Transitivity and Mental Analysis

1 Introduction

Generally recognized as a significant milestone for contemporary study for the disillusion of American dream and its influence on protagonists personality，The Egg，first published in 1921，has been subject to extensive studies.By depicting the whole familys beautiful wish and efforts to rise in the world，the writer successfully presented how people of lower class strained their efforts to rise in the world and showcased the restriction on humans mental and physical world inflicted by a given social environment.Meanwhile，different perspectives of the novel had been found by a countless number of scholars.To name a few，most studies mainly focused on the symbolic meaning of egg for three protagonists in question，while others explored the influence of social environment on the formation of protagonists personality.All of these studies have given us a panoramic view of the plot，be it the social surrounding or personality.However，among these studies，little attention has been paid to fathers mental transformation，and transitivity analysis is seldom employed as the method to analyze the novel.This article aims to explore the mental transformation of father during the process of trying to be someone in the world，which is crucial in a deep and thorough understanding of the protagonist.A transitivity analysis reveals different transitivity patterns being employed to pave the way for the protagonists mental changes.

The novel，being narrated from the childs perspective，mainly deals with the disillusion of American dream.The story begins with fathers peaceful life in countryside when he had no notion of trying to rise in the world.At that time，father worked for a landowner as a farmhand，and he went to the pub for enjoyment frequently； life seemed to be beautiful and easy.However，everything changed after fathers marriage with mother，who is an ambitious school teacher holding high and great wish for her husband and son.Driven by mothers strong will，father took up a career to take care of a chicken farm，which turned out to be bankrupt.Finally，they moved into another place to open a small restaurant for those waiting for the arrival of train.As the restaurant proved to be unprofitable，father decoded that both father and mother should smile at customers all the time； besides，they should offer tricks to entertain those travelers.Father therefore presented his treasures——grotesques from eggs，or playing tricks with eggs to make customers happy.However，fathers passion and efforts turned out to be in vain once again.Although the novel mainly deals with fathers attempts to rise in the world for several times，the ensuing mental transformation should also been given equal attention.Regular transitivity patterns in the novel reveals that the text is not randomly organized and the author is quite skilled in employing language.As to studies concerning the novel，existing criticism tends to focus on the symbolic meaning of egg for the three family members （Wang，2016）；some mainly deals with the conflict between social reality and personal expectation （Chen，2014）；besides，the conversed role between father and mother has also been subject to intensive studies （Lin，2012）.Although some critiques have touched upon the mental state of father，they havent deep into a systematic and comprehensive study from the perspective of transitivity analysis.Indeed，fathers mental transformation plays a significant role in the study of social environments subtle yet effective influence on peoples phychological change.endprint

2 Transitivity features reflecting fathers mental transformation

2.1 stage 1：purposeless but cheerful

At this stage，father had no idea in beginning his career and ambition was far away from his horizon.Yet father was quite happy with his position and had no notion of trying to rise in the world.Though poor in wealth，father has abundant activities to pursue in an effort to live a happy life — he spent time in social interaction and entertainment：

My father was，I am sure，intended by nature to be a cheerful，kindly man.Until he was thirty-four years old，he worked as a farmhand for a man named Thomas Butterworth whose place lay near the town of Bidwell，Ohio.He had then a horse of his own and on Saturday evenings drove into town to spend a few hours in social intercourse with other farmhands.In town he drank several glasses of beer and stood about in Ben Heads saloon-crowded on Saturday evening with visiting farmhands.At ten oclock，father drove home along a lonely country road，made his horse comfortable for the night and went to bed，quite happy in his position in life.He had at that time no notion of trying to rise in the world.

By way of transitivity analysis as offered by Halliday，it can be clearly see that among these processes with father being actor，62.5% has no goal while 37% has goals of pleasure.The omission of goal indicates that fathers activities are not clearly oriented，or father didnt have any concrete goal in his career.That being said，father is of the ability to act as the actor of his behavior，showing father remains the dominator of his life.Besides，as for those processes having certain goals，the activities of father is targeted at something concerning pleasure，such as “a few hours”，“several glasses”，indicating fathers living a happy and easy life.Based on transitivity analysis in this stage，it is safe to conclude that although father doesnt have any purpose in his career，he still living a cheerful life.

2.2 stage2：targeted but depressed

After getting married with mother，father has something changed within his inner world.Driven by mothers strong will，father had to deal with all kinds of affairs in his daily life.They took on a career by opening a chicken farm，but things always run counter to their wish.At this stage，father had to bear heavy burdens inflicted by the great losses of chicken farm and mothers endless urgent.

At any rate he saved all the little monstrous things that had been born on our chicken farm.They were preserved in alcohol and put each in its own class bottle.These he had carefully put into a box on our journey into town it was carried on the wagon seat beside him.He drove the horse with one hand and with the other clung to the box.When we got to our destination the box was taken down at once and the bottles removed.All during our days as keepers of a restaurant in the town of Bidwell，Ohio，the grotesques in their little glass bottles sat on a shelf back of the counter.endprint

At Pickleville father and mother worked hard as they always had done.At first there was the necessity of putting our place into shape to be a restaurant.That took a month.Father built a shelf on which he put tins of vegetables.He painted a sign on which he put his name in large red letters.Below his name was the sharp command—— “EAT HERE”-that was so seldom obeyed.A showcase was bought and filled with cigars and tobacco.

Compared with the process distribution in stage 1，the increase in process variety and quantity indicates fathers increasing activity in starting a career and becoming wealthy.It is worth stressing that quite different from the paucity of goal in stage 1，among those material processes concerning fathers activity，71.4% has its specific goal as eggs.For example，“He saved all the little monstrous things that had been born on our chicken farm.” Besides，as to the material process concerning with fathers behavior，62.5% of “father” acting as actor in the sentences was omitted.For example，“They were preserved in alcohol and put each in its own glass bottle.” “it was carries on the wagon set beside him.” “when we got to our destination the box was taken down at once and the bottles removed.” If we are probing into these sentences，it is obvious that those activities of carrying things are done by father.However，the word “father” was omitted in above sentences.At this stage，sentences without actor occupy as high as 62.5%，and in fact，the omitted actor undoubtedly refers to father.Judging from this transitivity patterning，it is easy to infer that though active in taking care of career，father is losing his position as dominator，showing fathers inferiority in his relationship with egg.

Apart from the distinctive patterning in material process，the features reflected in mental process also deserve our attention.At stage I，no mental process can be found.In contrast，the presence of mental process itself represents fathers increasing activity in making a change.Lets take an example.“He had some sort of notion that if he could but bring into henhood or roosterhood a five-legged hen or two-headed rooster his fortune would be made.”“He dreamed of taking the wonder about to county fairs and of growing rich by exhibiting it to other farmhands.”From the above sentence we can see that in these mental processes with father being the sensor，the phenomenon is a material sentence.In the excerpted passage，the phenomenon of the first sentence is“if he could but bring into henhood or roosterhood a five-legged hen or two-headed rooster his fortune would be made.”In the second sentence，the phenomenon is“taking the wonder about to county fairs and of growing rich by exhibiting it to other farmhands.”Phenomenon in both sentences became material processes concerning the development of career by way of preserving grotesques born out of eggs.Based on this pattern，we can judge that the egg is exercising dictatorship over father by occupying his mental and physical world，without leaving him any space for entertainment.Therefore，due to the long period of interaction with profitless eggs，father was trapped into discouragement and depression.endprint

In the light of preceding discussion，it should become clear that though having specific pursuit in career，fathers mental state is far from being cheerful and happy； rather，he undergone a crucial transformation.It is in this process that father was diverted from being cheerful into great depression.Besides，the failure and discouragement father undergone in this stage also paved the way for his tremendous change in his later career journey.

2.3 Passionate and autonomous

In this stage，transitivity patterning takes on a new look.An abundance of process types can be found to reflect the interaction of will，act and voice，thus indicating the increasing activity on the part of father.Besides，another notable feature in this process is the compounding and embedding of varied processes in s single clause，which shows fathers spontaneity in performing different processes as a whole.

He decided that he had in the past been an unsuccessful man because...and in the future he would adopt a cheerful outlook on life. It was fathers idea that we should...Father become a little feverish...he muttered and swore.He declared it was wrong to teach children that Columbus was a great man when he cheated at the critical moment.He had declared he could make an egg stand on end and then when his bluff had been called he had done a trick.Still grumbling at Columbus，father took an egg from the basket on the counter and began to walk up and down.He rolled the egg between the palms of his hands.He smiled genially.He began to mumble words regarding the effect to be produced on an egg by the electricity that comes out of human body. He declared that...He explained that...“I have handled thousands of eggs，”father said，“no one knows more about eggs than I do.”

The most distinctive feature of father at this stage is his strong will to interact with the outside world.In this stage，verbal process is employed to indicate fathers eagerness to communicate with the world.According to the cooperative principle of speech act theory，ones words have to be greeted by another.However，fathers words hadnt been greeted throughout the stage.for example：

Fathers eye lighted on the basket of eggs that sat on the counter and he began to talk.“Well，” he began hesitatingly，“well，you have heard of Christopher Columbus，eh？”He seemed to be angry.“That Christopher Columbus was a cheat，”he declared emphatically.“He talked of making an egg stand on its end.He talked，he did，and then he went and broke the end of the egg.”endprint

From the excerpted passage，we can clearly see that the communication between father and the young man didnt obey the cooperative principle，indicating fathers excessive passion to make a difference was doomed to failure.

At this stage，father became more active in his career，especially in mental process.Compared with the monotony at first two stages，this stage is characterized by the embedding and compounding of varied processes in a single clause.As to the mental process，the phenomenon is composed of several processes.For example：

He decided that he had in the past been an unsuccessful man because he had not been cheerful enough and that in the future he would adopt a cheerful outlook...

It was fathers idea that that a passion for the company of himself and mother would spring up the breasts of the younger people of the town...

The compounding and embedding of varied processes in phenomenon indicates that father is viewing the world in a comprehensive and systematic manner； besides，it also shows that father is transforming into an autonomous figure.

As we mentioned above，father has lost the position of dominator in his life.At stage 2，the word “father” being actor was omitted in an effort to indicate fathers losing of dominating position.In contrast，“father” had regained its role as actor in material process at this stage.For example：

Still grumbling at Columbus，father took an egg from the basket on the counter and began to walk up and down.He rolled the egg between the palms of his hands.He smiled genially.He began to mumble words regarding the effect to be produced on an egg by the electricity that comes out of human body.

The choice of “father”as actor highlights father had highlighted his capacity as an active person in developing his career； and the choice of “egg”being goal shows fathers activities are clearly oriented.To put it another way，father reestablished his role as a dominator of life and he is highly autonomous in relation to his career.

3 Transitivity analysis and the theme of the novel

From this passage，we can clearly see the importance of transitivity patterning to the expression of theme.Viewed from the socio-historical context of the passage，what the novel trying to highlight is the gradual yet tremendous change of people living in a given environment influenced by social reality.The pure narration of plot is far from sufficient to exert profound influence on readers mind while transitivity patterning is capable of doing a good job in delivering feelings and create an easy-to-sense atmosphere.In The Egg，the author makes the novel more expressive by employing different transitivity patterning in different time.These transitivity features better reflects the theme by giving readers intensive echo within the inner world.For example，by omitting the actor in material process，the author successfully lessen the presence of father，thus delivering fathers inferior position in life.Also，the compounding and embedding of different processes in a single clause bring us the feeling that father is viewing the world in a comprehensive and systematic way.Though uneasy to be noticed，transitivity features in the novel play an indispensable role in expressing fathers psychological changes，thus vividly indicating how social reality functions to transform peoples mind so thoroughly.endprint

4 Conclusion

A transitivity analysis of The Egg reveals that fathers journey of trying to rise in the world is marked by a mental transformation from being cheerful to depressed，from being purposeless to targeted，and from being depressed to passionate，which is indispensable to the understanding of fathers character.

Put forward by Halliday，transitivity analysis has undergone prosperous development in the recent century.From this passage，we can clearly see that the theory is particularly useful in the revealing of characters mental transformation，thus presenting us a new perspective in the analysis of phychologcal changes.In the creation of novels，language is not randomly organized and it is powerful in the reflection of subtle expression，and it can reveal not only the outside world but also the inner world.By this passage，the writer hopes to present the inner changes of father，and transitivity analysis deserves a further study.

作者簡介：

王寧寧（1993.12—），女，漢族，山東濰坊，國際關系學院碩士在讀，專業(yè)：英語筆譯。endprint