【正文】 ldungsroman is most closely associated with a small group of German novels written in the late eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth” (Mullane 92). It “is considered the story of a child’s initiation into adulthood or youths struggling for identity, maturation, and a place in society”. (Sun 12) Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre is considered to be the archetype of this genre. It was from England that American writers borrowed the genre and connected it with their own tradition, the interest in childhood. But later this literary tradition spread to the American mainland and flourished there. “Since then, American writers of different generations have been overwhelmingly fascinated by this kind of novel and its typical theme of the psychological growth of a central character from adolescence to maturity plays upon the heartstrings of their readers.” (Sun 3) As the United States is a youthful nation, the stories of the young are vibrant too. Famous works of the Bildungsroman are numerous, such as Dickens’s Great Expectations, Gorky’s My Childhood and Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Their long lasting and popularity is due to the nature: everyone has gone through the pains and confusion of growing up, so it is easy to sympathize with the characters. And if most traditional novels labeled as Bildungsroman consider an acmodation between the individual and the society an essential characteristic of the genre, many American apprenticeship novels, unlike their German counterpart, doubt or deny the possibility of achieving a gratifying result. Put under the background of Southern Renaissance, and especially in the works of Carson McCullers, the story of a child’s initiation into adulthood often goes wrong. They are not lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon. They are either lacking in paternal guidance or totally ignored by the family. In McCullers’s works, the girls’ mothers are more or less invisible, and they have some difficulty municating with their fathers. This absence shows the writer’s questioning and introspection of the environment of southern adolescents. That is just where the purpose of this paper lies: after probing into the three protagonists’ process of growing up, we can see their efforts for pursuing their dreams and being a better self. Their Bildungsroman gives us confidence to believe that with so many youngsters striving for their tomorrow, the American South will see a brilliant sunrise in the not too distant future. 2. Demonstration The Heart Is a Lonely HunterMick Kelly This is McCullers’ maiden work, which brought her to a national fame and established her literary reputation. Originally entitled麥卡勒斯； 成長小說； 青春期；南方文藝復(fù)興Contents1. Introduction 1 information of Carson McCullers1 definition of the Southern Renaissance3 definition of Bildungsroman42. Demonstration 5 Heart Is a Lonely HunterMick Kelly 5 inside room and outside room 6 upclinging to dream despite destitute 7 Member of the WeddingFrankie9. Jasmine escaping the cell of Frankie the freak 10. Growing upfinding the answer to “Who am I” 11. “Wunderkind”“bienchen” 12. From blind obedience to her original self13. Growing up speaking out her mind13 unfinished melody153. Conclusion 16Notes18Works Cited19Bibliography20“A Wall, a Flight of Stairs, an Open Road” A Brief Interpretation of the Female Images in Carson McCullers’s Major Works 1. Introduction Background information of Carson McCullers Carson McCullers was born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia in 1917. McCullers lived a short life, but this did not prevent her from being a versatile and talented writer. She wrote some bestsellers, became rich and famous, suffered emotional upheavals, and died at 50. Her first novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter came out in 1940 when she was only 23 years old. The early 1940s was her most creative time of writing and she wrote almost all her major works during this time: Reflections in a Golden Eye (1941), The Ballad of the Sad Caf233。筆者轉(zhuǎn)而從成長小說的角度來證明這些反南方淑女形象的主人公們是南方文藝復(fù)興中日益崛起的一股新興力量，她們和新南方共同成長。麥卡勒斯一樣。盡管貧窮而飽受挫折，這些女孩沒有向父權(quán)制社會的束縛低頭，也沒有失去自我認(rèn)同。在麥卡勒斯20多歲時，她寫的一系列探討怪人、失敗的天才、不公、希望的生存狀況的杰作既幽默又傷感。盡管她的一生短暫又多舛，這位杰出的女作家給我們留下一系列卓越的作品。ENGLISH DEPARTMENTSCHOOL OF FOREIGN STUDIESNANJING FORESTRY UNIVERSITYJUNE 2011AcknowledgementsUpon the pletion of this thesis, I would like to express my hearty appreciation to all those who have granted me invaluable help.First, I am especially indebted to Ms. Zhao Li, my supervisor, for her engagement and guidance and help while this paper was being written.I should also convey my sincere gratitude to my classmates, Miss Jiang Lingyun, Miss He Lin, Miss He Baofeng, and especially Miss Luo Ning, for their w