ادبیات تطبیقی (Aug 2021)
A Comparative Study of the Plot in the Stories of "Malone Dies" and "The Blind Owl" Relying on the Components of Surrealism
Abstract
Introduction Among contemporary stories, Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett and Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat have a superior place. These two works, with their secretive theme, rambling structure and unbroken narratives that do not have a specific chronology, have also influenced the plot of the stories. The aim of the authors in this article is to compare the effect of the components of surrealism on Beckett's Malone Dies and Hedayat's Blind Owl . The type of research is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library and note-taking. The collected material analyzed shows that Beckett and Hedayat were able to push the boundaries of the traditional plot and create a new plot by using surreal components such as: dream, autobiography, doubt and ambiguity, creating an odd and unexpected atmosphere, rupture and disorder and surreal images. Create unconventional and sometimes artistic. 2. Methodology The type of research is descriptive-analytical and the method of data collection is library and note-taking. Discussion One of the main components of the narrative in the story is the plot. Various theories have long been proposed about the importance and necessity of this basic element. Most theorists believe that the main characteristic of the plot is to create a certain kind of unity and integrity in the narrative. Before examining the plot of the two stories Malone Dies and Blind Owl, it is necessary to include basic definitions of plot in this article: the traditional and original definition of plot and plot is the same as saying: "The framework of the story based on causative relations and "Disabled" (Forrester, 2012, p. 118). In fact, this look at the plot of the story is an answer to the question of what the story was about! The plot is also "an argumentative network that gives a logical character to the story by rationally arranging and conjoining events" (Mirsadeghi, 2001, p. 64). Beckett and Hedayat in these stories, copying the surrealists, combine dream and reality so that they may be able to induce an unbalanced plot in the reader. To examine this plot in more detail, it is necessary to examine the surrealist components of the modern plot in these stories: The first and most important characteristic of surrealism is the automatic writing in a novel. Automatic writing is one of the most direct surrealism techniques for expressing inner truths in Beckett's text and guidance: "That evening life that is like going through a recovery period. Of course, if the memories are really my memories, the memories that man tastes without wandering and following the path of the sun, without discipline, or perhaps deeper than the place of the dead, in the subway corridors and the stench of the free and humiliated groups running away, they are burying themselves to arrive at the right time." (Beckett, 2010, p. 84). The author carefully intends to create a resemblance between evening life and recovery, and in the flicker of an eye, thinks that the subway corridors are deeper than the place of the dead. Doubt, which is characteristic of modern day stories, is moving through the two stories. These mental conflicts, which also happen to reflect the author's unconvinced attitude, bring the story to a standstill. Of course, the author does not seem to want to tell us what happened or is about to happen. He wants to show the impact of what happened because in modern stories, "what matters is the effect of the event on the reader, not the event itself" (Payendeh, 2010, p. 29). This mental disturbance also makes the plot irregular. Disruption and disorder is also one of the surrealist components that has disturbed the logical order in the narration of stories, and this disorder shows the struggle between the conscious and the unconscious in the psychic of the main character of the narrative. Shed: "Order is related to how the events and actions of a story are arranged in time. The narrator may present the events in the same order in which they occurred; That is, the order of the calendar, in which case the narration of the story is direct and linear or he can quote them without order; "That is, the non-calendar order, which in Genet's term is called apocalyptic, creates a nonlinear narrative" (Shakeri, 2016: 206-223). Creating a wonderful atmosphere is another type of surrealist component that has a direct effect on the plot in the stories in question: "The last night I went for a walk like every night was windy and rainy and thick fog covered around Was. "I felt a kind of freedom and comfort in the rainy weather, which reduced the vitality of colors and the vagueness of the lines of objects." (Hedayat, 1972, p. 13) The narrator has created a wonderful atmosphere by imagining a rainy and cloudy weather, the presence of thick fog, the vibrancy of colors and the indecency of the lines of objects, etc., in which he has reached a kind of freedom and comfort. Another influential surrealist component of the plot of Malone Dies and Blind Owl is the dream and the association of the dream. This association of dreams in the two stories is so clear that it can be said that reason and logic are somehow wandering in their space. The last important component is the surrealist images, which are different from the images in realist works: "The surrealist text is shattered and scattered because of surrealist images like dreams" (Shamisa, 2011, p. 175). These images are the creators of impossibilities and disruptors of rational and logical systems that create surprise and wonder and separation from the real world in addition to expressing the purpose, create a special attraction in the mind of the audience. Exactly the same images as in the text of these two stories; The story begins with a logical word, but after narrating a few lines, the narrator describes a nightmare that shows him wandering in a world between reality and dream; The world and the horrible images that are born of the author's imagination and delusion, and in which the real, fixed and identical elements do not remain. Conclusion Important surrealist components are persuasive in shaping the plot structure of Malone Dies and Blind Owl, which include: automatic writing, ambiguity, rupture and disorder, the creation of a wonderful atmosphere, dreams and surreal images. In these stories, the sequence of images that the narrator sees in reality or fantasy advance the plot of the story, rather than the causal connection and sequence of the scenes. In general, it should be noted that Beckett and Hedayat, by breaking with tradition, have opened a new perspective in modern storytelling by following the modernists by creating an unusual plot in their stories.
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