| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 外國語文學系 === 85 === The purpose of this thesis is to discuss how symbols and
symbolic actions function and relate to certain major themes in
James Agee's semi-autobiographical novels, A Death in the
Family and The Morning Watch. Based on the traits of symbols,
this thesis contains three chapters: cultural symbols, natural
symbols, and personal symbols. The first chapter mainly
focuses on the interrelation between cultural symbols and the
main themes of family, machines, journalism, and religion. The
second chapter discusses the connection between natural
phenomena and characters' inner emotions. The third chapter
centers on how personal symbols influence and reflect Rufus'
and Richard's developments and ways of thingking and behaving.
In brief, a symbolic approach to these works makes the
characters' state of mind and spiritual changes perceivable to
Agee's readers. Body language plays an important role in
showing love and humanity in A Death in the Family, while in
The Morning Watch, Richard's awareness is closely related to
his confrontation with religious symbols in the chapel and
natural symbols in the woods. Symbols speak for something
abstract in human existence. Sharing the same symbolic root of
humanity with Agee, we know that the characters, daily events,
and ordinary objects in his novels all symbolize certain
aspects of human reality. Here, the world of reality is the
world of symbols.
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