole sentence impresses us with a Walden Pond which has an aura of wisdom and profundity. And Thoreau’s appreciation of the pond can be seen between the lines.

B. About time

“Time is but stream, I go a-fishing in, I drink at it, but while drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current sides away, but eternity remains.”(Thoreau 62)

As the saying goes, time flies, time is beyond control to most people. But to Thoreau, time is able to control. It is only a stream. Thoreau compares himself to a fisherman who can take advantage of this stream at random. He can go fish at once without the permission of the stream whenever he wants to. Moreover, Thoreau drinks at it. When drinking, he finds the sandy bottom of the stream is shallow. He views himself as a god who participates in the flow of time while his activity is not circumscribed by time.

C. About reading

“The noblest written words are commonly as far behind or above the fleeting spoken language as the firmament with its stars is behind the clouds.” (Thoreau 66)

One of Thoreau’s delightful pursuits is reading. In this sentence, he compares the written words to stars. They are both mysterious and inspiring. Only when a person devotes himself to reading may he realize what is behind the words. From the above sentence, it is observed that Thoreau looks upon reading as a noble intellectual activity. And he encourages people to overcome the difficulty in reading.

D. About the train

In the year 1830, the first railway in America was put into use. Since then, railway construction has made rapid progress in America. The train speeded over Thoreau’s hometown Concord, transporting goods and passengers. It brought convenience to the villagers, but it also disturbed the peace there and accelerated people’s pace of exploiting nature.

“…While these things go up other things come down. Warned by the whizzing sound，I looked up from my book and see some tall pine, hewn on far northern hills, which has winged it way, shot like an arrow through the township within ten minutes, and scare another eye beholds it; going ‘to be the mast of some great ammiral’.”(Thoreau 82)

Here, according to the context omitted, “these things” refers to the goods carried by the train. The sentence delineates a picture of a pine-loaded train roaring past a hill. First, Thoreau compares the pine to the bird which has wings to fly. Second, he likens it to the arrow. Third, he relates the pine to the thing manufactured from it, namely, the ammiral. He renders the fast train with three concrete images, creating a feeling of haste and slightly mocking man’s mania for speed, thereby reflecting his discontent with human’s exploitation of the nature.

3.1.2 Function

Analogy is correspondence in some aspects between things that are being compared. It can change the abstract thing into a concrete one and make the recondite deep truth easy to understand; therefore, people can easily understand the real meaning behind the analogy. Thoreau is good at using analogy. He chooses the most accurate thing to explain what he wants to talk about. As is mentioned above, eye is used to be compared to the pond, god to himself, stars to written words, arrow to the pine-loaded train. Therefore, the essential quality of the thing he wants to talk about is shown in a clear and easily-understood way, thus sentences employing analogy are particularly infectious.

3.2 Personification

3.2.1 Examples of Personification

Thoreau had an inborn worship toward nature. He was familiar with every inch of the land in his hometown Concord. Wherever he went, he always carried a book and a small telescope. In between the book’s pages, he would put a leaf of a new-found plant. And with the telescope, he could observe unfamiliar birds at any time. He could also immediately know what date today was by seeing which flower was in blossom. These seemingly trivial habits and skills demonstrate that he is extremely patient and familiar with nature. “Though he leaves Walden in 1847, Thoreau learns, by his experiment, what profession he should pursue: rambling and studying nature.” (Li Mei,2008:186)

“What is the pill which keeps us well, serene, contented? Not my or thy great-grandfather’s, but our great-grandmother Nature’s universal, vegetable, botanic medicines, by which she has kept herself young always, outlived so many old Parrs in her day, and fed her health with their decaying fatness.”(Thoreau 100)

Here, Thoreau refers to nature as great-grandmother. It is she who provides man with the pill which keeps them well. In Thoreau’s view, nature feeds man and man are a part of nature. Therefore, they should respect and love nature. His view is foresighted. It is completely different from the general attitude toward nature in the 19th century.

Another fantastic example is presented in the following lines:

“The indescribable innocence and beneficence of Nature —and such sympathy have they ever with our race, that all nature would be affected, and the sun’s brightness fade, and the winds would sigh humanely, and the clouds rain tears, and the woods shed their leaves and put on mourning in mid-summer, of any man should ever for a just cause grieve.” (Thoreau 100)

Thoreau believes that nature not only nourishes human beings, but also has the ability to soothe them and nourish their souls. Thoreau has an aversion to social contact, as he put it, “Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other.”, but he enjoys communicating with nature. In his view, all lives in nature have rich emotions and they are friends of people. They, therefore, will offer their innocence and kindness to people who grieve for a just cause. Here again, by having an earnest communication with nature, Thoreau exalts nature in the tone of a poet.

3.2.2Function

“Personification is to treat a thing or an idea as if it were human or bad human qualities.”(Ding,Wu and Zhong,2005:201) Thoreau uses personification to describe nature and wild lives. The above section only deals with nature, but in Walden, many wild lives, such as plants, animals, even hills, are all endowed with people’s characters. It is an interesting and touching picture when he lives in harmony with nature. These proper personifications add a sense of warmness and kindness to the language and also reflect the writer’s distinctive attitude towards nature.

3.3 Satire and Humor

3.3.1 Examples of Satire and Humor

In Walden, Thoreau uses a large amount of ironic and humorous language to explain his abstract and insightful thoughts.

A. About necessity and luxuriousness

Thoreau always appeals to people to lead a simple life, as he said, “Our life is frittered away by detail, simplify it, simplify it.” To expand on the importance and necessity of simple life, he uses satire as a powerful tool to severely criticize the extravagant lifestyle.

“It would be easier for them to hobble to town with a broken leg than with a broken pantaloon. We know but few men, a great many coats and breeches. Dress a scarecrow in your last shift, you stranding shiftless by, who would not soonest salute the scarecrow.” (Thoreau 24)

Thoreau raises an interesting question, that is, how far people could retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes. In his opinion, the so-called gentlemen are not really “gentle” for they just care about their appearance but their inner world is as empty as the scarecrow. Once they are stripped of their clothes, they can no longer retain their esteem. Contrary to “the gentlemen’s” belief, Thoreau trusts that a real valuable and noble life is a rich spiritual life, as he wrote, “things do not change; we change. Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.”

In addition to clothing, “house” is a further external “coat”. According to Thoreau, to inhabit is not to possess. And property-ownership is not a right but an encumbrance.

“However, if one designs to construct a dwelling-house, it behooves him to exercise a little Yankee shrewdness, lest after all he find himself in a workhouse, a labyrinth without a clue, a museum, an almshouse, a prison, or a splendid mausoleum instead.”(Thoreau 28)

Here, Thoreau uses “a workhouse” “a labyrinth without a clue” “a museum” “an almshouse” “a prison” and “a splendid mausoleum” to satirize the house man build with utmost effort. “Workhouse” is an old word used formerly in England. It means an institution maintained at public expense where able-bodied paupers did unpaid work in return for food and accommodation. Thoreau uses the word to dig at those who have become the slave of the house. All of these people’s time and energy was spent only for the purpose of having a place to live. “A labyrinth without a clue” reminds readers of the Greek legend Ariadne"s thread which is now used metaphorically to indicate the way of solving a problem. Here, “without a clue” is indicative of the cumbersomeness of building a dwelling-house. In addition, “almshouse” “prison” and “splendid mausoleum” are suggestive of this dwelling-house’s repressive effect on man’s spirit and freedom. Thoreau uses the sentence full of satire to bitterly criticize people’s ambition to possess a dwelling-house.

B. About train

“I would rather ride on earth in an ox cart, with a free circulation, than go to heaven in the fancy car of an excursion train and breathe a malaria all the way.” (Thoreau 34)

One clear illustration of Thoreau’s resistance to progress of technology is his criticism of the train. Thoreau dissents from his society’s enthusiasm for this innovation, regarding it as a false idol of social progress. Here, “breathe a malaria” amusingly and impressively depicts the smelly air in the carriage.

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