Emotional Undercurrents Beneath the Calm Surface

牛玉琴

Abstract：Langston Hughes， a versatile American black writer， published a lot of poems and short stories， with humor as outstanding feature. However， in his Early Autumn he used unique skills to express the main female characters emotional undercurrents beneath the calm surface through simple language，superficial calmness，especially through the writing skills of comparisonand contrast， as well as setting off atmosphere of early autumn， dusk.

Key words：Hughess writing skills；Early Autumn；emotional undercurrents；main female character

1. About the author and a brief introduction to the story

Langston Hughes （1902-1967） was a versatile American black writer， who had a very wide field in creation，poems， drama， short fiction， readings for children and so on.However， his outstanding achievement in poems stood out， with 17 albums of poems published. Hughess poems almost expressed a common theme：the love to the blacks and the black nation， and the desire and pursuit for freedom and equality. He was one of the most important representing writers during“Harlem Renaissance”， who won the title of“Laureate Poet”. In addition to his poems， Hughes published a short fiction collection， which is a true-to-life reflection to the real life of American blacks in 20th and 30th century in the United States.No matter in poems or short stories， Hughes made good use of the technique HUMOR to express the themes in his works. So HUMOR became an outstanding feature of Hughess writing skills. However， in his short story Early Autumn[1]his habitual creating thoughts and humorous writing skills can not been. The essay discusses the unique skills of short and simple languages from the following aspects to reveal the undercurrents beneath the calm surface of the main female character， Mary.

Early Autumn tells a story about a couple who were once lovers met by coincidence in Washington Square after many yearsseparation due to some trifling.They left each other after exchanging the conventional greetings. They became true strangers finally.

2.The undercurrents of the female character were revealed by comparison and contrast in Early Autumn

Hughes revealed the emotional undercurrents by compare and contrast from the followingaspects.

2.1 compare and contrast the current situation of the two main characters

The contrast of the current situation begins with the contrast of their appearance

There is no detailed and straightforward description of the appearance of the two， but the changes of their appearance are reflected through the responses when they met. At theglimpse of their encounter Mary recognized Bill and called out his full name while Bill didntrecognize Mary. In Bills eyes Mary was quite older than before.Mary realized that Bill was still young whereas she herself lost her youth. Actually， the first sentence of the story suggests the difference， though it narrates in the 3rd person， it displays from the viewpoint of Mary. The adverbial clause of time of the first sentence “when Bill was young” seems to be the time only， but from the context “yesterday” one can see the event happened yesterday when the two met. The “very young Bill” directed apparently to the still-young-bill today. From this one can see the changes of their appearances are really great.endprint

Furthermore， there is some differences between the satisfaction to their marriagerespectively. Bill provided more information about his marriage than Mary expected when asked about it. “Sure， two kids.” That means Bill was ready to talk about his family. He said full of love that his wife and he himself would welcome Mary to go to visit his family especially the two kids when Mary invited him to be a guest of her family. Thus， Bill was very satisfactory with his marriage. Bill， the resentful young man because of his lover， whohad married someone else， had now become a very happy man who loves his wife andchildren. However， Mary avoided on purpose the inquiry of Bill about her husband by saying she had three kids. Her avoidance proves completely that she was unsatisfactory with her marriage.

So， from above， one can see that the current situation of Mary and Bill are quite different. The more difference Mary learnt， the more embarrassed she became. The initial joy arising from meeting Bill gradually turned into regret of her past rude behavior， the awkwardness to current situation， the jealousness to Bills wife， the disconsolateness to her lost love， the pain to the go-bys- never- return. The description of her body response “She felt a little sick” is actually the external display of her internally psychological unstable changes， though the early autumn season at dusk might also lead one to be sick. In Hughess calm narration runs Marys high-waving undercurrents of her feelings. It is because of these contrasts that Marys depressed violent response and her psychological changes arose and reflected.

2.2 compare and contrast of the attitudes of the male and female characterstowards each other

The contrast to the attitudes of the male and female characters displays their different psychological activities. Marys feeling experienced sudden and sharp changes： from the initial joy and enthusiasm turned into disappointment， awkwardness， sorry and desperation due to Bills coldness and indifference. Her wavy feelings are reflected in the strong contrast with Bills coldness and perfunctory manner.

The attitudes of Bill and Mary toward each other are contrarily different.

When they met， Bill didnt recognize Mary immediately and he showed no zest at all when chatting， Facing Marys desire for a kiss， he responded by shaking hands. After knowing that Mary also lived in New York， he just smiled politely and even frowned， seeming not joyful. He even asked no information about Mary， which suggested he had neither interest nor care to Marys situation. In giving reply to Marys inquiry he used short sentences in perfunctory manner， lacking interest to the talk. And when the bus approached， he held out his hand without hesitation， suggesting no reluctance to say good-bye at all. In the whole conversation， Bill was polite and distant， with his tone perfunctory and careless， which implies that he was relieved from his past feelings， and to Mary his attitude changed from initial resentfulness to carelessness， just like to strangers.endprint

Different from Bill， Mary bore her past love with Bill in mind constantly and still had deep regard to bill. At the first glimpse， it was Mary who recognized Bill immediately. Excluding the element of Bills little change in appearance， an important factor is that it was difficult forMary to forget Bill. When they recognized each other， Mary， “unconsciously， lifted her face as though wanting a kiss”， thus， one can see that Marys love for Bill never disappeared and she still lived in her past memory. This regard was expounded at the beginning of the story.When telling about the old times they had been in love once， only “when bill was very young” was mentioned， which does not apply to the customary narration “when they were very young”. So， it can be seen that Bill made Mary be under illusion to him and he had occupied Marys heart always. When they met， Marys joy over-flew into her remarks. In the front half conversation， Mary was active and zealous， “always” wondered what happened to Bill， and was deeply concerned about his marriage. However， her enthusiasm turned into disappointment by a short response of “oh” when learning he had got married.“She felt a little sick” after hearing Bills mentioning his wife with love. Her disappointment became jealousness， embarrassment and pain. At the end of the fiction， Mary was so sorry that she even forgot to leave her address to Bill and tell him that her baby son was also named Bill. In her once aphasia and later sharp “good-bye”， her love turned into despair.

In Early Autumn Hughes compared and contrasted the different attitudes of the male and female characters towards each other to display their quite different mental state， creating two quite different characters， furthermore， exposing the wavy， complicated， contradictory and changeable emotions of the female figure， and presented her joy， disappointment， regret and pain one by one. Thus setting off the theme： past events are just like yesterday and the past can never be sought back.

2.3 compare and contrast of physical distance and mental distance

In addition to the contrast of the characters， Hughes also compared and contrasted the mental distance between the characters， expressing the coolness and no other choice ， being so near and yet so far， just like strangers. Mary and Bill had loved each other so much when they were very young that “many nights they had spent walking， talking together. Then something not very important had come between them， and they didnt speak. Impulsively， she had married a man she thought she loved， Bill went away， bitter about the women.” So time and space separated them for many years， however， after so long time theyencountered by chance and surprised to find that both of them had lived in New York. At this point， the limitation of neither time nor space existed， but the barrier between them did not even at all， not for the shortening of the distance of physical and space. Their encounter in so big a city brought no surprising delight or any chance of reliving the old experiences. Such a near physical distance still made them feel like strangers because of so far a mentalone， which even made the current existing regret of the female character to the maledisappear completely. And the mental distance between them enlarged so big that it can not be crossed over. At the end of story， the two old lovers left no contact way， making them lose touch again. They were just like passers-by， becoming strangers in true meaning.endprint

3. The undercurrents of the female character were revealed by atmosphere-setting off in Early Autumn

The story of Early Autumn happened at the early time of autumn， which provides a possibility for the psychological change of the female character. Early autumn is a seasonwhen weather becomes gradually cooler and the scenery more desolate， but summer vitality has not lost completely， which keeps in pace with Marys cherishment for her past emotions and dream for the future before their encounter and at the initial start of their encounter. However， it was the beginning of autumn， which symbolizes desolation and coolness. Thus it sets off against Marys psychological changes from zeal to almost despair. Furthermore， Hughes used double warranty： dusk of early autumn. Dusk occurs between daylight and night， at which bright days become dark gradually， symbolizing from hope to disappointment. From this one can see， Hughes took some time in the choice of time.

In the choice of spot of the story， Hughess art ability is also displayed. He arranged the meeting spot of the two at the Fifth Avenue， Washington Square. Though people on the street are like a tidal wave， they are hurrying passers-by. The two met at this spot， which suggests their psychological separation and strangeness.

Under such occasion， Hughes put the description of the autumn through objectivenarration and conversations， which set off appropriately the psychological activities of the character. There are five descriptions of the sceneries.

3.1 After Marys knowing about Bills marriage

After Mary got to know about Bill had married： “A great many people walked past themthrough the park. People they didnt know. It was late afternoon. Nearly sunset. Gold.”These sentences play up the atmosphere of coolness， reflecting Marys internal sad complaint. However， a tough of golden sunlight still implies her hopeful fire in her heart. She still had some hope for the lost love between herself and Bill.

3.2 When Mary invited Bill to her home

When Mary invited Bill to visit her home， Bill invited Mary in turn to his family for a dinner any night. And he said Lucille would also love to have her. If it is a fixed night， a definite night， it means his invitation is true. Any night means no night. So this is an apparent refuse[2] to Marys invitation and reluctance for Marys visiting his family. Even worse， he mentioned his wife with love， which touched Marys heart. She began to realize there was no hope to renew the former love. At this time， “The leaves fell slowly from the trees in the square. Fell without wind. Autumn dusk. She felt a little sick.” “Slowly” carved vividly Marys gradual internal change， “a little sick”， and the description of dusk lacked brightness， reflecting Marys loneliness and lost mood.endprint

3.3 When Bill showed his love further for his happy family

“‘You ought to see my kids， he grinned. Bills attitudes towards his family reminded Mary of their past emotions becoming the past. And “suddenly the lights came on up the whole length of fifth Avenue， chains of misty brilliance in the blue air. The sudden lightening of the lights symbolized Mary s sudden awakening， which drove Mary so painful that tearsfull of her eyes and her mood became completely blue.

3.4 Before their departure

The bus came along， so they had to depart. “The lights on the avenue blurred， twinkled， blurred.” Blurred lights indicated Marys teary eyes could not see clearly. The tears embraced both her reluctance for leaving and pain for the breaking of her love dream.

3.5 After Marys getting into the bus without supplying address with each other

“People came between them outside， people crossing the street， people they didnt know. Space and people.” The description of the crowds of strangers in a familiar space exposed Marys torture： Once lovers became truly strangers .

4. Concluding remarks

To sum up from above all， Hughes explicated the theme of the story： the past would be the past forever， through calm conversations between the male and female characters. However， the emotional undercurrents of the female character， Mary， can be perceived or felt through her minor internal changes from initial joy， to disappointment， to sorry， to pain， to despair. Hughes used a unique skill different from his usual way and portrayed successfully a very impressive female character.

Bibliography

[1]俞建華. 大學英語誦讀文選[C] . 上海：上海外語教育出版社，1999， 323-325.

[2]白鳳欣. 蘭斯頓.休斯短篇小說《早秋》之敘事手法探析[J].外語與外語教學.2007：（6）.endprint