(1) When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby, who represented every thing for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. … ( P2-3, The Great Gatsby, 上海译文出版社, 1994 )

(2) I decided to call to him. Miss Baker had mentioned him at dinner and that would do for an introduction. But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. …( P34, 同上)

(1)和(2)都用第一人称“I”作为小说的“叙述者”(the narrator),但(1)和(2)的叙述角度有一定区别。如上文所见,在(1)中,叙述者相当自由,不受时间和人物的限制。它谈到可去年秋天“我”的想法,提到了盖茨比这个人,并对他做了一番评价。虽然(1)的叙述者是尼克·卡洛威,但他仿佛是作家的“代言人”一般,我们可以把他算作“无所不知的叙述者”(the omniscient narrator)。同(1)不同,(2)纯然以尼克·卡洛威的角度叙述的。尼克从贝克小姐那里得知,他同盖茨比是邻居,所以见到盖茨比独自散步,就想上前打招呼,却欲言又止。这段文字以“我”为基点,叙述了“我”的所见和所想,通过“我”的眼睛看到了盖茨比。这一描写角度不是无所不知的,是有局限的。

描写角度的变化影响到语言成分的选择,因此,(1)和(2)的语言特征也有不同之处。从词汇层次来看,(1)使用了不少多音节形容词和抽象名词。比如riotous (adj.),excursion (n.),privileged (adj.),glimpse (n.),unaffected (adj.),sensitivity (n.) 等。另外使用了一些含义相当正式的词语,比如exempt,register。总的来说,(1)的词汇相当正式华丽。(2)中除了curious外没有多音节形容词。大量使用的是一些基本动词:decide,call,mention,do,give,stretch,sworn。没有使用抽象名词。同(1)相比,(2)的词汇是正式简练的。从词汇上就可以看出,(1)使用了大量多音节形容词修饰的抽象名词来描写心理状况。(2)叙述了一系列的动作。从句法层次看,(1)的句式繁丰庞杂,整段文字共有110个字,却只有三句话,一系列的定语从句和并列成分作为修饰成分,用来描述复杂的内心感受和心路历程。(2)的句子虽然也相当长,但句子成分并不复杂,没有定语从句作为修饰语,只有一个宾语从句和几个以“and”连接的并列句。总的来说,(2)用随意的、平铺直叙的口吻叙述了一件事情。

通过以上分析,读者清楚地看出两种描写角度的不同之处。(1)所使用的第一人称“I”表明尼克·卡罗威在追忆往事,在表白他的思想及感受。这一段文字直抒胸臆,主观色彩很浓。同(1)相比,(2)就客观多了,这段文字以一个旁观者的角度(也就是尼克本人)叙述了他同盖茨比的邂逅。类似描写角度的变换贯穿全文,读者随着叙述人的角度,时而远,是而近,时而退后三步,情不自禁地激昂抒情,时而又置身其中,默默地随着情节的曲折而沉浮。

利奇和肖特把小说的叙述顺序总结为三类:时间顺序(chronological sequencing),心理顺序(psychological sequencing),实际顺序(presentational sequencing)。时间顺序是以时间发展为基准叙述故事的顺序。心理顺序是指小说的一个人物对小说事件了解的顺序。实际顺序是读者对小说事件了解的顺序。《了不起的盖茨比》就是按照实际顺序来组织篇章结构的。全书以尼克的自述拉开序幕,读者从他的叙述中得知作者所要描写的是去年夏天在东部发生的,关于一个名叫盖茨比的人的故事(见(1))。但在接下来的叙述中,一切从头开始,盖茨比作为一个陌生人出现在几个主要人物的面前。下面描述尼克与盖茨比刚刚相识的情景,就极为确切地表现出作者在小说中所采用的实际顺序:

(3)He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression o you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. …

Almost at the moment when Mr. Gatsby identified himself, a butler hurried toward him with the information that Chicago was calling him on the wire. He excused himself with a small bow that included each of us in turn. 

细读以上这段文字,就会发现黑体字部分与其他部分的区别,不仅描写角度不同,叙述顺序也发生了变化。从内容上讲,如果把黑体字部分从这段文字中抽去,也丝毫不影响读者对原文的理解。但这样做就破坏了原文给读者所造成的一种特有的体验。尼克与盖茨比初次正式会面,互通姓名之后,未及深谈,盖茨比就被管家叫走去接电话了。这段自然的叙述中插入了一段关于盖茨比的抒情味极浓的描写,从他的微笑写到他的个性、他的人品等极为深入的东西。要知道尼克与盖茨比不过是初次见面,他是如何是到这些的呢,所以(3)留给读者的印象只有一个:尼克与盖茨比早就相识,他现在是在追忆往事。

编辑老师为大家整理了3000字学术英语论文，希望对大家有所帮助。更多详情请点击进入英语论文。