pessimism_in_the_man_that_corrupted_hadleyburg英语本科毕业论文设计(编辑修改稿)

pessimism_in_the_man_that_corrupted_hadleyburg英语本科毕业论文设计(编辑修改稿)内容摘要：

the mental apparatus and upset the convictions and debauch the emotions of an audience not practiced in the tricks and delusions of oratory.‖(223)The citizens were trained to be honest from the very cradle, against every possible temptation. But it was fictitious honesty when temptation came. Mark Twain’s pessimism was not only displayed in his disappointment to human nature but also displayed in his belief of fatalism. In The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg, Mark Twain preliminarily expressed his viewpoint of fatalism. He explained accidental events to the order of God. He did not believe the will power of human. In his mind, it was God but not human that controlled the development of events. His viewpoint of fatalism was mainly displayed in the character of the Richards, who tended to explain his failure or success in getting the money to the order of God. From here, we can see Mark Twain thought man could not dominate the destiny of their own. This is a kind of negative viewpoint of life. Chapter Two The specific analysis of pessimism in The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg 1 From the aspect of plot The plot of The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg is very bizarre. When the gold coin which is the symbol of temptation appears, the honest and upright town lost its peace. Here, Mark Twain took the gold coin and the passing stranger as the main line, and played a farce for the readers. We can take the farce as a psycho logical experiment. Twain had designed a clever psychological experiment, conducted by the stranger, to make the readers watch these experiment objects and find out the reaction of citizens in the town. By doing so, Mark Twain revealed the human nature in a material society and the reality of morality decay. Twain’s satire, similar to ridicule, is linked to pessimism in his old age when he was quite suspicious. He was suspicious of human nature as well as the democracy of American society. At the beginning of the story, the passing stranger came to hadleyburg with a bag of gold coin and broke the quiet life order in the town. The citizens were greatly excited because the trust from the stranger showed that they lived in an incorruptible town and were proud of it. But the citizens were in anguish and sigh later as they wanted to know what the remark was that the benefactor said to the stranger. That was ―You are far from being a bad man.‖ From their reaction, we can find they had fallen into the trap of the stranger and attracted by the temptation. Then the passing stranger continued his plan of experiment by telling the nieen chief citizens what the remark was. And the nieen chief citizens and their wives bore that expression of peace and happiness again. So the Mr. Burgess received nieen letters which all made a declaration that the gold coin belonged to its writer. Till now, the selfishness and greed of these citizens had already been exposed. Then here es the climax of the story. Behind the gold coin, there was a huge fraud. But the readers can find out the weakness of human nature of these citizens through the fraud. Their selfishness, lies and greed were quite clear. And the stranger designed a trap to make the Richards once again be tempted. Mr. Burgess helped the couple save their honor and gained a huge amount of money. But because of fear and anxiety, the Richards became ill and told the truth that they were tempted by the gold coin too. ―The last of the sacred Nieen had fallen a prey to the fiendish sack。 the town was stripped of the last rage of its ancient glory. Its mourning was not showy, but it was deep.‖ （ 241） The couple realized their desire but dead at last. Here, Mark Twain told a bizarre story to readers. He revealed the moral status and social reality by his text. Through the wonderful plot design, Mark Twain revealed the moral status by actions of people in the town when they faced the gold coin. Furthermore, the process of trying to claim the coin was a true portrayal of capitalists when they faced huge amount of money. Here his text is closely related to the culture and society of the 19th century in America. At that time, America entered a stage of imperialism. Capitalist ran after money without caring about anything. This society was far away from Mark Twain’s ideal society. And Mark Twain could not find a reasonable solution and explanation to the ugly world, so his mind is filled with pessimistic mood. 2 From the aspect of characters Mark Twain designed the character of the stranger mainly to expose the evil essence of human nature. The stranger was a visitor to Hadleyburg, who was a concentrated reflection of blackness in human nature. He was a narrowminded man. He revenged the town for he was offended in the town and he kept the injury in mind. He gave all his leisure time to try to invent a pensating satisfaction for it. Also, he was cunning and malicious. He wanted to damage everyone in the town—not in their b。