The Road from Happiness

As a rule, novelists convey their thoughts through the themes of their novels, for example, they may advocate a kind of virtue, as is shown in Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, or they may criticize social events or phenomena, which can be discerned in Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal. In the short story The Road from Colonus composed by E.M.Forster, the writer tries to unveil the miserable life of the old and arouse the respect and understanding towards them among the young. There are three main periods through the development of the short story: the peace and happiness Mr. Lucas finds at the Khan; the failed attempt to convince his companions to allow him living there; the tedious life he has to lead after their return home. And by contrasting Mr. Lucas' feeling before and after he is forced to leave the country inn, the author exhibits the misfortune of the old to have no voice and no choice.

It seems that the old has no freedom and that they are deprived of independence because of physical deficiencies. At the beginning of the story The Road from Colonus, the hero Mr. Lucas is eager to get away from the "attention and consideration"① of the younger members, so he hits the mule's sides strongly to go far ahead of them. On the land of Greece, he realizes "one of the dreams of his life"②, and here he finds youth and happiness back in him. What's more, he is especially amazed by the hollow tree where a spring gushes out. The spring irrigates the fern and moss and the fertile meadows, as if it represents hope and new life. Mr. Lucas is so fascinated by the mystery and beauty of the place that he wants to possess it and ① Wang Shouren, Selected Readings in British Literature, Higher Education Press, E.M.Forster(1879-1970), The Road from Colonus

② Wang Shouren, Selected Readings in British Literature, Higher Education Press, E.M.Forster(1879-1970), The Road from Colonus

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never leave. In the short time when he stays alone, he thinks he has "regained youth, or seen beauty or found happiness"③. However, it does not last long. When the rest of the party arrives at the inn for lunch, Mr. Lucas talks about his will to live there. Instead of accepting his request, his daughter Ethel and other companions persuade him to leave, and when it fails, they even lift him and put him on the mule by force. Although they assume they do this out of the concern for Mr. Lucas, they do not understand him and respect him and regard him as an independent man. Henceforth, Mr. Lucas resumes to and old man with little freedom and free choice.

Besides the beauty and youth he finds, Mr. Lucas likes the little country inn for the kind and simple people living there. The old woman and the young man seem to Mr. Lucas are working with meaning or singing of beauty. Although the family's life is not well-off, they live in peace and happiness. Here Mr. Lucas thinks he "has discovered not only Greece, but England and all the world and life"④. And when the rest of his party forces him to leave, those in the Khan try to stop them as if Mr. Lucas is a part of the family who is important. In sharp contrast, Mr. Lucas' daily life in England is tedious without a proper person to keep company. His friends are dead or cold to be with. His daughter Ethel loves him but also has other interests. He seldom meets his other children, and he has only one relative whom he both fears and hates. After he comes back home, he is left alone while his daughter is busy preparing for her wedding. In most of the cases, the old seems to be left alone to lead a life that is totally meaningless and passionless. ③ Wang Shouren, Selected Readings in British Literature, Higher Education Press, E.M.Forster(1879-1970), The Road from Colonus

④ Wang Shouren, Selected Readings in British Literature, Higher Education Press, E.M.Forster(1879-1970), The Road from Colonus

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Another contrast is between the beautiful scenery in Greece, and the dirty and noisy environment at Mr. Lucas' home. Outside the country inn in Greece, Mr. Lucas leans against the trunk of the hollow tree and enjoys the flow of the water, the clean air and the music of the spring. However, at his home in England, he would like to give up the house because "the dogs bark, the children next door are intolerable, and I cannot stand the noise of running water." He would rather die in the small inn in Greece that night than live meaninglessly in loneliness.

In conclusion, by contrasting Mr. Lucas' condition before and after his being urged to leave the country inn from these three aspects, the novelist E.M.Forster tries to express his concern for the elder, since their needs are neglected and voices not heard. The road from Colonus is not a mere journey, but a road getting far away from happiness. Therefore, it is necessary to satisfy the elder's needs by not only taking care of them physically or materially, but also mentally, that is, communicating with them and respect them.

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第二篇：A Critical Reading of The Road from Colonus

A Critical Reading of The Road from Colonus2009-04-01 12:32Abstract: This paper aims at analysing the intertextuality used by E. M. Forster in The Road from Colonus. In this novel, Forster explored the relationships between the young and the elderly to raise young people's awareness of respecting the elderly as well as paying more attention to have a better understanding of them. Key words: intertextuality, the young and the elderly In literature, intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. Intertextuality has been a much used term since its first introduction by Julia Kristeva in her work of the late 1960s, notably her essay of 1969, translated as “Word, Dialogue and Novel”.? The Road from Colonus is a short story written by E. M. Forster in the early part of his life. In this novel, he took Mr. Lucas and his daughter Ethel into comparison with Oedipus and Antigone, who are two characters in Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. Here, we can easily find Forster's borrowing and transformation of Sophocles' Oedipus at Colonus. Mr. Lucas, an old Englishman, he always dreamt of visiting Greece. As in declining health, he decided to go there with his daughter. Occasionally, Mr. Lucas found a mysterious great old hollow tree from which a spring of water flowed. He tasted the water and it was sweet. He suddenly realized that the sky was so blue, the leaves were so green, all the things were so good and the world was so beautiful. What he really seeked during his travels was restoration of youth. Actually, he got it. The old hollow tree standed for an aged man full of ambition. Although it was growing old, it still made contribution to the world. He didn't want to die passively and peacefully from old age, he wanted to be like the tree and to do what it did. That was, to die fighting. Mr. Lucas had led a healthy, active life, had worked steadily, made money, educated his children. He had experienced life enough. Mr. Lucas was not afraid of death, he even regarded it like a kind of release. This was quite similar to Oedipus, who also didn't care how long he could exist in the miserable world after he knew all the facts. Oedipus was the king of Thebes in Greece, he killed his father and married his mother for the tease of the fate. With endless regret, he blinded his eyes himself; with great sorrow, he left Thebes to exile himself; with unbounded hopelessness, he had no fear in face of the coming death. However, he was happier when comparing with Mr. Lucas. No matter what great kind of pain Oedipus had suffered, he remained his determination and dignity at the end of his life. He could and did refuse to leave Colonus. Eventually, he died there, getting released. While, Mr. Lucas, who was also on his way to death, lost his right to decide his own destiny and was forced back to England. This is one aspect of intertextuality used in the novel. Someone gets, someone losses; someone dead, someone alive. Who is much happier?

Not only the young have great ideals and assertions, but also the elderly. The elderly are eager to achieve their ambitions because their time is limited. They'd like to confirm their value of existence through making contributions. They view it as the evidence to prove that they have existed once in the world. Everyone has a dream, you can show your disagreement, but you couldn't deprive him of dreaming and pursuing his dream. Both Oedipus and Mr. Lucas are lonely and stubborn, no one understands them, even their daughters. Ethel, Mr. Lucas' daughter, once said that she would devote all her life to her father. In a sense, she did love her father. She went to visit Greece with her father no matter whether she really liked or not, just because it was a place where her father dreamt to travel. Additionally, she tended her father carefully, giving him clean socks and dry boots, and then sat him down on the rug beside the lunch basket when she and the others found her father in the hollow tree. However, on the other side, she played tricks on her father after he complimented that Colonus was an attractive place by saying "Well, I must stop, I positively must." Moreover, she and the others forced Mr. Lucas to leave Colonus with them even he refused. Besides, Ethel got married a few weeks later after returned England. It is seriously doubted that if she loved her father indeed. Did her memory declined to such a low level that she forgot what she had said before? The answer is obviously no. Apparently Ethel's own interests took precedence over other things. Then how about Antigone? Just like Ethel, Antigone also advised her father to leave Colonus. But she respected Oedipus a lot and follow his decision when Oedipus showed his attitude. After Oedipus became blind, Antigone accompanied with him all the time until he died. Although Oedipus led a miserable life, at least he had a filial daughter who respected him, accompanied with him, and try to understand him. While Mr. Lucas couldn't take his life under control. His beloved daughter, Ethel, didn't give him the basic respect that everyone deserved in make decisions and choices of his own life. In addition, Ethel deprived her father of making decisions and choices, and forced him to do something he really hated. This is the other aspect of intertextuality used in the novel. One should keep his words; if he couldn't, never promise forever. The young usually believe that it's their duty to make the elderly lead a comfortable and happy life during their final years. Absolutely right. But what the elderly need indeed is not the young's care, but their respect and understanding. In general, the young always think they are right and unwilling to admit their mistakes. They often treat the elderly as children, naughty, mean, obstinate, and full of curiosity. As a matter of fact, the elderly are receptive, inclusive, sensible, and full of ambitions. Virtually, Forster used intertextuality in the nov

el to draw people's attention to the problems between the young and the elderly. Almost all the problems are caused by misunderstanding and ignorance. Therefore, the young should respect the elderly, pay more attention to communicate with them, try to understanding them, and the most important, accompany with them and support them.