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《荆棘鸟 英文学年论文》
荆棘鸟英文 第一篇
The Faint Voice
─A Brief Talk on the Western Women’s Faith in Love in The Thorn Birds
[Abstract] This paper attempts to explore the novel The Thorn Birds, which shows the different values of love between women and men around the Clearys. The goal of exploring it is not only to state that women?s faith is love, while men?s faith is anything but love, but also to set off the heroine—Meggie, who longs for love and strives perseveringly for love in all her life. Although Meggie suffers a lot when searching for her faith, she always keeps loyal to love. What?s more, in order to create the beautiful and moving voice of her love, she would rather offer her life as the greatest sacrifice. The paper also aims at tracing back to Western women?s faith by describing the heroines? love stories in some great works written by some famous women novelists. Compared with other heroines? attitudes and behaviors to their faith, Meggie is stronger, braver, purer and nobler to her faith, for she enriches love with endless vivid vigor and color. She is a perfect woman. However, although Meggie dedicates her life to love, what she gains is just a tragedy; although the Western women go all out for their faith, they are always deeply hurt by the cost of great pain. Therefore, this topic subtly delineates the fact that the women?s voice for love is still too faint. No matter how wonderful voice they create, they are still incapable of changing men?s non-love faith and overcoming the unequal values of traditional society. This is an unavoidable tragedy not only to Meggie and the Western women, but also to all women in the world from ancient times. They get temporary happiness from love, but with infinite misery. Their voice is too faint to resist tragedy in love. However, women?s lofty faith brings them a meaningful and significant life, just like the voice of the thorn birds.
[Key Words] women; love; faith; voice; The Thorn Birds
微弱的呼喊
─浅谈《荆棘鸟》中西方女性对爱情的信仰
【摘 要】 本文通过对长篇小说《荆棘鸟》的分析，分别描述了以克利里家族为中心的女性与男性不同的爱情价值观,体现了女性视爱情为终生信仰，而男性却常常选择非爱情的信仰，从而衬托出女主人公梅吉对爱情执着的高贵情操。梅吉始终忠诚于她的爱情，甘愿像荆棘鸟那样成为信仰的献祭，谱写了一曲凄婉动人而又崇高、悲壮的爱情主旋律。本文从《荆棘鸟》追溯到其西方女性信仰的源头，通过分析早期西方杰出女作家主要作品中女主人公追寻荆棘的历程，展示了西方女性对爱情的信仰，同时更加突出了梅吉集勇气、高洁、坚强、博爱于一身的完美形象。但是，纵然梅吉为了爱而奉献一生，纵然西方女性为了爱而殚精竭虑，她们最终得到的总是悲剧性的爱情结局；即使最终能够如愿以偿，可在追寻的过程中也付出了沉重的代价。从中揭示了一个道理：即使女性对信仰的呼喊动听而绝美，她们的声音始终是微弱的：她们改变不了男性的爱情观，也战胜不了社会的传统观念。她们得到了短暂的幸福，却承受了一生的痛苦。这不仅仅是梅吉和西方女性的悲剧，也是从古到今全人类女性所无法阻挡的悲剧。但是不管怎样，梅吉她们这种崇高的信仰让她们作为女性的一生熠熠生辉，就像荆棘鸟的歌声永远震撼人心。
【关键词】女性；爱情；信仰；呼喊；《荆棘鸟》
1. Introduction
There is a saying that literature somehow aims at studying human, which gives a faithful representation of the life and the thought of mankind. What’s more, each works of literature has its own theme，emblem and fascination, which brings the readers endless aftertaste and consideration, including the The Thorn Birds, written by Colleen Mccullough. The enchantment of this book first lies in its subject─love and destiny, and its symbol—the thorn bird.
There is a legend about a bird, which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the earth.
“From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to out-carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song, existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen, and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain….”[1]
The bird, called the thorn bird, follows an immutable law, namely love, filled with solemn and stirring voice.
The book tells readers a story, beginning in 1915 and ending more than half a century later, “of a singular family, the Clearys, who leave New Zealand to live on vast Australian sheep station, where their triumphs and tragedies are interwoven with the wonder and terror of a land ravaged by cycles of drought, fire and torrential flood. But most of all, it is the story of Meggie, who falls madly in love with a man she can never marry, and of Ralph, a truly beautiful man, whose ambition takes him from outback parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican—but whose love for Meggie Cleary will lead to a passion he cannot control.”[2]
It is considered that the writer, Colleen Mccullough, condenses every aspect of life into a brilliant book. By describing the Clearys? frustrations of emotional experiences, she tries to show a truth that it?s necessary to pay an unimaginable cost for the true love and any other magnificent things. Undoubtedly, in the story, Meggie is the most conspicuous thorn bird, whose longest, sharpest spine is Ralph. No matter how difficult and mournful the experience is, and how slim the hope is, she never gives up her faith—being loyal to love and making her love significant. She knows she has chosen a tortuous road, but she would rather devote all her effort to searching for her thorn tree—Ralph, and having her faith glitter.
2. Women?s faith in love in The Thorn Birds
“If love is the everlasting theme of literature, then female is also an unfailing topic, for love story can?t lie in the world without women.”[3] The Thorn Birds tells a penetrative love story between Meggie and Ralph. It also shows the particular love story about the Clearys? three female generations, from which the writer portrays four characteristic women who are brave to fight against their fate and social custom for their faith.
2.1 Meggie?s love story
The story begins with the day of Meggie’s four-year birthday, on which she receives an unexpected present─a pretty doll, from her mother. She, born poor, is an attractive and lovely girl with vivid hair, but she also has a strong personality. When her dear doll is spoilt by her elder brothers, it does not occur to her to seek help; when she is strictly but unequally punished by Sister Agatha in the school, she does not surrender; when her dear brother Frank leaves her, she doesn?t weep, for “Something in her little soul was old enough and woman enough to feel the irresistible, stinging joy of being needed”[4]. Her self-control is phenomenal and her pride
formidable. Besides, she is a quaint mixture of ignorance and morality. She is worth more, but she is not born to be more. Nobody knows what will happen to her, what kind of life she will have, and what sort of fate she will encounter.
When she is nine years old, she moves to the vast Australian sheep station─Drogheda from New Zealand with her family, which really changes her fate and brings her a new life. The first time Ralph meets her, she begins to tug at his nonexistent heart, though she is only nine years old while he is already twenty-eight years old. Maybe at the beginning, Meggie just views him as a cherished elder brother, for he is glad to do everything that her mother, her father and her brothers can?t do for her, and she depends on him so much. As she grows up, her adoration of Father Ralph has turned into an ardent, very girlish crush. But after Mary?s death, he chooses to obey Mary?s arrangement to realize his dream and give up Meggie by marrying to the Church. She knows it is forbidden to have a priest as husband or lover, and Ralph can?t love her as a husband and will never abandon his job as a priest, but she still dreams of him, yearns for him and wants him. However, besides love, she thinks she also needs a husband and babies, and she considers that though she means little to Ralph, there is still some man who loves her before all else. She believes that not all men love some inanimate thing more than they can love a woman. Therefore, she marries Luke, mostly because Luke looks like Ralph so much, which can remind her of Ralph, and will give her children similar in type to those she may have had with Ralph. But she does not love Luke at all, and she is not able to fall in love with him, as she never weakens her deep love for Ralph. Because of the celibacy of priests, she has to go away from Ralph, make her home and her life with another man, and have someone else?s baby. So she becomes to hate the Church?s implication that her loving Ralph or his loving her is wrong. What is worse, to her disappointment, Luke does not need her, either. He never respects her feelings. However, after having the daughter of Luke─Justine, she wants to give her daughter a real family. Assuming that the love to Ralph can’t occur, she will have to love her children, and the love she receives will have to come from those children, so she tries forgetting Ralph and persuading herself that Ralph is the past.
But when she decides not to waste time dreaming of the man and children she can never have, Ralph comes to find her on Matlock Island, which kindles her hope again, and makes her decide to challenge God for her faith. She can never have Ralph, but there she does get the part of Ralph the Church can never have─she has Ralph’s son Dane, who is as perfect as Ralph. Then she chooses to leave Luke to go back to Drogheda, in order to guard her son. She thinks that she has beaten God. But to her sadness, she has to admit that there is never a woman born who can beat God. That day when Dane tells her that he is going to be a priest, which is as if her death sentence, she has to compromise, crying to her son,
“ ?To the Church thou belongest, to the Church thou shalt be given. Oh, it?s beautiful, beautiful. God rot God, I say! God the sod! The utmost Enemy of women, that?s what God is! Everything we seek to do, He seeks to undo!? ”[5]
She sends her son to Ralph, but she doesn?t tell him that Dane is his son until Dane?s death. As Anne, Meggie?s good friend and former master, worries, the gods have not done with her yet. After he is ordained without her mother?s presence in Rome, Dane decides to come down to the Peloponnese, getting up his courage to meet his mother. Yet before seeing his mother for the last time, he is drowned in Crete, rescuing some women from the sea. Meggie does her best to love Ralph?s son with the purity of the Blessed Mother herself, but she doesn?t realize that “The object of her love was struck down in the very fullness of His flower”[6]. After Dane?s funeral, Ralph
consequently dies in her arms. They steal what he has vowed to God, and they have to pay, which is a fatal attack to Meggie. She suffers so much, and it seems that she fails and is unhappy, yet she is really a great and successful woman. In her eyes, the tragedies are a comfort, once the pain dies down, “I did it all to myself, I have no one else to blame. And I cannot regret one single moment of it.” [7] She knows what she wants and tries her best to pursue it, in spite of high expense, and her inimitable voice is so plaintive and sacred.
2.2 The love stories about the other women in The Thorn Birds
Mary is Meggie?s aunt. She takes possession of a large amount of property and lives in Drogheda, a great pasture. She has been a widow for so many years, but she refuses to marry again. “Not Mary Carson?s idea of living, to play second fiddle. So she had abjured the flesh, preferring to wield power”[8]. She was not born into money or is not so charming, but besides her genius, the great effort makes her lead a superior life. When she meets Ralph, she has already been an old woman, but she crazily falls in love with him, who has remarkable appearance and uncommon intelligence. On her deathbed, she asserts her true feeling to Ralph,
“ ‘I have loved you. God, how much! Do you think my years automatically preclude it? Well, Father de Bricassart, let me tell you something. Inside this stupid body I’m still young─I still feel, I still want, I still dream, I still kick up my heels and chafe at restrictions like my body. Old age is the bitterest vengeance our vengeful God inflicts upon us.? ”[9]
She believes that there are no bounds of age in love, but she is clear that Ralph is not likely to love her, who knows that only Meggie is his lover. As a result, she becomes to hate her old age and envy Meggie. Moreover, she can?t bear Ralph and Meggie to get together, and she also cannot stand others possessing the things she hungers for but could not gain. She has said to Ralph,
“ ‘I’ll be like the Devil, and offer you─Enough said! But never doubt I’ll make you writhe. You’re the most fascinating man I’ve ever met. You throw your beauty in our teeth, contemptuous of our foolishness. But I’ll make you sell yourself like any painted whore.? ”[10]
Therefore, she chooses to retaliate by separating Ralph from Meggie. The reprisal works after her death, but it really changes the fate of Ralph and Meggie. She knows Ralph very well, and she is sure that if the church inherits her abundant legacy, Ralph will quit Meggie to be the bishop of Catholicism, who can never marry. In the letter given to him, she says,
“ ?Ralph, I love you, so much I would have killed you for not wanting me, except that this is a far better form of reprisal. I?m not the noble kind; I love you but I want you to scream in agony. Because, you see, I know what your decision will be. I know it as surely as if I could be there, watching. You?ll scream, Ralph, you?ll know what agony is.? ”[11]
If she never knows how to do anything else, she actually knows how to make the ones she loves suffer. Just as the sayings go, if you love him, send him to New York, because it is a heaven; if you hate him, send him to New York, because it is a hell. Mary does so and she succeeds finally. Ralph accepts Mary?s will which makes his dream come true, so he reaches the heaven; Ralph betrays Meggie in order to get the money, which means that there will be an everlasting gulf between them from then on, so he arrives in the hell. If Mary is a thorn bird, Ralph is her sharp spine. However, because of the interlacement of love and hate, she chooses to destroy him.
Fiona, Meggie?s mother, was born in Armstrongs, a passport to colonial aristocracy. She is a very handsome, very fair woman a little under medium height, but rather hard-faced and stern. “She was a silent woman, not given to spontaneous conversation. What she thought, no one ever knew, even her husband”[12]. She is a hardworking housewife, but who can imagine that she used to be
well-bred girl from an honorable family, and marries the poor hired herdsman─Paddy. It goes without saying that she has contracted a shocking mesalliance. What is worse, she doesn’t love Paddy, but she deeply loves another handsome married man, named Pakeha, with whom she has the son Frank. Fiona thinks the man is everything Paddy isn’t─cultured, sophisticated, very charming. She loves him to the point of madness, and she thinks she will never love anyone else. However, he is impossible to marry her, though they have a son, so she is forced to marry Paddy by her family. It is a legal marriage but without love. Although Paddy loves her so much and tries his best to make her happy, she never feels happy, and she always keeps silent, which means she never belongs to Paddy until his death. Among the family members, she only loves Frank, or loves Frank more than the rest of others put together, because she loves his father. In the family, Frank is her only spiritual mainstay, but he cannot get along with Paddy well. When Frank manages to drop away from home after the furious quarrel with Paddy,
“There had not been a flick of emotion in those soft grey eyes, not hardening nor accusation, hate or sorrow. As if she had simply been waiting for the blow to fall like a condemned dog for the killing bullet, knowing her fate and powerless to avoid it.”[13]
She keeps herself folded up with quietness, and a total undemonstrativeness. In fact, Fiona has led an impassible life since she left Frank?s father and lost her love. When she loses Frank, it means that she loses all her hope.
“If the days were long and bitter with a sense of failure, she must bear it in silence…. She was one of those people whose feelings were so intense they became unbearable, unlivable, and her lesson had been a harsh one. For almost twenty-five years she had been crushing emotion out of existence, and she was convinced that in the end persistence would succeed.”[14]
Therefore, there is no doubt that Frank?s father is her longest spine, for her life loses colors without him. The love between her and him is so transient, yet she puts in all her life for it. She knows that Paddy hasn?t been the man of her choice, but a better man than Paddy never lives. The moment she hears that Paddy died unexpectedly in the fire, she suddenly senses that she loves him, like all of her life. But it is too late for him, and too late for her, as she has wallowed in the former delusion so long and leaves it too late. Finally, she chooses to get herself under that iron control once more, as if she is determined to elongate her periods of darkness until the light shires no more in her lifetime. She is really a very unhappy woman who cannot live with the man she loves, and loses the man who loves her. But on the other hand, she is somewhat lucky, for she has loved someone, and been loved by someone.
When Meggie gives birth to Justine, she has gone through death and life, which implies that Justine will be out of the ordinary, will never be Meggie?s , Luke?s or anyone else?s, and will always belong to herself. Compared with her mother and her grandmother, Justine lives in a new age, and is more enlightened than them. What?s more, she has her own life style that she will not like to have changed by others, which usually cannot be understood by her family. In Drogheda, Dane gets far more emotion from the family, especially their mother than Justine, who thinks she will never love anyone and need other?s love. But actually she longs for love in her heart of hearts, and the reason she pretends to be indifferent to love is that she is terrified of committing herself to the kind of love which marriage will entail. She only chooses to stand on the stage to make her full emotions release. However, because of her younger brother Dane?s death, she plunges into a helplessness and distress, which urges her to recognize herself again and to reflect how to treat her life again. Finally, she becomes brave to confront and accept her love and her lover Rainer.
《英语作品赏析之《荆棘鸟》》
荆棘鸟英文 第二篇
英语作品赏析之【荆棘鸟】
摘要 There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life ， more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree ，and does not rest until it has found one. Then ,singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest，sharpest spine. And，dying，it rises above its own agony to out- carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song，existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen ， and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain…… Or so says the legend.
——the Legend about the Thorn Birds
关键词 荆棘鸟 爱和命运
1. 作者简介
考琳?麦卡洛（Colleen McCullough），1937年6月1日生于澳大利亚新南威尔士州的惠灵顿，澳大利亚当代著名作家。
她曾从事过多种工作——旅游业、图书馆、教书；后来终于成了一名神经病理学家，曾就学于美国耶鲁大学。
《荆棘鸟》是澳大利亚著名作家考琳?麦卡洛的长篇代表作之一，自1977年问世以后，不仅走红美国，与《教父》同为美国十大畅销书；而且迅速成为风靡全球的“国际畅销小说”，先后改编成电影，拍成电视连续剧，灌制成盒带，是整个80年代最佳畅销书之一，一直有读者请求作者为之作续。
多才多艺的作家考琳?麦卡洛，除了小说，她还写传记，写散文或杂文，甚至写音乐剧。而就小说本身来说，她也并非局限于一种类型，既有为她在世界范围内赢得广泛读者的《荆棘鸟》那样的家世小说，也有使她在学术界获得崇高声誉的《罗马主人》那样的历史小说，还有《密萨龙基的淑女们》那样的言情小说，《第三个千年的纲领》那样的理念小说??诸如此类，不一而足。考琳?麦卡洛的创作领域广泛及所取得的成就巨大，也许得益于不倦的探索精神和她的经历。她永不满足，不断探索新的领域，城市新的文学样式，同时创做事态度十分严谨，
对每一部作品的题材都进行深入研究，每每数易其稿。她本是一名品学兼优的医科学生，毅力学友等荣誉学位毕业于新南威尔士大学时，已显露出在神经生理学方面的特长。她后来获得了儿童健康研究所（伦敦）的硕士学位，继而领导美国纽黑文耶鲁医学院神经学系研究实验室的技术工作。她是数家神经科学研究所和基金会的赞助人，还担任皇家悉尼北岸医院临床神经生理学顾问。
——摘自网络
2.作品节选
There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life ， more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree ，and does not rest until it has found one. Then ,singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest，sharpest spine. And，dying，it rises above its own agony to out- carol the lark and the nightingale. One superlative song，existence the price. But the whole world stills to listen ， and God in His heaven smiles. For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain?? Or so says the legend.
——the Legend about the Thorn Birds
有一个传说，说的是有那么一只鸟儿，它一生只唱一次，那歌声比世上所有一切生灵的歌声都更加优美动听。杜鹃花与鸟，怨艳两何赊，怀疑是口中血，滴成枝上花。从离开巢窝的那一刻起，她就在寻找着荆棘树，直到如愿以偿，才歇息下来。然后，它把自己的身体扎进最长，最尖的荆棘上，便在那荒蛮的枝条之间放开了歌喉。在奄奄一息的时刻，它超脱了自身的痛苦，而那歌声竟然使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色。这是一曲无比美好的歌，曲终而命竭。然而，整个世界都在静静地谛听，上帝也在苍穹中微笑。因为最美好的东西只能用最深痛的巨创来换取，它的歌唱是以生命为代价的歌唱，是世间最凄美的绝唱。这不仅仅是一种生的态度，更是一种感天动地的爱的方式。
——荆棘鸟的传说【荆棘鸟英文】
3.理解
《荆棘鸟》的主题是爱和命运。梅吉和拉尔夫痛苦的爱，家族式的某种命运的轮回。欲爱不能，欲罢不能的拉尔夫挣扎着，矛盾着。梅吉坚韧地忍受着痛苦。
荆棘鸟并不仅指是爱情，并不特指梅格一个人。这部小说中很多人都是这样，比如梅格，荆棘鸟的故事预示着爱情的不可归路，对拉尔夫来说，意味着他所选
择的宗教道路，甚至梅格的母亲，还有她的父亲，他们的一生都可以用这个故事来诠释。明知道这么做是痛苦的，但仍然要这么选择，为了自己的选择，把那最深最长的刺刺入胸膛，即便忍受着最大的痛苦，但唱出了最美的歌声。人所追求的最美好的东西，总要付出最痛苦的代价。【荆棘鸟英文】
《荆棘鸟》描写了三代人的生活经历，反映出澳大利亚社会的发展，包括畜牧业的进步、牧场主的“苦心经营”及其对雇工的残酷剥削。以女主人公梅吉与神父拉尔夫的爱情纠葛为主线，描写了克利里一家三代人的故事，时间跨度长达半个多世纪之久。
年富力强的神父一心向往罗马教廷的权力，但他却爱上了牧主克利里的女儿、美艳绝伦的少女梅吉，内心处于权力与爱情的深刻的矛盾之中，从而引发出一连串感人至深的故事。以两位主人公为中心，展开了克利里家族十余名成员各自的人生悲欢离合；尤其是小说的时间跨度恰好横越了二次大战，因而两代人之间截然不同的人生观所产生的冲突，更是引人注目。
4.写作技巧
情节曲折生动，结构严密精巧，文笔清新婉丽。【荆棘鸟英文】
1.主题鲜明
全文主要围绕着爱与命运的主题展开，讲述克利里家族传奇式的家世史，讲述了克利里家三代人的人生经历和情感历程，其中最主要的是麦吉与拉尔夫神父之间那场刻骨铭心的爱情。考琳·麦卡洛想通过克利里家的沧桑和感情历程揭示一个道理：真正的爱和一切美好的东西是需要以难以想象的代价去换取的。正如小说结尾所写的那样：“鸟儿胸前带着棘刺，它遵循着一个不可改变的法则。她被不知其名的东西刺穿身体，被驱赶着，歌唱着死去??只是唱着、唱着，直到生命耗尽??但是，当我们把棘刺扎进胸膛时，我们是明白的。我们是明明白白的。然而，我们却依然要这样做。我们依然把棘刺扎进胸膛。”
2.人物刻画
栩栩如生，极富个性的人物刻画。帕迪，忠厚温雅，始终以含蓄的方式深爱着“从天上掸下来”的妻子；菲奥娜，外表冷漠，一生未走出早年遭受的爱的背叛的阴影；暴烈而备受苦恼折磨的弗兰克，在监狱里埋葬了出人头地的梦想；克利里家里其他勤劳的儿子们，将别的男人留给女人的精力和热忱献给了广阔无垠的德罗海达土地；温良内向而又倔强坚强的麦吉，欲爱不能、欲罢也不能的拉尔夫神父，骄横张狂、满腹尖酸的玛丽·卡森夫人，还有温和的戴恩和古怪的朱丝婷??各个栩栩如生，有血有肉。精彩的人物对话，细腻的心理描绘，出神人化的动作描摹，恰如其分的外貌勾勒，都体现出了作者娴熟自如写作手法。
3.叙事结构
富有个性的叙事结构，增添了作品的丰富性和表现力。《荆棘鸟》在结构上分为七部，每部以一个主要人物为中心进行叙述，而将这七个部分贯串在一起的，正是麦吉和拉尔夫神父之间的爱情纠葛。
4.环境描写
环境描写不仅为塑造人物起到了很好的烘托作用，而且增强了阅读的美感，使读者对人物所处环境的人文地理的丰富知识有了一定的认识。“保守这轮番而至的韩老侵躏；索取时，残酷无情；花开时，绚丽烂漫；造化慷慨的粘结，有不失丰饶。天底下在没有哪一个地方如此怪诞离奇。” 亚马逊网上书店曾有对这本书的介绍。
结构严谨，语言流畅生动，饱含激情，富有诗意。
5.阅读感悟
“有一个传说，说的是有那么一只鸟儿，它一生只唱一次，那歌声比一切生灵的歌声都更加优美动听，从离开巢穴的那一刻起，它就在寻找着荆棘树，直到如愿以偿，才歇息下来。然后，它把自己的身体扎进最长最尖的荆棘上，在那荒蛮的枝条之间放开了歌喉。在奄奄一息的时刻，它超越了自身的痛苦，而那歌声竟然使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色。这是一曲无比美好的歌，曲终而命竭。然而，整个世界都在静静地谛听，上帝也在苍穹中微笑。因为最美好的东西只能用深痛剧创来换取??”
这是一个经典的爱情故事，之所以经典，也许是因为这是一个爱情悲剧——从两人（拉尔夫和梅吉）相遇的那一刻起，就已经注定了的悲剧。
主题是爱与命运。全文讲述着梅吉和拉尔夫痛苦的爱，家族式的某种命运的轮回。欲爱不能，欲罢不能的拉尔夫挣扎着，矛盾着，梅吉坚韧地忍受着痛苦。
《荆棘鸟》最大的亮点在于栩栩如生的人物描写。从菲奥娜到梅吉,再到朱丝婷，展现了女人们悲惨坎坷的命运，以及内心痛苦的挣扎；从帕迪到拉尔夫，再到雷恩，展现了三代男人对爱情不同的诠释；从弗兰克到戴恩,最受宠的孩子被母亲极力挽留却被上帝愚弄??感人的爱情从门第间展开，延伸到宗教,爆发在都市。这足以体现出作者对生活细微的观察，娴熟的写作技巧及心理描写。作者不经意间说出的很多经典的富有哲理的话，令人受益匪浅。
“鸟儿胸前的荆棘，它遵循着一个不可改变的法则。她被不知其名的东西刺传身体，被驱赶着，歌唱着死去。在那荆棘刺进的一瞬，她没有意识到死之将至。她只是唱着，唱着，知道生命耗尽，在也唱不出一个音符。但是，当我们把荆棘扎进胸膛死，我们是知道的。我们是明明白白的。然而，我们依然要这样做。我
们依然把荆棘扎进胸膛。” 什么是我们的荆棘树，哪一根最长让我们甘愿刺进胸膛，义无反顾？你的荆棘鸟抑或是荆棘树是什么？
6.作者的其他作品
传记《新南威尔士原州长罗登·卡特勒爵士作传》，散文或杂文《我为什么反对安乐死？》，历史小说《罗马主人》，言情小说《密萨龙基的淑女们》，理念小说《第三个千年的纲领》，传记《新南威尔士原州长罗登·卡特勒爵士作传》，散文或杂文《我为什么反对安乐死？》。 ——摘自网络
7.最喜欢的句子、段落
1. “有一个传说，说的是有那么一只鸟儿，它一生只唱一次，那歌声比一切生灵的歌声都更加优美动听，从离开巢穴的那一刻起，它就在寻找着荆棘树，直到如愿以偿，才歇息下来。然后，它把自己的身体扎进最长最尖的荆棘上，在那荒蛮的枝条之间放开了歌喉。在奄奄一息的时刻，它超越了自身的痛苦，而那歌声竟然使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色。这是一曲无比美好的歌，曲终而命竭。然而，整个世界都在静静地谛听，上帝也在苍穹中微笑。因为最美好的东西只能用深痛剧创来换取??”
2. 鸟儿胸前的荆棘，它遵循着一个不可改变的法则。她被不知其名的东西刺穿身体，被驱赶着，歌唱着死去。在那荆棘刺进的一瞬，她没有意识到死之将至。她只是唱着，唱着，知道生命耗尽，在也唱不出一个音符。但是，当我们把荆棘扎进胸膛死，我们是知道的。我们是明明白白的。然而，我们依然要这样做。我们依然把荆棘扎进胸膛。
8.中外作品相似
1.《小王子》简介
小王子住在一个只有屋子大的星球上，那里只有他的玫瑰花和他相伴，他很爱他的花。可星球上经常长出猴面包树，树长大后有教堂那么大，足以将他的星球撑破，他每天都要挖出那些树苗，保护他的星球和他的玫瑰花。玫瑰花很娇贵也很天真，每次小王子生它的气它就装作要枯萎的样子，让小王子心疼它。为了保护家园和玫瑰，他走了很多个星球，想找一只羊回去（他以为树苗和草一样，而羊又吃草，就可以帮他保护家园)，后来他到了地球，遇到了飞行员，让他为自己画了一个羊，可他又怕羊会吃了他的玫瑰。飞行员说给它的羊一个嘴套，玫瑰就安全了，小王子才放心。后来他就带着画回去了，去保护他的玫瑰，因为那是他的责任。
《荆棘鸟 英文读后感》
荆棘鸟英文 第三篇
Feelings After Reading The Thorn Birds
When I started to read The Thorn Birds, I was attracted by the legend about the bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the surface of the earth. It impales itself upon the longest spine to sing the most beautiful song.
The thorn bird is like the female characters’ in the novel. The Cleary women just like the birds, pursued things they love at the cost of great pain. The thorn birds looked for the most painful thorn since leaving the nest, and sacrifice them for singing the most beautiful song in the world. The women in the novel are pursuing what they want all their life. However, what they want is the most painful thorn in their lives. They are not afraid of these pain and they tried their best to fight for their dreams bravely, never regretted.
Fiona Cleary fell in love with a married man who was the leader of Maori. She can not have the man as husband so she “stole” Frank from him. She lived a miserable life and did not smile very often. She spent so much time with the memories before Frank was born. Sometimes, I hate Fiona because of her indifference to Meggie. However, to my surprise, she was so smart that she knew Dane was fathered by Ralph the moment Dane was born. Meggie was fighting with the church all her life. To some extent, she won the battle. Meggie stole Dane from Ralph and the church. At last, she lost her son which made her suffered so much but she never regret. Dane didn’t belong to her nor Ralph. He belonged to God. If someone does not belong to us, we can not have him no matter how hard we try. Justine was the third generation. I understood her very much what she thought about Dane’s death. If I were her, I would also think Dane’s death was my fault. We can not fight against our fate. Everything happened has its reason. I think Justine was a girl who had a strong appearance and a fragile inner heart. So she was afraid of man’s love though everyone can feel the love from her Mr. Right. There was a battle between her feeling and her heart. She wanted both of them but she had to choose one only.
From this novel, we can see that all of them were suppressed by the male culture. Fiona was lonely because she did not have a female company before Meggie grew up. Meggie was neglected by her mother and she was the only female child. Justine was indifference with Drogheda. Her uncles were not at ease with her and her mother did not give her the love Dane had. However, they never give up pursuing their love and their dream. Just like the thorn birds, they hold the great pain to enjoy the happiness from that.
《荆棘鸟读后感英文版》
荆棘鸟英文 第四篇
writers of books such as le mis， gone with the wind and the thorn birds seemed to have all the time in the world， nothing to do but tell you a story， from the moral of the tale， the fate of the characters to details such as the color of one?s hair when the morning light strikes。
?sit down， child。 let me tell you a story of a lifetime。 listen to me， not just for a day， a month， but a year。荆棘鸟读后感英文版。 keep me pany and i will tell you all the wisdom i know， just listen to my story。? the book seems to say。
some say the thorn birds is the gone with the wind of australia。 it does remind you of it， the small print， the length of the book， the expanse of the story and the fineness of the details。 but i don?t see the resemblance in the souls of the two books。 meggie lived for another man while scarlett lived for herself。 one so soft you pity her， the other so headstrong you can?t bother feeling sorry for her。荆棘鸟读后感英文版。 one can?t hold on to the man she loves， the other threw aside her one true love。
in spirit，it?s more like the scarlet letter。 forbidden love is always more tantalizing than romance of plain nature， always more intense with a lifetime of bittersweet aftertaste。 let?s not envision what would have happened if the fallen priest does marry the woman he loves。 reality never fails to rub the shine off any great passion。 it?s the best cure to love-sickness。
ralph， the handsome priest， so charming and perfect that from an old woman of seventy to a child of ten， no woman can escape from his pull， whether or not he does any intentional pulling。 he was made for trouble， tall and attractive， but cloaked in the soutane of a priest。 and above all his faith， his love for the church and for god， is there anything more frustrating than a perfectly sculptured man， trained with the elegance of a gentleman and the pureness of a saint， but thrown into the lay crowd， to be loved and adored， but not touched。
our little meggie steals the readers? hearts right from the start。 with its nearly 600 pages of flowing words and unrolling scenes， i remember the first scene the best。 it?s the one that touches me the most。 it tells you right away who is the gentle victim of the whole epic。
little meggie， dressed in her sunday best， was squatting down behind the gorse bush， holding her very first gift on her fourth birthday。 it was a little doll， bought from a store in town with money， with money! meggie saw the doll in the store on her only trip to town and fell in love with it。 their lives on the raw land in rural new zealand in the early twentieth century didn?t involve much buying， not to mention wasting money on buying a gift for a little girl， even a very good little girl。
she held agnes， the name she gave the doll the moment she saw it。 she marveled at the doll?s golden hair， her cream lace dress and her eyes that close when you lie her down and then open when you stand her up。 agnes was all the desire that meggie knew and she sat there taking it all in。
it?s a sweet picture until the boys came into the scene。 meggie?s elder brothers saw their baby sister so engrossed that they had to poke their noses in。 i knew it smelt of trouble and i wish i had the power to push the stop button and erase the boys or turn their crude minds elsewhere。 but that?s not to be。 little meggie will be hurt by little boys， just like the older meggie will be hurt by grown men。 no one can push the stop button and rewrite the scene。
the boys took the doll that was barely warm in meggie?s hands， with their rough and dirty paws pulled the doll apart， like dissecting anything that they didn?t understand。 it?s all just some plastic to them， no feelings。
my heart aches for little meggie， so helpless， so young and so weak。 she cried and begged but she couldn?t get her doll back。 tears washed down her face， blurring her entire world。 on her fourth birthday， she learned what it meant to have her heart broken。 and she was to know more。
do you believe in fate? do you believe in destiny? you know how in some movies you just know two people will fall in love even before they have a chance to speak。 like meryl streep and client eastwood in bridge of madison county; like matthew and mary in downton abbey。 there is no other way。 ralph was bound to love meggie。 meggie was made for the sacrifice。
but of course such a huge piece of work is not just a love story， as forbidden as it is。 maybe people will close the book with different answers to the question of ?what?s the book about?? i won?t be surprised if many say that it?s about the love story between a handsome catholic priest and a gentle woman who is used to suffering。 it is the most prominent theme of the book。 but it?s much more than that。 it?s also about the harsh conditions of making a living in the new land of australia in the early 20th century。 it was a constant battle with droughts and sand storms and endless flies， with loneliness and helplessness in face with the severity of nature at its raw state。
i will also remember it as a book about the suffering of women， especially in the hands of men， all kinds of men。 meggie?s brothers deprived her of her first gift in life， but this grief will be forgotten in face of the many more to e。 the man who thought of her as the love of his life traded her for 13 million pounds， which bought him his future career。 he has loved her ever since he saw her as a timid ten year old， but it?s not enough to lead him astray from his path in serving god。 for her whole life， she would feel abandoned by her ralph。 she lost， even if it?s to god。
then there was her husband luke， who married her for her money and took every penny， and then sent her to work as a housemaid in exchange for more money。 i wonder if meggie hadn?t felt so abandoned by ralph and given up on love， would she have accepted this? even then， luke left her to make more money。 she was a beautiful woman， yet somehow， not wonderful enough to hold any man。 but the truth is， the men were not good enough to deserve her。
meggie?s mother also had her scar in life。 she was the daughter of a prominent family。 an affair with a married man left her with a child and rejection from her family。 the married man had too much to loose to marry her， or even to reveal who he was。 her own father married her and the child to one of their farm hands in exchange for taking them away。 from then on， it was endless house chores and farm labor， then child bearing and raising the children。
is there a happy woman in the story?
even the rich old widow， mary carson， the most powerful figure in the region who owned all the property and money， wasn?t happy。 she was also in love with the perfect priest， who was decades younger and detested her。 her only satisfaction was in knowing that the one whom she loved would be tortured。 she made him choose between an inheritance of 13 million pounds and fulfilling his love with meggie。
the only happy woman， or a woman who had a chance of being happy， was justine， daughter of meggie and luke。 she was rebellious and dared to go after what she desired。 she always knew what she wanted and always went after what she wanted。 she despised men but was lucky enough to have met one that treasured her and waited for her awakening。
but above all these， i think the author wants to write about the power of fate， the force of nature， the tendency for us to be whom we are meant to be even if it leads to suffering。 i think she wants to say that all the struggle and going against the current are just people being what they are meant to be。 meggie was meant to be in love， forever， even if it meant she would be unhappy all her life， except the few times that his love for her was confirmed and their relationship fulfilled。 she knew he would leave her， to seek his own destiny of being married to the church。 she couldn?t change her own destiny and she couldn?t change that of another man。 but she had him。 she only needed it once to know that she was in love。 she didn?t just love。
for that one confirmation she would suffer for the rest of her days。 but just like the thorn birds， she lived for that one song to sing。
《荆棘鸟读后感800字》
荆棘鸟英文 第五篇
细细口味了澳大利亚著名作家考琳。麦卡洛的长篇小说<荆棘鸟>，富有诗意的环境描写，栩栩如生的人物刻画，美丽而凄婉的爱情悲歌，这一切深深地吸引了我，也打动了我。但是读后感触最深的还是那种痛，那种无奈，那种由于自己造成的无奈，正如荆棘鸟，之所以会痛就是因为自己找的荆棘。其实这种痛我们从作者的开卷语中就能深深体会，?有一个传说，说的是有那么一只鸟儿，它一生只唱一次，那歌声比世上所有一切生灵的歌声都更加优美动听。荆棘鸟读后感800字。从离开巢窝的那一刻起，它就在寻找着荆棘树，小说是一个经典的爱情故事，之所以经典，也许是因为这是一个爱情悲剧??从两人(拉尔夫和梅吉)相遇的那一刻起，就已经注定了的悲剧。拉尔夫，一个将自己的身体和灵魂都献给上帝的人，一个以成为红衣主教为自己人生追求的人，他早已失去的一个作为普通人的权利，他不能谈爱情，他也以为自己可以做到。在他遇到梅吉前的二十七八年岁月中，他就是这样度过的。但是在遇到梅吉的那一刻，他的内心就发生了巨大的变化，尽管那时的梅吉只是一个9岁的女孩，却照亮了拉尔夫的内心。在梅吉长大成人之前，两人有过一段温馨美好的时光，因为那时可以不必避嫌。但是随着梅吉的长大，痛苦和矛盾也就与日俱增。最终，拉尔夫选择了他的事业，他的上帝，他的教会，远离了梅吉，希望梅吉可以有自己的未来和幸福。但是，谁能想到，梅吉选择的丈夫，居然也只是因为他酷似拉尔夫呢?婚姻自然是不幸的。在这样的境况之下重逢，终于情感战胜了理智，拉尔夫屈从于梅吉的愿望，梅吉也如愿地从上帝那儿偷来了拉尔夫??一个属于他们的儿子。因为她知道拉尔夫永远也不属于他，那么得到他的儿子，就已经是上帝的恩赐了。从此，梅吉离开了她的丈夫，守着一双儿女回到了家乡。结局，偷来的东西自然要还回去的，当他们唯一的儿子也永远离开他们的时候，他们觉得也卸下了心头的包袱。拉尔夫在临终的一刹那，他的心里才真正放下了梅吉。而梅吉，将要面对的是往后更加孤独的人生，幸好，她一直是个坚强的人。在我看来，<荆棘鸟>这本书最大的亮点在于鲜活的人物描写。从菲到梅吉，再到朱丝婷，作者在读者面前展现了女人们或悲惨或坎坷的命运，以及内心痛苦的挣扎；从帕迪到拉尔夫，再到雷恩，展现了三代男人对爱不同的诠释；从弗兰克到戴恩，最受宠的孩子被母亲极力挽留却被上帝愚弄??感人的爱情从门第间展开，延伸到宗教，爆发在都市。我不得不佩服作者在构思刻画方面所下的工夫。可能是作者对生活细致入微的观察，熟练的写作技巧，非常传神的眼神和心理描写，和很多不经意间说出的经典的有哲理的话，使我不时的产生共鸣，所以会让我觉得这本书非常好看，同时又说不出它哪里好看。
荆棘鸟读后感800字(二)
上帝创造人类，人类衍生出善与恶，上帝同时放出潘多拉魔盒使人受到多元的挑战，正如他虽清楚告诉亚当和夏娃别偷吃禁果，但仍很仁慈的留给人以选择权一样，人在无法选择或面临多种选择时必然会犯许多错误，进而修正，因此上帝拯救的应该是行动中的人，以达到一种相对完美的境界。
人在完善自我之时，也即上帝对人格，生命底蕴的内在转化。古人云:?真知即所以为行，不行不是谓之知。?这样说来，应尽天道无余常与善人，然而当一种追求与神冥冥相对时，人的生命不过是自然界的一根芦苇，任何来自自然界的渺小力量都能使其归于毁灭。麦吉，拉尔夫就是如此，拉尔夫很象<巴黎圣母院>中的那个牧师，不同的只是形式，其情之专感人肺腑，美丽的东西不过是瞬间的灿烂，抓住一个足以乐终身。相比而言，拉尔夫是幸运的，神的力量还没有完全扼住其情感的咽喉，痛苦的理性最终让位于纯真的本能，从而也就抓住了永恒的瞬间，他死了??在爱人的怀中，留下了凄楚的麦吉。幸福总是伴随着多倍的痛苦，美总是短暂到让人来不及为之驻足，痛并快乐着，亦或乐并痛苦着。福兮，祸兮?
一切束缚人的本能的宗教或法则总会在人的持久的沉默后的爆发中被突破，牧师和和尚相似。无独有偶，<巴黎圣母院>中也着力刻画牧师受着相思煎熬后的种种痛苦乃至扭曲的心灵，难道仅仅是巧合吗?生理的欲望只能顺势引导，因地制宜，才能使肉体的凡俗升华到精神的神圣。
由此种种，经典的爱情总是以悲剧而告终的。<乱世佳人>，<呼啸山庄>，<简。爱>，<红楼梦>等著作能流芳百世，悲剧的意义在于把有价值的东西撕毁给人看，悲剧作家的灵性在于他以大悲的眼光透过现象看本质，由一而衍生出二乃至无数，将个体的悲升华到整个人类的一种发自脊髓深处的寒气来，正因为如此，他本人倒是往往乐观的，因为他悲在质量而非数量，在本质而非现象本身。当这种悲超越了人的承受力的时候，喜剧作为一种替代品便出台了。
真正的悲剧是一种微妙的形式，它绝非是原本美的东西结合后又因彼此的冲突而告终的那种，而是当好不容易结合后却时常因外在压力或内心谴责生活在如履薄冰的思想境地中，最终这种因环境或某种特殊原因的压力而在实际上或抽象意义上分开，如罗密欧与朱丽叶，白瑞德与斯嘉丽，主人公背负着或沉重或戏谑等特性，在上帝的微笑中悄然而去，留给读者无尽的感伤，同时却使人心灵得以净化。只有把一种感情放在记忆中或想象中去品味，同时使之在一种被呵护的状态中活在当下，才是最好的，物质的或肉体接触如果稍有不当都是对它的亵渎。与人共享青春，但愿独自苍老是一件很浪漫的事，爱情也一样，如果麦吉和拉尔夫没有结合，悲剧的味道就会冲淡，与人在逝世前仍对他们所憧憬的保留一份绝对的神秘，的确带有淡淡的紫丁香般的哀伤!遗憾的是酸涩的，美却是令人愉悦的，这就是悲剧的魅力。
拉尔夫爱上麦吉源于一种直觉，然而这种感觉却支配着他的一举一动，很难说请一见钟情和理智思考后的真情谁更好，但犹如佛教中的密宗禅宗一样，终能修成正果。
感谢文学殿堂里悲剧的独特贡献，主人公以其悲壮，作家以其刀笔，直入人的魂魄深处，唤醒人性沉睡的或正要入睡的心底最柔软的部分，从而有了参照物以修正自我，润物细无声的滋养着人的荒芜或即将失去的精神家园，使人高雅起来，悲剧的高尚正在于以其悲成全人类之美!
??至拉尔夫死在麦吉的怀中及文中对战后归来的其弟兄的描写及人物的死亡安排，作者人性化及个性化色彩呼之欲出，跃然纸上，感动之余遂乱写下自己的一点感受，时常感动，学会感恩，让自己成为?人?!
荆棘鸟读后感800字(三)
有一个传说，说的是有那么一只鸟儿，它一生只唱一次，那歌声比世上所有一切生灵的歌声都更加优美动听。从离开巢窝的那一刻起，它就在寻找着荆棘树，直到如愿以偿，才歇息下来。然后，它把自己的身体扎进最长，最尖的荆棘上，便在那荒蛮的枝条之间放开了歌喉。()在奄奄一息的时刻，它超脱了自身的痛苦，而那歌声竟然使云雀和夜莺都黯然失色。这是一曲无比美好的歌，曲终而命竭????<荆棘鸟>
最初买下这本书是因为觉得作者麦凯洛的这段题记很凄美，花了五个昼夜读完了这本五十万字的长篇家世小说，颇有荡气回肠之感，这时的我才渐渐品出那个荆棘鸟传说所背负的复杂的命运和情感。
克利里家族在20世纪早期来到广袤的澳大利亚德罗海达牧场谋生，小说的时间跨越了两次世界大战和经济大萧条，麦凯洛在这广阔的大背景下，记叙了从1915年到1969年间发生的故事。然而故事的核心还是帕迪?克利里的女儿梅吉和拉尔夫神父之间不可能实现的爱情。小说有关爱和命运的主题以及栩栩如生的人物刻画为这个故事赋予了更多的内涵以及出版30年来不衰的魅力。
?最美好的东西只能用最深痛的巨创来换取?，作者通过克利里家的沧桑和情感经历揭示了这个道理。主人公梅吉经历了半个世纪的人生，一个天真稚嫩的小女孩被时光洗刷得两鬓斑白，没有什么可以弥补时间和青春的流逝。她曾得到过所希翼的全部，也曾陷入无尽的黑暗。她是一个有血有肉，极尽真实的普通人，我时常想起故事最后梅吉的话:?一切都是我自己造成的，我谁都不怨恨。我不能对此有片刻追悔。?
即使身处现实世界，我们每个人亦是如此，所追求的美好的东西，就犹如那最长最尖的荆棘，当我们把荆棘刺向胸膛，我们很清楚那种将至的撕心的疼痛，但倔强的我们依然会奋不顾身的这样做。因为短暂的一生中，这才是生命的意义。
青春，应该怎样理解?我们应当如何度过?初中时代好友就问过我这样的问题，当时的我答不上来。后来看了<死亡诗社>这部影片，片中的基廷老师告诉我要?seizetheday?，青春就要充满激情，放飞思想。而<荆棘鸟>又给了我答案:义无反顾地去追求，即使受伤，也不要留遗憾。再大一些，生命也同样。当然，这样的想法对、错或偏激见仁见智，当现在的我看过了一些人和事，我发觉童年、青春是世界特别赐予我们每个人为了未来的不再错而容许犯错的时间，因此我们不必为自己犯的所有错而买单，不必束缚起自己的内心，当情感和理智相碰撞，不必每次都屈服。当我们经受了足够的磨炼，走过一些弯路之后，终有一天能够唱出生命的最美乐章。