Abstract

John Steinbeck is a well-known novelist in America during the 20th century. The novel The Grapes of Wrath is his greatest masterpiece. This thesis will mainly analyze the biblical allusion and symbols and discuss the influence of the Bible towards western culture, and the role of symbols in understanding the theme of the novel. The thesis first analyzes the influence of the Bible on the content of the novel The Grapes of Wrath, including the narrative structure borrowed from the story frame of the Bible in which Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan. At the same time, the characters in the novel also have many similarities of the characters in the Bible. For example, the name of Rose of Sharon is right derived from the Bible. In addition, many images in the novel directly or indirectly use images from the Bible, such as “grapes”, “rain, water and flood” and “snakes”. In addition, the use of symbols also runs through the whole novel. This thesis specifically analyzes the symbolic images, symbolic settings and symbolic characters in The Grapes of Wrath and their significance in conveying the theme of the novel. Finally, the thesis will discuss the significance of studying this novel, which is helpful to understand the role of the Bible in western literature and the theme of the novel.

Keywords: Biblical Allusion; Symbols; The Grapes of Wrath

摘 要

约翰·斯坦贝克是美国二十世纪著名的小说家，其最著名的代表作是小说《愤怒的葡萄》。本文将主要从圣经用典和象征手法两个方面进行分析，讨论《圣经》对西方文化的影响，以及象征手法对于理解文章主题的作用。本文首先对《圣经》在《愤怒的葡萄》这部小说内容的影响方面进行分析，包括叙事结构上借用了《圣经》中摩西带领以色列人从埃及出发前往迦南的故事框架。同时，小说中的人物也与《圣经》中的人物具有相似性。如罗萨香的名字源于《圣经》。除此之外，小说中很多意象直接或间接化用《圣经》中的意象，如“葡萄”，“洪水”以及“蛇”等。此外，象征手法的运用也贯穿了整部小说。本文则具体分析了《愤怒的葡萄》中所运用的景物象征、场景象征和人物象征以及它们在传达小说主题中的重要意义。最后再讨论本文的研究意义，即有助于理解圣经在西方文学中的作用和小说主旨。

关键词：圣经用典；象征手法；《愤怒的葡萄》