Abstract

The thesis attempts to make a comparative study of black humor in The Golden Age and 1984. Black humor is not only a kind of writing technique, but also a kind of attitude towards life, especially the tough and cruel one. In these two works, black humor is frequently used in the protagonists—Wang Er, Chen Qingyang, Winston, and Julia. Wang Er and Chen Qingyang possess a positive trait of black humor, so they rebel against alienation phenomenon from outside and seek for felicity from cruel reality. They live with optimism and faith, which shows a kind of “red” hidden in black humor. In contrast, Winston initially takes practical action to rebel at political totalitarianism with his body as a weapon. However, even when he takes the first step, he has realized his eventual defeat. At last, what he has insisted on is reduced to nothing. And Julia eventually gives in to totalitarianism and betrays her love for Winston.

Key words: black humor; Wang Xiaobo; George Orwell

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1 Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the study-1

1.2 Objectives and methods of the study-1

1.3 Overall structure of the thesis-2

2 Literature Review-2

3 Similarities and Differences of Black Humor in the Two Works-3

3.1 A brief introduction to black humor-4

3.2 Similarities and differences-5

3.2.1 Language-5

3.2.2 Characters-6

3.2.3 Environmental description-7

3.3 Reasons for the similarities and differences-8

4 Polarization of “black” and “red”-9

4.1 Attitude towards life-9

4.2 Love in dilemma-10

4.3 The destiny of protagonists and the profound meaning of life-11

5 Conclusion-12

References-14