AMulti—viewInterpretationofSunshineSketchesofaLittleTown

LiJie

【Abstract】Stephen Leacocks masterpiece Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is considered as one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature.This paper discusses the novel from the viewpoints of character analysis，Mariposa understanding and humor explanation to help the readers gain a better knowledge.

【Key Words】Stephen Leacock； Character； Mariposa； Humor

As one of the forefathers of Canadian literature，Stephen Leacock （1869-1944） created many vivid characters and a world “Mariposa” in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town，and presented his unique style of humor.

1.Character Analysis

Leacock gave birth to many characters in his noted Sunshine，and almost all the characters are twofold.Characters are endowed with good qualities such as loveliness，kindness，and optimism； but also bad qualities like selfishness，blindness and greed.Most striking of all is Josh Smith.He runs the hotel，tries to keep his liquor license being cancelled，saves the Mariposa Belle，and takes advantage of his wealth to be elected.While his conducts are due to his interest and selfishness.Jefferson Thorpe，a barbershop owner，continues to work after he loses all the money in the stoke market.John Smith，who has born capability of running business，struggles for financial success； Golgotha Gingham is regarded as an important figure in Mariposa just due to his standing directly to “l(fā)ife and death”.

These characters are selfish，over-confident，and greedy.On the other，they are true to life，vivid，and of great representativeness.Actually some flaws in humanity that sometimes make them do folly things，are inevitable，forgivable and bona fide，far from serious and all the tragedies of mankind will be turned over.（傅新宇，2000）

2.Understanding “Mariposa”

Stephen Leacock outlined an imaginary world “Mariposa”，where the residents are living in a harmonious and restful life.

“There it lies in the sunlight，sloping up from the little lake that spreads out the foot of the hillside on which the town is built.” （Leacock，1987）

Mariposa，neither an industrialized metropolitan city，nor a barren wasteland，counts a beautiful town with charming sceneries.Leacock narrates “I dont know whether you know Mariposa.If not，it is of no consequence，for if you know Canada at all，you are probably well acquainted with a dozen towns just like it”，which testifies that Mariposa is a Canadian-style lovely town on which he puts his hope and a somehow utopia like，where the organic society is applauded.

3.Humor Explanation

As Leacock pointed out in “My View on Human”，his humor，which is more than humor，depicting the joys and sorrows of human life by means of making others bursting to laugh，ridiculing the weakness of humanity，and uncovering the drawbacks of society，can be understood as “a combination of laugh and tear”（利科克，2006）.

“Ask Mullins，the manager of the Exchange Bank，who comes hustling over to his office from the Mariposa House every day at 10：30 and has scarcely time all morning to go out and take a drink with the manager of the Commercial” （Leacock，1987）.The whole morning had lapsed while Mullins did not begin a days work.He still wondered to spare sometime out to take a drink with another manager，which is funny and ironical.

“They might have wondered…every man was hauled aboard just as the lifeboat sank under their feet”.（ibid.） A rescue boat hurrying to rescue the people on the Mariposa Belle，a steamer on its way to sink，was ironically saved by the people who were waiting to be saved，which indicates the humor.

Another obvious humor appears in “Look at Bismarck and Mr.Gladstone and President Taft and Mr.Smith----the same thing in each case.”（ibid.） Leacock compared Mr.Smith with several significant figures，such as Bismarck，the late Prussian minister，Mr.Gladstone，British former prime minister，and Taft，the 27th president of America.How can a small town hotel manager be compared with those all-powerful figures？ Its a book full of humors created by understatement，exaggeration，or word absurdity，focusing on human folly.No wonder Gerald Lynch marked that “Humor is for Leacock the literary manifestation of humanism” （Lynch，1988）.

Reference：

[1]Gerald Lynch.Stephen Leacock：Humor and Humanity，Kingston and Montreal：McGill University Press 1988，p6-7.

[2]Stephen Leacock.Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town，McClelland and Stewart，1987，p1，3，27，51-53，83.

[3]傅新宇.斯蒂芬·利科克與《小鎮(zhèn)艷陽(yáng)錄》.蘭州大學(xué)學(xué)報(bào)， 2000.

[4]斯蒂芬·利科克（著），莫雅平（譯）.李科克諧趣作品集.人民文學(xué)出版社，2006.