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Abstract Being a vanguard of American stage, Elmer Rice not only introduced fresh theories and new techniques to America, but also analyzed the moral and cultural values of American society in his plays. He devoted his life to fight for the liberty and dignity of the inpidual because he believed in American democracy and in the innate goodness of the human heart. His belief in utopianism opened up a new possibility of genuine human life with freedom and humanity, which served as the negation of capitalist social reality.
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This paper aims to examine the theme of Elmer Rice’s masterpiece The Adding Machine by analyzing the major symbols in the play. The use of outward symbols was a distinctive feature of expressionism as well as an ironic manifestation of the dehumanizing theme of the play. Scathing critique is made in this play towards the loss of personality in such an indifferent society of mechanization and mass production, and towards the deep-rooted Puritan morality in people’s hearts and the shallowness of human relations. The only way to avoid such pathetic fate is to defeat the demon inside and realize the desire for freedom through people’s own choice.
Key Words: symbol, dehumanizing, utopian, freedom
摘要艾尔默莱斯是美国戏剧的先驱。他不仅率先应用新的理论和技术，并致力于对美国的道德价值和文化价值做细致的分析。他一生都在为人的平等和尊严而战，因为他相信美国的民主，相信人性本善。他将自己乌托邦主义的理论注入到作品中，为人们展示了一种新的生活。那是一种与当时资本主义社会现实截然相反的，崇尚自由与人性的真正的生活。
本文试图通过分析莱斯代表作《加算器》中的主要符号来审视整部作品的主题。外化的符号不仅是表现主义的一大特征，同时也讽刺地表现了全剧人性失落的主题。莱斯在剧中痛斥了机械社会的残酷无情，扩大生产之下的人性失落，以及传统道德观念的落后与人际关系的冷漠。同时莱斯还揭示出要想避免这种悲惨命运的唯一方法即是通过自己的选择，战胜心魔，获得自由。
关键词：符号，人性失落，乌托邦，自由5269
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments i
Abstract ii
摘要 iii
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Introduction of the Playwright and the Play 1
1.2 Literature Review 3
1.3 The Purpose of this Thesis 5
2 Major Symbols Demonstrating the Theme of Humanity Loss 7
2.1 The Loss of Inpidual Identity and Dignity—the Numbers 7
2.1.1 Dehumanization Showed in the Characters’ Names 7
2.1.2 Dullness of Mr. Zero’s Work Which Equals to Death 8
2.2 The Loss of Interpersonal Connections—the Court 10
2.3 The Loss of “American Dream”—the Paradise 11
2.3.1 The Corrupted Paradise of America in the 20th Century 11
2.3.2 The Utopian Hope Represented by the Elysian Fields 12
3 Conclusion 16
Bibliography 17
1 Introduction
The first decade of the 20th century was a special and strange period of time for America. The economy boomed after the World War I whereas the problems of the social system gradually emerged. The rapid progress in science and technology did not result in an average improvement of the living standard of the great majority, but dramatically broadened the gap between the rich and the poor. The misery of the workers and the deformity of the society aroused reflections of the literati. Among them, Elmer Rice was a pioneer of the protection of inpidual rights and the reform of the social order. His masterpiece, The Adding Machine is a poignant sarcasm of the loss of humanity in a mechanized society. The author’s hope for inpidual freedom and his eagerness of social reform is contained in this work.