小說《A&P》中的空白藝術(shù)

【摘 要】AP中的空白藝術(shù)被約翰·厄普代克運(yùn)用得出神入化。作者分別通過設(shè)置敘事角度、背景、情節(jié)、人物心理、故事結(jié)局等方面的空白，使其情節(jié)扣人心弦，引人入勝。并使得讀者在填補(bǔ)空白的過程中想象力充分被調(diào)動(dòng)了起來感受著它的美感。

【關(guān)鍵詞】《AP》；空白藝術(shù)

【Abstract】The art of blanks， from every aspect makes AP is an attractive story and make reader gain a sense of aesthetic in the progress of filling the “blanks”.

【Key Words】AP； blanks

AP was told by a nineteen year old boy –Sammy， who told a story which happened in AP supermarket through his careful observation and richful thoughts. The novel was composed by a lot of description of characters and their mind； The language used by the author is very simple –which completely fit the characters identities. While reading the novel we can’t see the author， thus， he hided behind the first person Narrative perspective artfully and was absent from comment the story on his own. This is not only increase the “uncertainness” and “blanks” of the novel， but also make obstacles for the reader to understand the text， what’s more， it provide more space for their imagination.

The novel revolves around sammy ‘s psychological changing - the main line， which appears to be very simple but significant. John Updike make reader gain a sense of aesthetic in the progress of filling the “blanks”.

At the beginning Sammy was watching the girls with all his attention that he forget his work， instead of felling regret， he describe the customer as an ugly witch. Although Sammy’s age was not told， we can guess he is a teenager， who is full of curiosity， passion toward the opposite sex.

The grocery store is located in the north of Boston，everything in it is quite dull， the shoppers are like” sheep”. Feeling trapped in the store， however，Sammy can not escape and thus he spends most of his time working in AP. Sammy has been separated himself from the ordinary around him.In such a dul1， dreary place，comes Queenie and his friends with their bathing suit.Especially Queenie，a girl who is indifference to the traditional social values and conventional opinions.In this case， the girls become the bright colors in the grey word. Here Updike sets up the contrasting ordinary and quest for quality， as a result the readers interest was aroused.

The weird style of the girls scared the customers， especially those housewives， but in Sammy’s eyes， they are very attractive. Apparently Sammy’s opinion of beauty is different from the customers. As the story went on， the reader may have some doubt in their mind – Why customers so shocked by the bathing suit girls？ Why Sammy appreciate the girls？ In fact， the readers would pay more attention to the development of the plot， so as to find the answers by themselves. Later， Sammy introduced where he live briefly. A town is five miles from a beach， people are rather conservative. The answer is in the Sammy’s brief words， which can be found by the native reader easily. That town belongs to New England ， and it is the origin place of Puritanism， what’s more the spirit of Puritanism was conserved very well in there.

“When the girls had reached the meat counter and were asking McMahon something. McMahon look at them with lust. “Sammy couldn’t help to feel sorry for the girls”. From this we can see that Sammy is quite kindhearted， he wasn’t just appreciate the girls sexually.

Then， Sammy told the readers the sad thing is about to happen， at least his family says it's sad but he don't think it's sad himself. By using these words Sammy remind the reader the story is coming to it’s climax. In the former part of the text， readers has accumulated their reading aesthetic feeling and formed “view of prospect”， they may speculate something unpleasant is about to happen， rushing to know what is happening， it’s causes and result， etc. These series of the questions pull the readers into the story.

After the girls picked out their goods， they came to Sammy for their payment. While Sammy was enjoying this beautiful moment， Legenl who is the manager of the market and the teacher of Sunday school came. He would bring bad luck for the girls as expected. He told the girls the shop is not the beach which made the girls blushed. They tried to defendant for themselves， however， when facing serious and reasonable legenl they are short of strength. In this awkward situation other customers who are gentle as sheep would rather avoid. According to experiences， Sammy was expected to say something to help the girls out.， but in fact Sammy packed and uncrease the bill calmly， just at this moment， he said “I quit ” what may surprise the readers and force them to reconstruct their prospect.

As a friend of Sammy’s parents for years， Lengel persuade Sammy to stay， however， S is very determined， he took off his work cloth， rush out the shop without turn back. Why Sammy quit？ There is no answer in the text， rather the readers have to think by themselves. In the surface aspect， this is an hero deed-Sammy want the girls admire him， however， he was failed and screwed his work.. But when seeing things deeply， it’s causes is complicated. Firstly， Sammy resent his dull work. Secondly， Sammy，as other young people，searches for self-reliance，and rebellion to the traditional value system.Sammy’s cultural taste is went against the mainstream of social cultura1 taste. Queeie’s lifestyle is what Sammy’s dreaming lifestyle， she inspired Sammy to pursue his dream.

When Sammy walked out the shop， the girls were gone. The story suddenly ended here， leaving the biggest blank in the end. Whether Sammy succeed or failed in the struggle of changing his life wasn’t told. After the struggle he may went on pursuing his dream or he may compromise with the cruel reality.

In general， the skillful narrative perspective and appropriate blanks setting， making the novel more attractive， exciting， interesting， thus， it’s interaction with the reader become more appropriate.

【References】

[1]Robe S.Gingher.Has John Updike Anything to Say？[J].Modem Fiction Studies，1974：97-105.

[2]郭欣.試析小說《AP》的文本召喚結(jié)構(gòu)[J].巢湖學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào)，2009（01）.

[3]伊瑟爾.審美過程研究[M].北京：中國人民大學(xué)出版社，1998.