Literature Review2文献综述

Literature Review

As one of the most prominent and prolific contemporary American writers,

Stenphen King(1947-) has been claimed the ”king of the horror fiction”. Besides the

numerous awards and honorary degree , millions of copies of his book are in print and

his works have been translated into thirty three languages which attract lots of readers

all around the world. Meanwhile, his works were also made into movies by

Hollywood filmmakers. Once The Shawshank Redemption was put on the screen, it

caused a great sensation,

The Shanwshank Redeption was adapted from a medium-length novel named

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption which was chosen from Different Seasons.

There are many reviews and studies on Shawshank Redemption since it came out as a

rare classic, and some of them are concentrated on its film version from the view of

its gothic conflict, character and theme. In Wang Aijuan’s paper, she thinks through

the gothic description, The Shawshank Redemption reflects the persecution of

institutionalization on humanity. In the novel, the gothic conflicts between humanity

and autocracy, freedom and imprisonment, hope and institutionalization display

human’s understanding on fate and life. With the gothic means, the novel arouses

humanity from void and paralysis, and endows human beings with the hope to pursue

freedom and dream, to fulfill the real redemption in life. Both Pei Sujuan and Jin

Shenqi have analyzed the characters of the movie. Pei Sujuan analyzed the hero

Andy’s character of confidence, self-improvement and self-restraint, which made him

created a legend figure in the impasse. She thinks Andy is an image of hope and he

always believes that any substantial prison can only imprison his body but his

incorporeal free spirit. Jin Shenqi inquires into the black images of the Redemption

Shawshank through the aspect of film. He holds the view that Redding is the

subversion of the previous black image yet not far beneath the surface. The society in

which the black is the assistant and follower of the white is led by the white, and this

plot was all arranged deliberately by the filmmakers. Zhao Yao tried to study the

possibility of religion’s solving the issue of individual freedom in an alienated world,

And draw some inspiration for similar issues in China. The alienation of reason, as the

external representation of the alienation of man’s will, reveals the deficiency of man’s

ethnics. While man’s ethnic is not sufficient to ensure man’s freedom in the

contemporary social context, theology offers a new meaning to it. The reason system

and religion system gain the possibility of dialogue in regard of ethnic man’s will.

Besides, some papers are written to analyze the novella from the perspective of

archetype criticism, cognitive science and humanistic concern. Sun Xinhong came out

with the archetypal analysis of this novel in his paper that it is a fiction set in

contemporary society but with biblical motifs running through it. Stephen King uses

so many archetypal elements that make the novel so vivid in characterization,

profound in meaning, and perspicuous in narration. The archetypal in this fiction

express similar meanings to biblical culture. Such repetition of motifs, characters,

structures and images tie the discreet events together, and hint they have great

symbolic significance. Li Qianqian dissects the novel from the vision of cognitive science. She explores the dark side of the Judicial institutions and prisons in America

from the absurd court adjudication and the massacre of humanity. The astonished

ending make a great hit to the America government body. At the same time, Andy has

accumulated wealth very neatly and succeed in saving his best friend. This novella

embodies the humanistic concern as well. Zhao Xianyan hold the point that it awoke

our awareness of the actual conditions of the society, the novella focuses a critical eye

on the unjust phenomenon and the inner world of the human beings. Its realistic but

subtle content remains of the readers’ resonance, its sympathy for the misery and

misfortunate of the people and condemnation to the inequity shows the deep

humanistic concern.

Based on the previous studies, this paper intends to analyze King’s Rita

Hayworth Shawshank Redemption from the perspective of existentialism. On the one

hand, this paper will explore the inequitable judicial system of America and the dark

prison life in America. On the other hand, it will analyze the choice they made in the

absurd living environment which caused by the tie of the unreasonable mechanism to