Ambiguity in Henry James’ Paste

LUO Wan-ru

【Abstract】  Henry James employs blanks to build ambiguity in the short story “Paste”， at least through two ways： posing gaps in the narrative and using the suspended meaning of the dash. One key point to resolve ambiguities in his works is to understand characters moral qualities， so that the readers can enjoy the beauty of his works.

【Key words】“Paste”1; ambiguity 2; Henry James 3

【作者簡介】LUO Wan-ru， Hunan Judicial Police Vocational College.

1. Preface

Paste， published in 1909 in James Novel and Tales， is mainly about how the three main characters， Arthur Prime， Charlotte Prime and Mrs. Guy， dealt with a necklace， which had belonged to Arthurs stepmother from her pre-martial career as an actress. The first-time readers may be not sure whether the necklace is real or not. They feel ambiguous about it. Why would they have such a feeling？

Readers are puzzled because of the almost opposed facts from Arthur and Mrs. Guy. As Arthur wrote in his letter to Charlotte， he told that he had smashed the necklace; while Mrs. Guy， when met Charlotte once again at a dinner， told she bought the necklace in a window in Bond street which Arthur had deposed of. It seems to the readers that one still did not believe the necklace was a real one; while the other， after longing for some time and finally getting it， thought it was a real one. Especially， for these two， the value of the necklace was totally different. For Arthur， those costume jewelry， including the necklace， left by his stepmother， was devalued as “awful，” “old，” and “rotten” “trash”; while for Mrs. Guy the necklace was “splendid，” “lovely” and specially charming. These facts are contradictory to each other. After reading it for the first time， readers face a choice that who they should choose to believe， Arthur or Mrs. Guy. As result， it produces the ambiguity in readers mind， only leaving them wondering and hesitating between the two clashing statements.

2. Ambiguities in works of Henry James

As a transitional writer from the Victorian to the Modern， Henry James would like to employ lots of techniques in his works， which make his works a little difficult to read. However， that also helps his works gain more profound meanings. According to some scholars， there are always ambiguities in many works of Henry James. Critics， such as Ralf Norrman who published a book named Techniques of Ambiguity in the Fiction of Henry James， have discussed such a technique of James. Unlike William Empsons seven types of ambiguity， which add to the readers pleasure by multiplying meaning， the ambiguity of James “appear to work negatively，” “leaving the reader dangling， wondering” （Falconer 1）. Readers of his works are confronted with a choice of meanings but given no direct clue， since the alternatives exclude each other. The more important is that readers are forced to enter into the process of creating meanings for themselves. And finally， he or she can enjoy the beauty of his works.

3. Employing blanks to build ambiguity

How does James create the ambiguity for his readers？ As it is mentioned before， two completely different statements by Arthur and Mrs. Guy bring the readers into ambiguity. Actually， the more important is his employment of some skills to create the ambiguity. In this short story， Henry James employs blanks to build ambiguity， at least through two ways： posing gaps in the narrative and using the suspended meaning of the dash.

Posing gaps in the narrative

Careful readers may find that after Charlotte decided to return the necklace， she actually had waited “a long time” till at the end of “several months.” James repeats the word， “wait，” which suggests it is enough for people to do many things. During the several months， the readers do not know what happened. It is totally blank for readers. However， readers know something must have happened during the time which makes a difference to the end of the story. Because of the gap， which was purposely made by James， the readers have to guess what might happen during the several months. Maybe Arthur did not smash the necklace but told a lie to Charlotte， and Mrs. Guy really recognized it by miraculous luck and bought it in a window in Bond Street; or maybe， Arthur did smash it， and Mrs. Guy lied to Charlotte; or even maybe， Arthur did not smash it and Mrs. Guy did not buy it from a window but directly from Arthur， as she had known the address of Arthur from Charlotte before. The text does not give a clear answer to it， and readers dont know who is telling the truth.

The gap serves to create ambiguity for the readers who will wonder what the characters may be doing when they are off stage. Readers are confused; however， at the same time， they may be interested in guessing and find out meaning of their own.

Using the suspended meaning of the dash

Also， it may be found by careful readers that lots of dashes appear in the text， especially at the end of a characters speaking sentence， which replace what the character tries to express. Almost every time such a kind of dash appears， replacing words that the character would like to say， there may be a suggestion of his or her doubt. For example， after feeling and turning around the necklace， and finding its difference from other costume jewelry， Charlotte for the first time doubted its value and its origin. She asked to Arthur， “Mightnt they have been a present？” Arthur answered it as if it were almost improper， “because actresses are exposed──？” He did not go on but stopped saying. Actually he may want to say that actresses were exposed to have relationship with some of their admirers， so that it was not a surprise that she would have such an expensive necklace. It suggests Arthurs doubt to the necklace here. However， on the other hand， they both didnt admit that Arthurs stepmother would do like that for different reasons. Charlotte thought her aunt was kind and nice to everyone and believed her character， while Arthur did not believe his stepmother would have such an admirer since she was an obscure actress and would not allow anyone to think ill of his family fame. Later， when it was showed to Mrs. Guy， she doubted its value and origin， too. During their talking about Arthurs stepmother， Mrs. Guy asked Charlotte what Arthur thought of his stepmother， Charlotte thought that Arthur was sure his stepmothers character was above suspicion by saying that， “Why， that she had never been of the sort by whom such offerings are encouraged.” Mrs. Guy suddenly said， “Ah， my dear， the sort by whom theyre not──！” She caught herself up， which suggests her doubt about the character of Charlottes aunt. Using dashes to replace what the characters wants to say provokes readers hesitation. They are confused whether what the characters tried to deny is true or not， therefore， ambiguity is produced.