第一篇：美国人的性格分析与交往经验总结
美国人的性格分析与交往经验总结
Iowa State University
Major： statistics
现在就开始吧。对我个人来说，我一直赞成的观点就是，在美国学习，生活，最关键之一是要做到和很多美国人成为朋友。然而据我观察，咱们大部分中国人似乎不怎么热衷于和美国人交朋友。理由嘛，无非是什么没什么共同话题，没什么生活交集等等，我个人认为这些理由只对那些整天呆在寝室里头玩游戏或是疯狂学习的宅男宅女们适用，如果你不是那类人，那对不起，这只能说明你没有那胆量去结识新环境里的朋友。
其实，美国人远比很多中国人想象得好处得多。我来分析分析他们的性格吧。
美国人是很热情友好的一类人，学校里，不少情况下，我们不搭理他们美国人，他们却会主动和你打招呼，向你问好，甚至找你说话。如果你真心想和他们交往的话，在这个时候，你可以随便和他们多说两句话，不用去留心说错话问错问题，因为他们心里面明白，毕竟对于他们来说，我们是外国人，语言上的误解是小问题。如果你初次和美国人交往问错了话，只用陪个笑便了事！继续后面的话题。如果谈得来的话，临别之际就主动找他/她要个联系方式。和 美国人交往，body language 很重要，当然也得有些许技巧（尤其是初次交往），最主要的是让他们看得起你。要想真正达到效果，首先应该是，坐的端行得正，尤其是对于咱们亚洲男生，相比而言体格上本来就显得不够健壮，所以更需要让自己显得像个绅士。说话时眼睛要注视着对方，一是表现自己对他人的尊重，二是表现自己的自信，当然，也别刻意把自己弄得得像个当兵的或是注视他人的时候只是不停得注视，因为那样也会让他们觉得你太死板。总之，自然点总是非常好，从美国电视剧上面学学也会有帮助的（这里面有些东西是只可意会不可言传的）。第二重要的是，说话口气可以没有美国人那么好，但说话声音要尽量显得洪亮，才能显示你的优雅的气质（我说的第二点对于男女都适用！）
美国人性格张扬，喜欢说话，喜欢让很多人知道自己的想法。还有就是大部分人还是很喜欢了解些绯闻的，凭我的经验来判断，一些小秘密别和美国人交流地太多，因为说不准哪天他不注意就全说出去了哈哈。
很大一部分美国人非常乐于助人，这不止是很多美国基督教徒的性格，准确地说应该是美国人民的性格。
很大一部分美国人胆大心细，不是像国内很多人想象的那样笨。
美国人直爽，他们喜欢把自己的想法说出来，不喜欢佯装对某一事物的喜好。
大部分美国人性格都很温和，他们没有像很多亚洲人那样有聚众打架的习惯。美国人在“人不犯我我不犯人”这点做得挺好。因为打架犯事在美国可不是什么简单的批评警告，而是坐牢和开除学籍。
美国人生性固执，有些观点一旦形成，很难改变他/她的观点，所以就算你和他/她关系比较，也要避免和他/她去争执一些大道理。如果真遇到这样的尴尬，答案是很容易解决。你只用和他/她说让他/她看看某些著作，历史资料或教科书啥就行了。
美国人以自我为中心--这个不能片面理解成为自私，最正确的理解应该是：他想让别人知道自己能解决什么别人解决不了的问题。当你有什么问题难以解决而去咨询一个和你交往不怎么太深的美国朋友，他也会给你提供帮助，因为在他们心中，他们觉得帮助别人是一个表现自我的大好机会。如果从另一方面理解，你可以说，美国人很自负，他们总认为别人比不上他或是不该超过他。有些美国人甚至会有这样奇怪的想法：我有能力当教授，只是不想去做那个职业。。
美国人喜欢热闹；他们喜欢性格开朗，爱说话的人。当你和好几个美国人一起学习交流的时候，如果不主动制造点“噪音”，就很有可能会被他们误人为胆小鬼。对于咱们来说，和他们交往多说话，没有坏处，磨刀不误砍柴工嘛，炼了英语又增进了友情，而且不会太耽误事的，何乐而不为呢？
美 国人有很强“领地意识”，也许是因为没发育好有狼性吧（just kidding lol），当你把一个美国人请到家玩，你和你的室友们不必有这些担心：1.乘你不注意到处乱看，到处乱翻你的东西；2.对家里面的他们认为稀奇古怪的东西有无限的好奇心；有亲身经验告诉过我：有一次我把一个和我玩得不错的美国人叫到我家里面吃饭，客厅里面摆满了很多奇怪的东西，正准备吃饭的时候，突然来了个电话：是我的另一个朋友来我这还书的，于是出去了5分钟，当我回来的时候，惊奇得发现，那个“傻大个”还是站在厨房里面什么都没做。。就连客厅里面那么多奇奇怪怪的属于我室友的东西问都不问一句。
美国人的记性很好，他们中大多数人能记住你对他做过的每一个好事或他对你做过的每一个好事，当然也能记得住你做过的一些他认为不合适的事情，他对你做的一些不合适的事情等等。
和美国女生交往，不管交情怎样，千万别问她体重——我的一个美国朋友对我说过，他从来都没问过他女朋友的体重，因为美国女生对这个很敏感。年长的女性，对年龄比较敏感，莫问（大家小学就该学过了）。
很多美国学生逻辑思维比较缜密，数学能力不见得比亚洲人差。尤其是学理科的美国人。数字是有活力，有激情的，真正热爱理科的美国学生，比学文科的美国更显得外向，并且更有音乐天赋。而缺点是生活上面可能不够检点。
学纯文科的美国人是比较内向的，他们相对学理科的来说缺少音乐音乐天赋，与人交往能力上明显不如学理科的。不过优点心地更显善良外加没有很多不良嗜好（以上为亲自观察分析总结）。
如果你想在校园里结识些非常优秀的美国人，请你选择那些读双学位的20岁以上的美国学生（我刻意提到年龄，因为这个很重要），最好是一文一理。他们不仅学习好，而且有很强的交往能力外加非常优秀的音乐体育细胞。当然，生活习惯也很好（相对固定的起居时间外加整洁的室内环境布局）。
美国人不见得会偏科，他们中不少有很多特长。在美国，光一个学习好不能代表的什么。尺有所短寸有所长。只要有点特长，都会有展现自我能力的机会
美国人喜欢表扬，当你和美国朋友交往时，很多情况下，你只要稍微向他们提到点表扬的词句都能让他们倍感高兴。这一点我还真想告诉那些准备赴美读研的朋友们，如果你们当了助教，你们会接触到很多美国学生，当你遇到美国学生做不好题目的时候，你得鼓励他，而不是批评他们做得不好。如果你那样做的话，你最终可能会吃不好兜着走（不做过多解释）.说几个本人了解到的几个文化上不一样的地方吧： 1.美国人和亚洲人（棒子除外）相比来说，更显高傲。他们不知道什么叫客气，如果你邀请其中一位美国佬到你家做客吃饭，别按中国人一贯的作法：端茶递水外加盛菜盛饭。饭做好了后你唯一需要做的就是，宣布开饭。剩下的全是他自己做。你的那些中国人的作法会让那些习惯了自己的事情自己做的美国人感到别扭，甚至误解自己的好意。还有就是当美国人拒绝了什么东西的时候，别以为他是在和你客气，千万别学很多中国人的传统作法——硬塞给他（that may cause a big trouble）。2.子曰：“其恕乎，己所不欲勿施于人”这句话可是咱们中国人乃至很多中国以外的东亚人都知道的名言，这话是在教导我们，自己不想要的，不喜欢的东西，别和别人“分享”。偏偏这么简单易懂的道理，在美国就不灵了。。我遇到过很多次了。我和几个美国哥们每周都有课题要聚到一起完成，于是我们就决定了大家聚一起，轮流或一起做饭。有一次轮到吃中西合璧的美味了，我于是做了点拿手的炒饭，带到了我朋友那。吃饱后，我看大家都一致夸我的炒饭好吃，于是就对他们说： “你们如果想的话，就再带点回去吧”。可其中一个人的话问得让我很无语：“你是不是不想要这些了呢？如果不想要的话我就带点回去把”。第一次听到这个感到的是吃惊。。（在中国，能问出这样的问题的人除了一些不会说话的成年人和一些不懂事的小孩子外，没有别人了。。说出那样的话会受到严重鄙视的）。类似的事情发生过好几次，我一直用孔夫子的那句话告诉咱们中国人的看法。后来，和他们的交流了几次我才知道，他们那样说没有任何看不起你的意思，而是出于其他考虑：1.真的喜欢你给他的东西，2.不希望自己喜欢的东西浪费。
3.不能随便问美国朋友的收入（越年长越不能问）。不过咱们中国人计算能力好，如果你真想知道的话，可以问你的美国朋友每周多少小时工作，工作地点每小时的 payment如何。大致计算下就行了（大部分美国人在说话技巧方面不精，你那样婉转得问，他们不会明白你的真实用意的）。4.“谦虚使人进步，骄傲使人失败”这句名言在美国也不生效了。因为在美国人眼里，闷头闷脑埋头苦干的人会受到他们的尊重，但不是器重。美国人更器重那些有表现力的人，比如好口才或有很强的音乐体验才能的人。就算你没什么特长加上学习成绩也不够超群，只要你能经常“缠着”带你课的老师或导师，滔滔不绝地说自己努力方向，自己的所谓“成果”，照样能留给老师很好的印象。
5.和美国人交往千万别把自己弄得八面玲珑，两面三刀，因为这是绝对吃不开的。八面玲珑是会给美国人留下个不靠谱的不好的形象，两面三刀则会让你陷入更多的麻烦。6.在没有调查清楚前，别把那些有过不良记录的美国人当成坏茬，因为在美国，法律是非常严格的。过分严格的法律，偶尔也会适得其反。比如说，我认识的美国人中，就有一个蹲过牢的，大家也许会问，他因为什么蹲了大牢？要知道他可是朋友们公认的很遵纪守法的人！蹲大牢的原因很简单：在不知情的情况下来到一个湖边沙滩上躺了一会（那片沙滩属于私人领地，但没有任何标示）。如果你和一些美国人交往深了，如果你问他们不良记录方面怎么样，他们中肯定会有不少人会抱怨式地回答你，并且那些回答往往是让你感到无比吃惊的！说到这，我还是得说，在美国还是得注意了，不要对那些未知区域太过好奇并跑进去玩耍，那样不仅不安全，而且还有可能不明不白地被cops抓了。。当然，更不能随便进入那些不认识的人的房间。
7.亚洲人学生里面有很多人对作弊不持否定态度，而美国人很鄙视作弊的人，美国学生中有很多都是很遵纪守法的，劝大家别和美国学生讨论作弊这个话题（作弊被逮在美国学校里面轻则挂科加信誉记录扣分，重则开除学籍，该回哪回哪去！）！
8.当今的绝大多数美国人绝对不是马克.吐温的小说《百万富翁》中的那群崇拜金钱的势利小人，而是一群看重劳动致富，艰苦朴素（这里面主要说的是不追求奢靡与过分的浪费）的实实在在的本分人，我问过很多美国人，对那些开着豪华跑车的中国人什么看法，他们大部分很冷淡的回答：“他们花的是他们父母的钱”，那一听就是鄙夷的口吻。所以现在新来美国的年轻本科生们，我真心劝诫你们别在美国炫富，你越炫越会受到更多美国人的鄙夷。亚洲的富二代炫富的比例明显高于欧美，这就是差别。这是一个经济上差距问题，但我个人觉得这更是个文化问题吧！
9.有一个误区需要和大家说明：“美国人是守时的”这个说法不对。准确的说法应该是，他们很少会上课迟到（美国学校里面的学生中有那么一部分，他们一看时间发现要迟到了就直接翘课，干干脆脆），错过重要会议或和很重要人物见面（导师，医生/护士等）时间。而和美国朋友交往的时候，他们对时间的把握并不好，这是美国人（主要是大学生）的通病。他们很多太过自信，总是容易高估自己的实力——本来安排好的计划总是会出现很多闪失。各位中国朋友们，当你收到美国人的短信说什么“in a bit(等一会)”，那就意味着他还有别的事，再给他一个小时时间吧！
好了，这些是本人亲自实践思考总结的，希望能对已经在美国，或准备赴美的留学的朋友有所帮助，相信自己，有时最好的朋友只不过是因为一次普通的谈话认识的。加油！
第二篇：性格与交往
性格与交往
我很有幸能上到“人与交往”这门课，能学习到赵老师在人际交往中的各种技巧。我想这对我以后的人生都会产生深远的影响，也能够让我更快的走向成功。在这里，我主要想对“性格与交往”这个话题谈谈自己的一些看法，有不对的地方还请赵老师指正。
古希腊哲学家伯拉图有个著名的论题“性格即命运”。在日常生活中我们也常常说“要把握好自己的命运”，但如果我们不懂得不了解自己的性格，就很难能够真正去把握自己的命运，正如司机开车一样，如果他不了解自己所开的车的特点，就很难驾驭这部车。另外，在工作和生活中，我们常常接触各种各样的人，只有了解每个人的性格特点，才能更好地与人交往，提高自己的社交能力。因此，解读自己和他人的性格，对我们的婚姻、家庭、事业、生意、工作、子女教育等各方面都非常重要。首先让我们来看看人际交往的特点。人际交往是个体的基本需要，在以竞争和合作为重要特征之一的现代社会，人际关系交往具有三个显著特点：第一，人性化。这在四川汶川地震就表现出来了。震后，我们的口号是救人是第一位的，其他都是次要的，这说明我们对人性的肯定。第二，文明化。俗话说：男女搭配，干活不累。其实我认为男女搭配，男人受罪。什么原因呢？因为如果照礼貌、礼仪的话，应该女士优先。比如说，电梯来了，应该是女士先进去，出来时候应该是女士先出来，这个规定在国外就是我们讲的礼仪；还有男女之间谈恋爱，谈着谈着要吃饭，吃完饭埋单了，你不能说女士优先，应该要男朋友先付；还有上次新闻报道说，塔利班抓了一帮人作为人质，男男女女都有，结果女的一个没死，男的死了好几个，那是男士优先。所有不好的地方男的优先，好的东西那就是女士优先。所以，人家都讲文明的话，男人才真正最累。因为男女之间，女人是弱者，男人应该尊重女人。这一点做到了，人际关系就可以得到很大的改善。第三，多元化。现在的社会是多元化的，我们要善于宽容人、理解人。例如在T台上走猫步，有的女人穿着开叉开得很高的旗袍。就有人有意见，认为太不像话了。其实这个人讲得就不对，因为我们是在展示服装，你不要老注意人家某个部位就完了。还有人说，有人每天早上在那哇啦哇啦唱沪剧太难听了。只要他不在你家门口唱，在花园里唱，与你何关呢？所以，多元化的社会一定要尊重对方的价值观、对方的生活方式、对方的文化理念。从心理学角度来说，就是要善于宽容别人，心胸越大，事业才能做大，我们的道路才越宽。
人际交往不是单纯的知识信息的交流，而是全面的心灵对话和人性的融贯过程，强调的是尊重个性、理解差异、求得沟通并协调活动。
一个人对另一个人的影响不是仅靠语言完成的，而是靠性格完成的。下面是人际交往中的黄金准则。
（一）人际关系的冲突多以自我为中心，多站在对方的角度看问题。
（二）听比说更重要。
（三）尽可能帮助别人，不图回报。
（四）平常心看功利。
（五）给自己和别人都留下人际距离。
（六）有意识培养增进人际吸引的个性特征。有了以上六点，我们在以后的人际交往中肯定能从容应对了。虽然这些准则我们每个人都烂熟于心，但是真正能做到的又有多少人呢？我想，即使能做到其中一半的人也不会太多。现在是一个权利意识发达的时代。很多人为满足自己的欲求，他们会主张所有对他们好的权利，对于会损害自己权益的事，一件也不会做。
那我们怎样才能培养好的性格呢？第一，要建立自信心，确认自己是有价值的人，而且让人了解。世间没有十全十美的人，有之，也非天生的，而是人为的。第二，培养主动真诚交往的态度。在人际交往中，我们往往觉得别人不关心自己，或不尊重自己，却很少反省自身，问问自己对别人怎样。这种单向性思维轻易导致交往中一厢情愿的倾向，并轻易对挫折做出错误的归因。人际交往本质上是一个互动的过程，但许多时候互动链的运行需要有人激发。事实上，许多交际成功的人往往会主动激发，开启人际互动链。即他们往往首先向别人发出友好的信号，主动关心别人，主动帮助别人，主动与人打招呼„„正像我们前面提到的那样，“我敬人，人自会敬我”，他们以此打开了人际交往的局面。第三，锻炼提高人际交往能力技巧。练习自我表达的能力，尤其是个人意见与才能的表达。学会听取别人意见并尊重团体决议，先能与人和谐相处，然后才有可能培养出感情。第四，塑造良好的个人形象，增进个人魅力。社会交往中，个体的知识水平与涵养直接影响着交往的效果，良好的个人形象应从点滴开始，从善如流，“勿以善小而不为，勿以恶小而为之”。人与人的交往，是思想、能力与知识及心理的整体作用，哪一方面的欠缺都会影响人际关系的质量。有的人在人际交往中存在社交惧怕、胆怯、羞怯、自卑、冷漠、孤独、封闭、猜疑、自傲、嫉妒等不良心理，都不易建立良好的人际关系。心理学研究表明，初次交往中，良好的社交形象会给对方留下深刻的印象，而随着交往的深入，学识更占主导地位。因此我们要注重个性培养，拓展自己的内涵。最后，多参与社会活动，不必希求立即得到回报。参与活动的价值在于学习社会能力，并借此让别人认识并了解你。
卡耐基说过:“一个人事业的成功 , 只有百分之十五是由于他的专业技术,另外百分之八十五要靠人际关系和处世的技巧”。培养良好的性格，掌握人际交往技巧对我们的人生之路有决定意义。从我做起，从小事做起，一起构建和谐的人际关系。
这篇论文本应该多反映自己对于“性格与交往”的看法。然而本人文采有限，知识浅薄，大多内容为拾其牙慧，稍加自己的见解，若有不足，敬请老师见谅。
第三篇：The_American_Character_美国人的性格
The American Character 美国人的性格(Bradford Smith 布拉德福德·史密斯)摘自：英语泛读教程
The following is part of an essay taken from Bradford Smith's book, Why We Behave Like Americans.Success as a goal and materialism, according to Smith, are among the underlying factors that make up the American character.以下节选自布拉德福德所著《为什么我们的举止象美国人》里的一篇文章。据布拉德福德所说，目标 为成功和物质享乐主义，构成美国人性格的内在因素。
When visitors from abroad undertake to describe the American Character, the results are frequently puzzling to Americans.“All Americans are Puritans;that's what's wrong with them,” says one.“They're always thinking about enjoying themselves,” says another.“They spend too much time at work,” a distinguished visitor tells us.“They don't know how to play.” “Americans don't know what work is, ” retorts another.“ Their machines do it all.” “American women are shameless sirens.” － “No, they're prudes.” “The children here are wonderful － outgoing and natural.” － “Natural as little beasts.They have no manners, no respect for their elders.” 要是让国外来客描述美国人的性格，结果常常令美国人感到奇怪。一个人说：“所有的美国人都是清教徒；所以他们与众不同。”另一个人说：“他们总是想方设法让自己开心。”一位尊贵的客人告诉我们：“他们花在工作上的时间太多。他们不懂如何玩乐。”另一个人反驳说：“他们不懂什么是工作。因为机器替他们做了一切。”“美国女人是不知廉耻的，妖艳而危险的女人。”--“不，她们假正经。”“这里的孩子真好－－外向，自然。”----“象小小的野兽一样自然。他们没礼貌，不尊敬长辈。”
There is, of course, no single pattern of American character any more than there is a single English or Turkish or Chinese character.Personality in America is further complicated by our diverse racial and cultural origins, by successive waves of immigration from all parts of the world, by our regional diversities.It is complicated by several hundred varieties of religious belief with their varying impact on the believers.It is further diversified by the generation to which the person belongs － first generation immigrant, second generation child of immigrants, and on down the line.当然，世上既没有单一模式的美国人性格，也没有单一的英国人性格或土耳其人性格或是中国人性格。个性的定义在美国变得更为复杂，因为我们有不同的种族和文化背景，因为来自世界各地连续不断的移民浪潮，因为我们区域的多样性。个性的定义变得复杂，因为几百种不同的宗教信仰及其对各自的信奉者的影响不同。个性的定义也由于每个人所处的年代不同而趋多样化 －－第一代是移民，第二代是移民的孩子，一直照此延续下去。
The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Yet those who look a little deeper are puzzled by the seeming contradictions in American life.It is true that Americans as a whole work hard.But they also play hard.They spend more time and money in traveling, camping, hunting, watching sports, drinking, smoking, going to movies, watching television and reading newspapers and magazines than any other people in the world.Yet they also spend more money on churches, social services, hospitals and all kinds of charities.They are always in a hurry, yet they spend more time relaxing.They are at the same time sensitive to the rights of the individual and habitual conformist.They worship 1 bigness yet idealize the little man, whether he be the small business man as opposed to the big one or the plain citizen as opposed to the big wheel.强大的吸引力把众多的美国人聚集在了一起。然而那些想再了解深入一点的人弄不懂美国人生活中各种似乎自相矛盾的东西。的确，美国人总体上工作努力。但他们也拼命地玩。他们去旅游、露营、打猎、看体育比赛、喝酒、抽烟、看电影电视、读报纸杂志，花的时间和金钱比世界任何地方的人都多。而他们还把更多的时间花在教会、社会服务、医院和各种各样的慈善活动上。他们总是忙来忙去，又总是花更多的时间休闲。他们十分在乎个人的权利，又习惯于墨守陈规。他们崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化，不论他是和大商人形成对照的小商人，还是和大权在握的人形成对照的平民百姓。
Success as a Goal 成功作为目标
One thing almost everyone is agreed on, including Americans, is that they place a very high valuation upon success.Success does not necessarily mean material rewards, but recognition of some sort － preferably measurable.If the boy turns out to be a preacher instead of a business man, that's all right.But the bigger his church and congregation, the more successful he is judged to be.包括美国人在内几乎每一个人都会赞同的一点是，美国人极为看重成功。成功不一定是物质上的回报，而是得到某种认可，最好是可以衡量的那种。如果一个男孩后来没有从商，而是做了布道的教士，那也没什么。但是他的教堂规模越大，教堂会众越多，别人就认为他越成功。
A good many things contributed to this accent on success.There was the Puritan belief in the virtue of work, both for its own sake and because the rewards it brought were regarded as signs of God's love.There was the richness of opportunity in a land waiting to be settled.There was the lack of a settled society with fixed ranks and classes, so that a man was certain to rise through achievement.好多事情都说明，成功是美国人生活的重点。清教徒相信工作带来的好处，既有工作本身的乐趣，还因为工作的回报是上帝之爱的体现。一片富饶的土地到处都是机遇，等待着人们到来。在一个不固守陈规的社会，没有严格的等级和阶级，这样人就一定能通过成功提升自己的社会地位。
There was the determination of the immigrant to gain in the new world what had been denied to him in the old, and the part of his children an urge to throw off the immigrant onus by still more success and still more rise in a fluid, classless society.Brothers did not compete within the family for the favor of the parents as in Europe, but strove for success in the outer world, along paths of their own choosing.凡是旧的世界拒绝给的，移民决心都要在新的世界得到。对于他的后代而言，要摆脱作为移民的负担，只有在一个灵活自由的无阶级社会里取得更多的成功，升至更高的地位。他们的兄弟之间不象欧洲人那样为获得父母的欢心而相互 倾轧，他们都在外面的世界 沿着各自选择的道路为成功而奋力拚搏。
The English anthropologist, Geoffrey Gorer, sees the whole situation in Freudian terms.Europe is the father rejected by every immigrant who turned his back on his own culture in order to make a new life in America.The immigrant's struggle for success never ends, because there is no limit to the possible goal.The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.The only way he can soften the blow is to achieve a still greater success.All over America the lawyers, 2 doctors, professors and politicians with Italian, Irish, German or Polish names testify to the urgency of this drive.英国的人类学家杰弗里·戈罗尔用弗罗伊德的说法来解释这一切。欧洲是被所有的移民抛弃的父亲，移民为了在美国过上新生活，背离了自己的文化。移民为了要成功从未停止过奋斗，因为目标 的内容没有限制。同样，第二代移民拒绝接受移民过来的父母，因为后者无法适应美国标准。他能减轻压力的唯一方式，就是取得更大的成功。在整个美国，有意大利人、爱尔兰人、德国人或波兰人名字的律师、医生、教授和政治家，都能证明这种成功欲望的强烈。
Not to strive, not to take advantage of the opportunities in such a world, not to succeed where success was so available － these things naturally became a sort of crime against the state.To develop the resources of a new country required energetic people, bent upon using their energies － not only for the rewards that would result to themselves, but even more important, to the community.So material success in the United States is not looked upon as selfish.Its results are seen to have communal value.要是不奋斗，不利用这个世界的各种机会去成功而不能成功---这些无疑都是对国家的一种犯罪。开发一个新国家的各种资源，需要精力充沛的人不遗余力地发挥他们的充沛精力---不仅仅是为了他们会得到的回报，更重要的是给社会带来的回报。所以在美国，没有人把物质上的成功看成是自私的。成功的果实被看作具有全民共享的价值。
Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller built great fortunes for themselves.But they also built an economy which has brought a great deal of material well-being, higher health standards and better educational opportunities to millions of Americans.This is how it looks to us, anyway, from inside.福特、卡耐基、洛克菲勒，都为自己创造了极大的财富。但他们也建立起一种经济，既可以带来许多物质上的幸福，更高的健康水平，也可以给上千万的美国人创造更好地受教育的机会。无论怎样，这就是成功的内涵。
A society which values competition so highly is inevitably an aggressive one, even though the laws carefully limit the forms aggression may take.It has a toughness about it which is good for the muscle tone of the economy but hard on some individuals.In our pioneering days this aggressiveness was essential to survival.Now it can be a menace to society.The factory worker who reaches a dead end and sees himself stuck in the same job year after year may take out his aggressive feelings in race hatred or fighting management, or he may even turn it against himself by way of alcoholism, proneness to accident, or neurotic behavior.一个如此注重竞争的社会必定是攻击性的社会，尽管法律严格限制各种攻击形式。这种对攻击的严格限制对 完善经济的肌体有益，但对某些个人却过于严格。在拓荒时代，这种攻击性是生存所必需的，但现在可能是一种对社会的威胁。走投无路、常年被同一工作所困的工人可能会将这样的攻击性用于种族仇恨或反对管理，或 开始酗酒、滋事、神经质、和自己过不去。
Since a high regard is felt for success, the rewards are high.Money is rarely cherished for itself in America;it is rather a symbol and a tool.As a man's status rises, the demands upon him also increase.He is expected to give liberally to the hundreds of voluntary associations which nourish and minister to the community.Look at the Who's Who entry for 3 any prominent business man, and you are likely to find him involved in an amazing number of committees and associations organized for the public good.既然高度注重成功，回报也就很高。在美国，人们很少看重金钱本身，它更多的是一种标志，一种工具。当一个人的地位提高，人们对他的要求也相应提高。成百上千各种各样的志愿者协会有益于社会并服务于社会，人们期望他能慷慨捐钱给这些协会。你去看看《名人录》，随便找一个知名商人的条目，就会发现他参加的公益性委员会和协会多得令人吃惊。
This striving for success and prestige, according to psychologists, is a way of overcoming fears and a sense of inner emptiness.In a mobile society an energetic person can hardly help matching himself against others and seeing how far he can go.这种为成功和名望而奋斗的心理，按心理学家的说法，是一种克服恐惧和内心空虚感的方式。在一个时刻变化着的社会，一个有进取精神的人难免会拿自己与别人相比，知道自己能达到的目标是什么。
Such a system is fine for those who have it in them to succeed.It is not so good for the mediocre.The fear of failure, the fear of competitors, the loss of self esteem － these arouse tensions that some people cannot handle.In their turn they produce an excessive craving for love.So love and success are linked.Gorer believes that most Americans by the time they are adolescents have confused two ideas: to be successful is to be loved, and to be loved is to be successful.Mothers help to impose the pattern by showing affection and admiration when their children do well at school and by withholding affection when they fail.这种思维方式对于那些本来就这样想的人是有利的。但对不求上进的人却没什么好处。害怕失败，害怕竞争对手，丧失自尊---都导致了一些人无力应付的紧张情绪。然后，这种紧张情绪就产生了对爱的极度渴望。因此爱和成功是密不可分的。戈罗尔认为，许多美国人在少年时期就被两个问题困扰：成功就是要得到爱，要得到爱就要成功。母亲们把这个模式成功地灌输给孩子：孩子们在学校里表现好，她们就对他们显示出无限的疼爱和喜爱；孩子们要是做得不好，她们就拒绝给予关爱。
Since there are no limits of class, inherited occupation or education to hold a child back, there are, in theory, no limits to what he can achieve.Consequently there is no point at which he can say: “There, I've done it.From now on all I have to do is to hold on.” Since any boy can, in theory, become President, striving is a moral obligation.Achievement, not class, is the standard by which men are judged.There is little or no glory attached to being born wealthy or privileged;the real test is how far you climb from where you started.既然没有阶级限制、世袭职业或教育来阻碍孩子的发展，所以从理论上说，他所能取得的成就也没有限制。如果他说：“哦，我已经做到了。从现在起我要做的就是继续保持，”这样的话毫无意义。因为，理论上，任何孩子都可以做总统，奋斗是一种道德上的义务。评价人的标准是成功而不是阶级。不论出身豪门还是出身显赫，都没有什么可炫耀的；真正的考验就是：从你的起点你能爬多高。
Americans love work.It is meat and drink to them.In recent years they have learned how to play, but they make work of that too.If it's skiing, they throw themselves at it with an effort that would kill a horse.If it's a vacation, they travel five or six hundred miles a day, take in the sights at sixty miles an hour, pause only long enough to snap pictures, and then discover what it was they went to see when they get home and look at the photographs.美国人热爱工作。工作就是他们的命根子。近年来他们已经学会玩，但是将玩也当成了工作。要是去滑 4 雪，他们就在雪地上猛冲，那样子连马都会累死。如果去度假，他们就每天开车五六百公里，以每小时60英里的速度观光，沿途只停下来拍些快照。然后，发现了自己要看的东西是怎么一回事，就打道回府，回去看照片。
Until very recently there has always been a great deal of work to do in this country, a great deal that needed doing.At the beginning men of all sorts and conditions had to pitch in.The preacher had to fell trees and plough fields.The teacher, the doctor and the magistrate had to shoulder guns for the common defense.The farmer made his own tools, harness, household equipment.He was blacksmith, carpenter, tinsmith, brewer and veterinary all rolled into one, as his wife was spinster, weaver and doctor.直到最近，这个国家还总是有许多事要做，还有许多事情必须要做。以前不管什么人都工作得很辛苦。传教士要伐树、犁田。教师、医生，还有地方法官得扛着枪当民兵。农场主自己动手做工具、马鞍和家用器具。他集铁匠、木匠、白铁匠、啤酒酿造者和兽医于一身。他的妻子既是纺纱工、织布工，又是医生。
Americans still like to be handy at all things.College professors go in for making furniture or remodeling an old house in the country.Bankers don aprons and become expert barbecue chefs.Nearly everyone knows how to use tools, make simple repairs to plumbing or electrical fixtures, refinish furniture or paint a wall.Far from being thought a disgrace if he performs these “menial” tasks, a man is thought ridiculous if he does not know how to perform them.美国人仍然喜欢什么都学着做。大学教授喜欢做家具或是改造乡下的老房子。银行家穿上围裙，就成了专业的烧烤厨师。几乎每一个人都懂得使用工具，懂得简单的下水道或电力装置的修理，还会修家具，刷墙。做这些“粗活”绝不会让人认为不体面，不会做才是让人觉得不可思议呢。
Along with this urge to be jack-of-all-trades goes a willingness to change from one occupation to another.It surprises no one in America when the banker's son becomes a farmer or vice versa.Or when a college professor shifts into industry, or a young man who starts out with a truck purchased on credit ends up running an enterprise with fleets of trucks spanning several states.President Truman was a farmer, an operator of a haberdashery and an army officer before he turned to law and politics.James Bryant Conant, first a chemist, then President of Harvard University, resigned this highest post in the academic world to become High Commissioner and then Ambassador to Germany.与这种成为万事通愿望并存的是变换职业的愿望。在美国，不管是银行家的儿子当了农场主还是农场主的儿子做了银行家，都不会让人吃惊。更不用说大学教授转行干上了实业。一个年轻人靠一辆贷款买来的卡车起家，后来当上了公司的老板，拥有卡车车队，行驶在好几个州。杜鲁门总统经营过农场，开过男装店，当过陆军军官，后来才转学法律和政治。詹姆斯·布莱恩特·克兰特原先是化学家，后来担任哈佛大学的校长，辞去了这个学术界的最高职位后担任了高级公共事务官员，后被任命为驻德大使。
“For a European,” writes Andre Maurois, “life is a career;for an American, it is a succession of hazards.” 安德鲁·莫里斯写道“对于欧洲人来说，生活是生命的历程，而对于美国人，生活就是一个接一个的危险。”
A single individual can be at once an intellectual, a Boy Scout leader, a business man, a 5 sportsman, a dabbler in music or painting, a nature-lover, and one who does many of his own household chores.An employer, he may go hunting with his own or someone else's employees.A shopkeeper, he may run for local office and be on familiar terms with professional men and government officials.He will live on several levels which in other countries might be separated by class distinctions.一个人可以同时是知识分子，童子军首领，商人，运动健将，音乐绘画的爱好者，热爱大自然的人，做大部分家务的人。当老板的也许会和自己的或别人的雇员一起打猎。经营商店的可能会竞选当地的政府职位，熟悉专业人士和政府官员。他可以同时位于别的国家也许会用等级的概念来划分的不同社会阶层。
The emphasis on success and achievement, coupled as it is with a desire to be loved and admired, leads to a critical dilemma of personality.To succeed one must be aggressive;to be liked, one must be easy-going and friendly.强调成功和成就，再加上要得到爱和赞赏的强烈愿望，会导致个性发展的两难境地：要成功，人就必须好斗；要别人喜欢自己，人就得宽容、友好。
One way out of the difficulty is to acquire groups of friends － lodge brothers, members of the same church, a veteran's organization － towards whom you are pledged in friendship.Having thus acquired assured friends, you can practice your aggression on those who don't belong.This pattern explains to some extent the suspicion or hostility towards those of other races or religions.走出困境的一个办法就是有成群的朋友---会社支部的会员，同一教堂的成员，退伍军人组织---他们一定会给你友谊。有了这些可以信赖的朋友，你就可以对那些不在朋友之列的人表现出你的攻击力。这种模式也或多或少地解释了，为什么会对其他的种族或教会的人持怀疑敌视的态度。
Materialism 物质享乐主义
The men and women who staked everything on America were for the most part poor.They struggled hard, went without, and saved in order to build up a business or buy a farm of their own.The freedom to own rather than the freedom to vote was the magnet that drew the majority of them across oceans.Naturally enough they put a high value upon the land or the business they acquired through their own efforts.把赌注都押在美国的男男女女绝大多数是穷人。他们努力挣扎，忍气吞声，努力存钱，目的就是做点买卖，买个属于自己的农场。像磁铁一般吸引着他们大多数人远涉重洋的，是拥有财产的自由而不是投票的自由。所以他们很看重靠自己的努力得来的土地和做的买卖。
In contrast with this natural acquisitiveness of the new arrivals, the American attitude toward money is quite different.As the German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg observed, the American “prizes the gold he gets primarily as an indication of his ability....It is, therefore, fundamentally false to stigmatize the American as a materialist, and to deny his idealism....The American merchant works for money in exactly the sense that a great painter works for money －” as a mark of appreciation for his work.和初来者自然的获取思想相比，美国人对钱的态度是很不一样的。就象德国心理学家休格·爱斯特伯格所指出的，美国人“很看重他挖到的金子，主要是因为金子是他的能力的体现……因此把美国人定义为物质享乐主义者而否认他的理想主义，从根本上就是错误的……美国的商人为钱工作，伟大的画家为钱绘 6 画，意义是完全一样的——”，都是是对自己的工作欣赏的标志。
The acquisition of money is important as the clearest proof of success, though there are other acceptable proofs － prominence, public notice, good works, fame.But the retention of money is not important at all.Indeed, it may be frowned upon if it keeps the owner from living well, subscribing generously to a long list of charities, and providing for members of the family who may have been less fortunate.获得金钱是重要的，因为钱最能证明成功。当然还有人们可以接受的其他的证明---卓越，公众瞩目，工作优秀，名声，等等。但是存钱并不重要。事实上，钱的主人留着钱，不过好日子，不慷慨地捐款给大串的慈善机构，不接济家里没钱的人，人们也会不喜欢。
So the materialism that strikes a visitor to America is not that of loving and hoarding wealth;it is a love of making and consuming wealth.It is probably a middle-class rather than a distinctively American phenomenon, for most Americans are middle-class.所以，到美国的人感到震惊的不是物质享乐主义的爱财和守财，而是美国人的既喜欢赚钱又喜欢花钱。这可能不是美国人特有的性格，而是中产阶级才有的现象，因为大多数美国人都是中产阶级。
America has been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.It learned during the depression that even a rich country can become impoverished if it fails to use its wealth to benefit the majority.And it does not propose to make that error again.A sizable portion of what it produces goes overseas, including agricultural and industrial machinery sent with the hope that standards of production and consumption can be raised in other parts of the world too.上天赋予美国丰富的自然资源。但在大萧条时期美国人懂得了，如果一个国家不把财富造福社会，再富有也会遭受贫困。它再也不会重蹈覆辙。美国生产的产品相当一部分到了国外，其中有工农业用的机械设备，就是希望世界其他地方的生产水平和消费水平能得到提高。
There is no denying the fact that the high level of production does lead to a high level of material comfort, and that Americans are mighty fond of having things that are new, shine, softly padded, conveniently arranged, efficient, and so far as may be, effortless.The bread comes already sliced so that the housewife need not exert herself to slice it.It used to be that when she put the bread in the toaster, she had to turn it once to toast both sides.Then came the toaster which did both sides at once, then the toaster which popped the toast out when it was done, so that she did not have to turn a handle to raise it.Soon, no doubt, there will be a toaster which butters the toast, cuts it in quarters, and puts it on a plate.Perhaps there is one even now.无法否认这样一个事实：高水平的生产一定会带来高水平的物质享受，所以美国人非常喜欢把东西做得新颖、光亮，有柔软的衬垫，使用 起来方便，这样就可以不费气力。买回来的面包已经切好片，主妇就省得再切。以前她把面包放进烤面包机，还要翻转一次面包，才能烤另一面。于是就有了可以同时烤两面的烤面包机，烤完了还会把烤的面包送出来。所以她不必转手柄就能拿到烤面包。过不久，肯定会有更新的烤面包机，可以把烤面包涂上黄油，切成四分之一块，然后放到盘子上。说不定现在就已经有这样的烤面包机了。
Food comes ready-cooked and frozen, vegetables already washed.Floor wax must be 7 self-polishing, pens write for years without having to be filled.Storm windows change to summer screens at a touch.Heat is thoroughly automatic, and air conditioning keeps the house equally comfortable in summer.Automation now promises to put a final end to all drudgery, even to building in the controls which will keep the machines from making mistakes.食物买的时候是煮熟的、冰冻的，蔬菜是已经洗干净的。地板蜡肯定是自动上光的，钢笔写上几年都不用上墨水。轻轻一按，防暴风雪的窗子就变成了夏天的屏幕。暖气是自动的，冷气使房子即使在夏天也一样舒适。自动化现在可以让人再也不用做单调乏味的工作，自动装置用在控制器中，机器再也不会出错。
Why is it that, having created a world in which he could live without raising a hand or taking a step, the American habitually seeks ways of letting off steam? His towns are full of bowling alleys, golf clubs, tennis courts, clubs, lodges, churches and associations into which he pours energy both physical and mental.The labor-saving gadgets, the love of comfort turn out to be ways of saving his time and energy for something else.美国人创造了一个不用举手投足就能过得舒舒服服的世界，为什么还是习惯于用各种方式放松自己呢？他们住的地方到处都是保龄球馆，高尔夫俱乐部，网球场，俱乐部，房子，教堂，以及各种可以让他们全身心投入的协会。他们制造省时省力的小器具，喜欢舒适，就是为了节约时间和精力做其他的事情。
(2476 words)The Influence of the Frontier 边疆的影响
The special quality of American culture arises from what the American land and climate did to men who brought with them the glories and the burdens of European culture.Released from the feudal restraints which still clung to ownership even in the seventeenth century, they were driven by long hunger to possess land of their own.The hazards of settling that land － taking it from the Indian by treaty or battle, struggling through trackless forests to find it, hewing out homes and raising crops with nothing but a few simple tools, dying sometimes in battle or from weather or hunger － these hazards quickly changed into Americans the Europeans who survived.It was struggle that shaped the American spirit.美国文化的特殊性质来自美国的土地和气候对人的影响，而这些人带到美国的，既有欧洲文化辉煌 的一面和也有其落后的一面。从十七世纪封建所有制桎梏中解脱出来后，他们渴望拥有自己的土地。他们要得到那片梦想的土地就要冒各种各样的风险--通过协商或战斗的方式从印地安人那里得到土地；或者跋涉人迹罕至的森林找到土地；用简陋的工具砍树盖房开荒种地；有时会死在战斗中，有时死于天灾或饥饿---这些危险很快地把活下来的欧洲人改变成美国人。正是努力拚搏造就了美国精神。
The frontier experience, so strong in its impact, so harsh a teacher, brought new traits to the fore.The hard conditions of the daily life made for crudeness in manners.The competition for favorable land(or later for gold), the need to kill in order to stay alive, the absence of law and order made men touch, brutal sometimes, and quick to resort to brute strength.This violence has continued in such aspects of our life as gangsterism, race riots, corrupt politics, union racketeering and the violent political attack.边疆的经验影响很大，象一位非常严厉的教师，突出了一些新的特点。日常生活的艰苦使人的态度也粗 鲁起来。而他们为了一块好土地争得你死我活（后来争的是金子），必须杀人才能活下来，没有法律和秩序，人变得粗暴残忍，动不动就使用暴力。这种暴力还继续存在于我们生活中的各个方面，比如盗匪、种族骚乱、政治腐败、有组织的敲诈勒索、暴力性政治攻击。
Hard as the life was, it also offered great riches, sometimes for a small return.Hence the “get rich quick” philosophy － the belief that hard work and a little luck would turn all things into gold.Traders got rich furs from the Indians for mere trinkets.Out of the earth came gold, silver, oil －other than the shower of gold Zeus rained down upon Danae.Then came the robber barons to make vast fortunes by manipulating railroads, and finally the gambling in stocks which affected everyone until the Wall Street collapse in 1929.尽管生活曾如此艰难，还是提供了大量的财富，有时只要付出很少的代价。于是有了“快速致富”的人生哲学---相信努力工作加上一点点运气就能把一切都变成金子。做买卖的人用廉价的小首饰从印地安人那儿买到了值钱的毛皮。地里可以挖出金子，银子，石油---而不是宙斯在达那厄下的金雨。抢劫头目靠着操纵铁路发了横财，再有就是在股票上的赌博，影响了所有的人，直到1929年华尔街股市崩溃。
But the frontier fostered positive traits too.It encouraged energetic activity and dignified labor with the hands.It made of the independent, self-reliant farmer a symbol which still influences our national life.It produced a resourceful, inquisitive, practical-minded type, able to turn his hand to any sort of work, preferring to govern himself in small, easily adaptable to a new environment, relatively free of class distinctions, full of optimism and faith in the country which had rewarded him so well.但是边疆也培养了好的品质。它鼓励积极行动，尊重用双手劳动。它使独立自主、自力更生的农场主成为一个象征，至今仍影响着我们国家的生活。它造就了随机应变、爱钻研、想法实际的性格，能做任何工作，喜欢从小事做起，容易适应新的环境，相对不受阶级划分的影响，对让他得到好的回报的国家充满乐观主义和信心。
All these traits live on, one way or another, in the contemporary American.The frontier has not disappeared with the spanning of the continent, or the end of homesteading.As a matter of fact, the government still has lands for homesteading which it disposes of at the rate of forty thousand to fifty thousand acres a year.More important, the pioneer spirit is deeply embedded in the American's concept of himself.所有这些品质还以这样或那样的形式存在于当代美国人身上。边疆没有随着大陆的联合或自耕农场的消失而消失。实际上，政府仍有土地用于自耕农场，每年大约卖掉四五万英亩。更为重要的是，开拓精神已经深深地根植于美国人的自我概念中。
The American Creed 美国人的信条
What then are the ideas or beliefs that shape American character? 那么是什么样的思想或信念塑造了美国人的性格呢？
Says George Satayana: “This national faith and morality are vague in idea, but inexorable in spirit;they are the gospel of work and the belief in progress.” 乔治·沙塔亚纳说：“民族的信仰和道德在观念上是含糊的，但在精神上有不可阻挡的力量；它们是工作的原则，是对进步的信念。”
Clyde Kluckhohn finds implicit in the American creed a faith in the rational, a need for moralistic rationalization, an optimistic conviction that rational effort counts, faith in the individual and his rights, the cult of the common man(not only as to his rights, but as to his massed political wisdom), the high valuation put on change and progress, and on pleasure consciously pursued as a good.克莱德·克鲁克恩认为，美国人的信条中含有坚信理性，对道德合理化的需要，对理 性的努力重要这一点抱乐观态度和深信不疑，坚信个人及其权利，崇拜普通人（不仅崇拜他的权利，也崇拜他积累的政治智慧），高度评价改革和进步，有意识地把善作为一种快乐来追求。
Equally strong is the American's faith in his institutions.The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution lay down the fundamental principles of self-government with such clarity and finality that we are prone to regard them as an American invention, or at any rate as principles and rights which are peculiarly ours.These hallowed documents provide us with basic principles which, thanks to their deistic background, are presented as coeval with creation and incapable of being questioned or upset.Therefore we do not have to agonize over basic principles;they are given us, once for all.同样，美国人笃信自己的制度。《独立宣言》和《宪法》用明确和结论式的语言记载下自治政府的基本原则，所以我们就很容易把它们当成是美国人的发明，至少是 看成我们独有的原则和权利。这些被视为神圣的文献能给我们提供基本的原则，由于它们的自然神论的背景，所以人们认为它们和创造性处于同一时代，不会受到质疑，也不会被推翻。因此我们无需为基本原则感到痛苦；这些原则 被赐给我们，能伴我们到永远。
The lack of reflectiveness which observers find in us arises partly from this conviction that our goals are set and do not need to be debated;we have only to work hard in order to reach them.To create, to build － to clear a new field, sink a new mine, start a new civic organization, develop a new business － this is what Americans admire.This is what they dream of.Like all creators, they are suspicious of critics.观察者们发现，我们缺乏思考，而这部分原因是认为我们的目标是既定的，无须再讨论；我们只要努力达到目标即可。创造，建设---开辟一个新领域，挖掘新矿，建立新的市民组织，发展一项新的事业---这才是美国人崇拜的。也是他们梦寐以求的。与所有的创造者一样，他们不信任批评家。
For this reason, and because they are active participants rather than passive observers, they feel obliged to defend the country against any outside censures, no matter how bitterly they attack its shortcomings themselves.De Tocqueville, much as he admired the United States, found this patriotism irritating.If you stop praising them, he complains, the Americans fall to praising themselves.What he observed, of course, was part of the love and be loved pattern which in spite of its naivete has obvious advantages over the hate and be hated regimen which has determined so much of human history.基于这个原因，也因为他们是积极的参与者而不是消极的观察家，他们觉得有义务使国家不受外界责难，尽管他们自己抨击起国家毫不留情。德托奎叶尔虽然十分崇拜美国，但觉得美国人的爱国主义让人难以忍受。他抱怨说，如果你停止对他们的赞美，美国人就会自己夸自己。他所看到的当然就是爱与被爱模式的部分表现，虽然这个模式缺乏智慧，但比对人类历史产生重大影响的恨与被恨的制度有显而易见的长处。
Humor 幽默
The sense of humor is often the most revealing aspect of a culture.Surely humor has never been valued more highly in any civilization than in this one.Will Rogers is venerated as a national hero for his pungent, earthy comment on the American scene － for his gift of making Americans see what is ridiculous in themselves.Mark Twain, in many ways our most representative writer, is admired not so much because of his skill at picturing American life as for his humor.It is part of the optimism of our outlook that we prefer comedy to tragedy, and that the funny men get top billing and top salaries on television.幽默感常常最能体现一种文化真正的一面。无疑，幽默从来没有象在美国文化中这样重要。维尔·罗杰斯被尊为民族英雄就是因为他以幽默的方式对美国社会生活尖锐而且朴实的批评---因为他的天才幽默让美国人看到了自己的荒唐可笑之处。马克·吐温，从各个方面来说都是最能代表美国的作家，人们钦佩他善于描绘美国人生活的技巧，但更佩服他的幽默。我们喜欢喜剧甚于悲剧，搞笑演员上演节目最多，在电视台的工资最高，这能部分地说明我们的乐观的处世态度。
Humor is the great reliever of tension, the counterbalance to the dash and roar of our fastpaced industrialized life with its whirring machines, traffic snarls and frayed tempers.Humor shows these very things to us in such a way that we can laugh about them.幽默能很好地消除紧张，调节我们繁忙的工业化生活的快节奏。这种工业化的生活中，机器飞转，车辆轰鸣，人心浮躁。幽默让我们以笑的方式看待生活中这些不开心的事。
Nothing is too sacred for the comic transformation;in fact, the more sacred the topic, the stronger the impact.Jokes about the minister are legion.Says the parishioner to the minister who explains that while shaving he was thinking about his sermon and cut his chin: “You should have been thinking about you chin and cut the sermon.” 没有什么东西过于神圣，因而不能改编成喜剧；实际上，越是神圣的话题，给人的影响也越大。关于牧师的笑话数不胜数。牧师说刮胡子的时候他想着布道所以划破了下巴，于是教区的居民说：“你应该想着自己的下巴，划掉布道辞。”
That tensions exist in the home life, however, the humorist loves to point out.No joke has the changes rung on it more frequently than that of the woman driver who is usually pictured sitting in the midst of a wrecked car.(“Didn't you see me signal that I'd changed my mind?”)Men probably wreck far more cars than women, but it satisfies the male ego to think that women have not yet mastered the machine.家庭生活中存在的矛盾，幽默者最喜欢指出这些。最违背常理的笑话，是一位女司机坐在一辆撞得一塌糊涂的汽车里。（“难道你没看见我发信号 表示我已经改变主意了吗？”）男人可能撞坏的汽车比女人撞坏得多得多，但是想到女人连车都不会开，就能满足男性的自尊。
The shop which advertised that it would “Oil sewing machines and adjust tension in the home for $1” had already relieved the tension through humor once the unintentional double-entendre was recognized.商店的广告上写“缝纫机上油，调节家中的紧张气氛，收费一美元”，一旦看出广告中 不经意中造成的双关语，这个商店已经用幽默缓解了紧张。
A popular variant of the dominant female is the mother-in-law.Year after year the jokes about her continue － evidence not so much of any serious tension as of the Freudian implications －projection of marital friction onto an associated but less immediate object, seeing in the wife's mother the inevitable approach of the mate's old age and hence one's own.悍妇的一种流行变体是丈母娘。年复一年，关于她的笑话层出不穷——与其说是证明有什么矛盾，不如说是证明弗洛伊德的观点——婚姻矛盾在相关的但不那么直接的对象上的反映，在妻子的母亲身上看到了配偶以及自身老年的到来的不可避免。
Humor reveals our attitude toward children － our love of their innocently wise comments on life, our delight in the evidences they give of being fully formed individuals with rights and spunk of their own, even to the point of talking back to their parents.(Says the little girl at the table, urged by her mother to eat up her broccol: “I say it's spinach, and I say the hell with it.”)幽默显示我们对孩子的态度——我们喜欢他们对生活天真睿智的评价，我们喜欢他们是全面发展的个体，有自己的权利意识和勇气，甚至能反驳自己的父母。（小女孩坐在饭桌边，妈妈强迫她吃完花椰菜，她说：“我说它是菠菜，我恨死它了。”）
Can psychiatry help to overcome the frustrations of life? “There's nothing wrong with the average person that a good psychiatrist can't exaggerate,” said the comedian, thus confirming our suspicions and making it a little easier for us to put up with ourselves.精神疗法能有助于克服生活中不称心的事吗？“普通人的一点点小问题到了负责任的精神病医生那里，就被夸大。”滑稽演员说的话证实了我们的怀疑，使我们宽容自己容易了一些。
The thirst for humor drives advertisers to resort to it, in the hope of catching an audience long since jaded by all the other appeals.“You die － we do the rest,” an undertaker advertises.What welcome relief from the usual unctuousness of his kind!
人们渴望幽默，促使广告商利用这一点，以期长时间吸引观众，而对其他广告都不感兴趣。“你去死——剩下的交给我们”，是殡仪馆的广告。平常这类广告虚情假意，现在多么受人欢迎，令人轻松！
American humor, in short, confirms the importance of mating and the family, the high status of women and children, the pace and tension of life, and above all the love of humor itself as an approach to life more to be prized than riches, a gift to be cherished and applauded.The minister uses it in his sermons, the doctor in his healing, the lawyer in his pleading, the teacher in his teaching.About the worst thing we can say of a man is that he has no sense of humor.For humor is regarded as an essential part of “the American way.” 总之，美国人的幽默强调婚姻和家庭的重要性，妇女儿童的地位，生活的节奏和紧张，并且首要的是强调热爱幽默本身，将其看成一种生活态度，比财富更珍贵；看成一种天赋，值得珍视和为之喝彩。牧师布道，医生治病，律师辩护，教师讲课，都离不开幽默。我们对一个人最差的评语，就是他没有幽默感。因为幽默被认为“美国方式”最重要的方面。
It helps to equalize, and we believe in equality.It is often a symbol of freedom, for it permits the common man to speak freely of his leaders;it helps him cut them down to size.It deflates stuffed shirts.It allows us to look at ourselves in perspective, for when we laugh 12 at ourselves we have surmounted our shortcomings.And in a land where new contacts are always being made, humor provides a quickly available emotional unity － not subtle or regional but universal, one which lets us feel immediately at home anywhere.It is the grammar of confidence, the rhetoric of optimism, the music of brotherhood.幽默可以让大家平等，而我们相信平等。幽默常常是自由的象征，因为它可以使老百姓无所顾忌 地跟领导说话；幽默使他能把领导降低到与自己平等的地位。幽默让自命不凡的人无地自容。幽默让我们能透视自己，因为自嘲就是克服自己的缺点。我们总是要和新人打交道，幽默就提供了快速有效的情感上的和谐——不是微妙的，也不是地域性的，而是普遍的，让我们很快在任何地方都无拘无束。幽默是自信的法则，是乐观主义的修辞，是友谊的音乐。
What is an American? 美国人是什么？
“I can't make you out,” Henry James has Mrs.Tristram say to the American, “whether you are very simple or very deep.” This is a dilemma which has often confronted Europeans.Usually they conclude that Americans are childish.But one cannot accurately call one society mature, another immature.Each has its own logic.亨利·詹姆斯让特里斯瑞姆太太对美国人说，“我真搞不懂你，是太幼稚还是太深沉。”这是欧洲人经常碰到的难题。通常他们的结论就是美国人很孩子气。可是没人能说准确地说一个社会成熟，另一个社会不成熟。每一个社会都有自己的逻辑。
What is it then that makes Americans recognizable wherever they go? It is not, we hope, the noisy, boasting, critical, money-scattering impression made by one class of tourists.The only thing to be said in their defense is that, released from the social restraints which would make them act very differently at home, they are bent on making the most of this freedom.那么是什么东西使得美国人无论走到哪里都能被人认出来呢？我们希望，不是一种美国游客给人留下的印象，吵吵嚷嚷，自吹自擂，挑三 拈四，挥金如土。唯一可以为他们开脱的说法是：一旦脱离了使他们在国内以非常不同的方式行事的种种社会约束，他们就下定决心充分享受这种自由。
Americans carry with them an appearance which is more a result of attitude than of clothing.This attitude combines a lack of class consciousness, a somewhat jaunty optimism and an inquisitiveness which in combination look to the European like naivete.Also a liking for facts and figures, an alertness more muscular and ocular than intellectual, and above all a desire to be friendly.(Let us, for the moment, leave out of the picture such stigmata as gum chewing, too much smoking, and an urge to compare everything with Kansas City or Keokuk.)
美国人有一种外观，与其说是衣着的结果，不如说是态度的结果。这种态度中，有对阶级的不屑，有洋洋得意的乐观主义，还有一种求知欲，加在一起就被欧洲人认为是幼稚浅薄的人。还有，他们喜欢用事实和数字说话，虽然身手敏捷，但头脑相对迟钝，最重要的是他们喜欢结交朋友。（让我们暂时不去想他们嚼口香糖，抽香烟太多的样子，还有他们总是把每一样东西都和美国的堪萨斯城比一比的欲望。）
To boil it down to the briefest summary, American characteristics are the product of response to an unusually competitive situation combined with unusual opportunity.归根结底，最简洁地说，美国人的性格，就是对具有非常机遇的非常竞争环境作出反应的结果。
Americans are a peculiar people.They work like mad, then give away much of what they earn.They play until they are exhausted, and call this a vacation.They live to think of themselves as tough-minded business men, yet they are push-overs for any hard luck story.They have the biggest of nearly everything including government, motor cars and debts, yet they are afraid of bigness.They are always trying to chip away at big government, big business, big unions, big influence.They like to think of themselves as little people, average men, and they would like to cut everything down to their own size.Yet they boast of their tall buildings, high mountains, long rivers, big state, the best country, the best world, the best heaven.They also have the most traffic deaths, the most waste, the most racketeering.美国人是一个与众不同的民族。他们拼命地工作，然后花掉了大量辛苦赚来的钱。他们玩得筋疲力尽，并称之为度假。他们向来把自己想成硬心肠的商人，可是任何不幸的故事都会使他们受骗。几乎所有最大的东西他们都有 ：政府，汽车和债务，可他们害怕庞大。所以他们总是要想办法除去大的政府，大的买卖，大的团体，大的影响力。他们愿意把自己看成是小人物，平平常常的人，喜欢一切都是平等的。他们吹嘘自己的高楼大厦，高山，大河，吹嘘自己是大国，是最好的国家，是最好的世界，最好的天堂。同时，他们的车祸最多，浪费最多，骗子也最多。
When they meet, they are always telling each other, “Take it easy,” then they rush off like crazy in opposite directions.They play games as if they were fighting a war, and fight wars as if playing a game.They marry more, go broke more often, and make more money than any other people.They love children, animals, gadgets, mother, work, excitement, noise, nature, television shows, comedy, installment buying, fast motion, spectator sports, the underdog, the flag, Christmas, jazz, shapely women and muscular men, classical recordings, crowds, comics, cigarettes, warm houses in winter and cool ones in summer, thick beefsteaks, coffee, ice cream, informal dress, plenty of running water, do-it-yourself, and a working week trimmed to forty hours or less.美国人一见面就对彼此说：“放轻松点，”然后就向相反的方向狂奔。他们做游戏象打仗一样，打起仗来象做游戏。跟任何人相比，他们结婚次数更多，离婚的频率更高，赚的钱更多。他们爱孩子，爱动物，爱小玩艺，爱母亲，爱工作，爱激动，爱吵吵嚷嚷，爱大自然，爱看电视节目，爱看喜剧，买东西喜欢分期付款，喜欢快节奏，爱买票看体育比赛，同情弱者，热爱国旗，爱过圣诞节，听爵士乐，爱看身材好的女子和肌肉发达的男人，爱收藏经典唱片，爱凑热闹，看连环画，抽烟，喜欢房子冬暖夏凉，爱吃切得厚厚的牛排，爱喝咖啡，吃冰淇淋，穿着随便，喜欢自来水一直淌着，一切自己动手，一周工作时间限制在40小时以内。
They crowd their highways with cars while complaining about the traffic, flock to movies and television while griping about the quality and the commercials, go to church but don't care much for sermons, and drink too much in the hope of relaxing － only to find themselves stimulated to even bigger dreams.他们一边抱怨交通拥挤，一边把车都挤到高速公路上；一边抱怨影视质量不好，商业化气息太浓，却成群结队地去看电影电视；常去教堂却不大关心布道，酒喝得太多，为的是要放松——结果却发现酒精使他们更想入非非。
There is of course, no typical American.But if you added them all together and then divided 14 by 226 000 000 they would look something like what this chapter has tried to portray.当然没有典型的美国人。但是如果你把他们加在一起，然后用226 000 000来除，他们的样子就象这一章要描述的。
(1816 words)
Information Related to the Text
1)Culture notes:
1)Materialism: It is a general view about what actually exists.Put bluntly, the view is just this: Everything that actually exists is material, or physical.Many philosophers and scientists now use the terms `material' and `physical' interchangeably.Characterized in this way, as a doctrine about what exists, materialism is an ontological, or a metaphysical view;it is not just an epistemological view about how we know or just a semantic view about the meaning of terms.2)Puritan: It was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church;they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England.Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.Most of American puritans held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought.In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience.During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America.In the 19th century its influence was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations.3)Boy Scout of America(BSA): It was incorporated on February 8, 1910, and charted by Congress in 1916.Its purpose is to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness.15 4)Sigmund Freud:(1856-1939), The inventor of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, changed the way we all think about ourselves, our language, and our culture.Drawing upon both nineteenth-century science and nineteenth-century Romanticism, Freud created a description of the mind that emphasizes the major role played by unconscious drives, particularly those of sexuality.His theories, which struck many contemporaries as sordid and threatening, represents the most recent democratization or leveling of the old hierarchical conception of mind.5)Andre Maurois: Biographer, novelist, essayist, children's writer.Maurois is best known for his vivid, romantic style biographies of such authors as Shelley, Byron, Balzac, Proust and others.The Quest for Proust is considered by many his finest biography.2)Language notes:
1)The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Lump sb./sth.（together）: put or consider people or things together.e.g.We've lumped all the advanced students into a single class.2)A good many things contributed to this accent on success.Contribute to sth.: increase sth., add to sth.;help to cause sth.e.g.Her work has contributed enormously to our understanding of this difficult subject.Does smoking contribute to lung cancer?
3)The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.Measure up（to sth.）: reach the standard required or expected.e.g.The discussion didn't measure up to my expectations.4）America has been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.Be blessed with sth/sb: be fortunate in having sth/sb.e.g.He is blessed with excellent health.Information Related to the Text 1)Culture notes:
1)The Declaration of Independence: Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument.Here, in exalted and unforgettable phrases, Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people.The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new;16 its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers.What Jefferson did was to summarize this philosophy in “self-evident truths” and set forth a list of grievances against the King in order to justify before the world the breaking of ties between the colonies and the mother country.2)Alexis de Tocqueville:(1805-1859)An aristocratic Frenchman.He studied law in Paris and worked as a substitute judge in Versailles before coming to the U.S.In 1839 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a representative of Valognes and later to the Constituent Assembly and Legislative Assembly.He briefly served as minister of foreign affairs.He came to the U.S.in 1831--when he was only 25 years old--and later wrote Democracy in America, a two-volume study of the American people and their political institutions.The book is frequently quoted by journalists and politicians.The book deals with issues like religion, the press, money, class structure, racism, the role of government, the judicial system, etc.--issues that are just as relevant today as they were then.Democracy in America has undergone several periods of popularity throughout the century, but it's never been as popular as it is now.Scores of colleges around the country use the text in political science and history courses, and historians consider it one of the most comprehensive and insightful books ever written about the U.S.3)Mark Twain:(Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910)An American icon.Books like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn define two sides of an imagined American childhood while Huckleberry Finn and The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson continue to expose the wounds of racism in American society.Although he first began to wear his famous white suit in public in 1906, just a few years before his death, that is the most familiar image of Mark Twain for people throughout the world.He was--still is--the cigar-smoking humorist-sage whose very name inspires smiles: “As Mark Twain said....” But Mark Twain's life and career were more varied and complex than most people realize.He was a printer and journalist, steamboat pilot, gold and silver miner, a newspaper editor, author, and publisher.He was also deeply involved in American political and cultural issues, and an active participant in several anti-imperialist movements.4)Henry James: Like Howells and Clemens, James was also a prolific American writer.Apart from writing fiction, James made important contributions to the genre of literary theories, especially through his famous essay, “The Art of Fiction,” 1884.In his treatment of subject matter, James felt that no aspect of life should be excluded.James's style of writing is magnificent and his canvas is broadthe violence which is the least pleasant aspects of American society.Americans are beginning to realize that this terrible problem of poverty is their problem and not just their government's.It has been said that an individual American is generous, but that American nation is mean.The US is reputed to be a classless society.There is certainly not much social snobbery and job snobbery.The manual worker is usually quite at ease in any company.This is partly explained by the fact that all income groups go together to the same schools.Americans are far more race conscious than they are class conscious.美国人的性格
大部分美国人精力充沛，充满热情．他们宁愿自律，而不愿受制于人．他们以独立行事和有权做出自己的决定而自豪。他们做事采取主动，即使这样做存在风险也在所不惜．他们有勇气，不会轻易屈服．他们宁愿在任何地方干任何工作，而不愿失业．他们不愿受政府的救助.普通美国人一生中换九到十次工作.美国人热情友好, 其程度并非外国人想得那样表面化.人们认为美国人易动感情.当在典礼上看见国旗,当参加庆祝美国光荣历史的游行时,他们可能会热泪盈眶.与家人团圆,与朋友相聚,也会让他们十分激动.他们喜欢穿着得体，即使这种“得体”无异于奢华炫耀.他们喜欢自吹自擂,尽管多数情况下只是说说而已.他们有时会嘲笑自己,会嘲笑自己的国家,甚至有时候会自责,但是始终有着强烈的爱国之心.他们对日常事情所知甚广,对他们所在的城市和州深为关切。然而,有时候外国人会抱怨说,美国人对外面的世界漠不关心,一无所知.美国人酷爱豪华的气派.他们的摩天大厦,桥梁和水坝往往十分雄壮宏伟,这与美国的自然奇观之壮美和恢弘相得益彰.赚钱和拥有称得上过多的奢侈品,是不是美国人唯一的目标呢?大部分美国人肯定会予以否认,尽管他们将通过辛勤劳动而积攒的钱财而自豪.在美国,90%的人生活富足,期待更美好的未来.美国的生活水平依然在世界上名列前茅,尽管现在还有10%的美国人生活在政府划定的“贫困线”以下.这些贫困虽然得到政府的救助,但是他们对未来不抱太多希望。正是这些“社会下层阶级”和利用他们的人引发了大部分的**,而这成为了美国社会最另人不快的一面.美国人开始意思到，这个严重的问题是他们自身的问题,而不仅仅是政府的问题。据说,美国人作为个体是慷慨的,但是美国作为一个民族则是吝啬的.人们普遍认为,美国是一个不分阶级的国家.的确,美国对人们的社会地位和不同工作不带任何势利的看法.体力劳动者在任何场合都很自在.不同收入档次的群体可以在同一所学校上课,这个事实多少可以说明这一点.与其说美国人具有阶级意识,还不如说他们具有种族意识.
第四篇：The American Character 美国人的性格
The American Character 美国人的性格(Bradford Smith 布拉德福德·史密斯)
The following is part of an essay taken from Bradford Smith's book, Why We Behave Like Americans.Success as a goal and materialism, according to Smith, are among the underlying factors that make up the American character.以下节选自布拉德福德所著《为什么我们的举止象美国人》里的一篇文章。据布拉德福德所说，目标 为成功和物质享乐主义，构成美国人性格的内在因素。没
When visitors from abroad undertake to describe the American Character, the results are frequently puzzling to Americans.“All Americans are Puritans;that's what's wrong with them,” says one.“They're always thinking about enjoying themselves,” says another.“They spend too much time at work,” a distinguished visitor tells us.“They don't know how to play.” “Americans don't know what work is, ” retorts another.“ Their machines do it all.” “American women are shameless sirens.” － “No, they're prudes.” “The children here are wonderful － outgoing and natural.” － “Natural as little beasts.They have no manners, no respect for their elders.” 要是让国外来客描述美国人的性格，结果常常令美国人感到奇怪。一个人说：“所有的美国人都是清教徒；所以他们与众不同。”另一个人说：“他们总是想方设法让自己开心。”一位尊贵的客人告诉我们：“他们花在工作上的时间太多。他们不懂如何玩乐。”另一个人反驳说：“他们不懂什么是工作。因为机器替他们做了一切。”“美国女人是不知廉耻的，妖艳而危险的女人。”--“不，她们假正经。”“这里的孩子真好－－外向，自然。”----“象小小的野兽一样自然。他们没礼貌，不尊敬长辈。”
There is, of course, no single pattern of American character any more than there is a single English or Turkish or Chinese character.Personality in America is further complicated by our diverse racial and cultural origins, by successive waves of immigration from all parts of the world, by our regional diversities.It is complicated by several hundred varieties of religious belief with their varying impact on the believers.It is further diversified by the generation to which the person belongs － first generation immigrant, second generation child of immigrants, and on down the line.当然，世上既没有单一模式的美国人性格，也没有单一的英国人性格或土耳其人性格或是中国人性格。个性的定义在美国变得更为复杂，因为我们有不同的种族和文化背景，因为来自世界各地连续不断的移民浪潮，因为我们区域的多样性。个性的定义变得复杂，因为几百种不同的宗教信仰及其对各自的信奉者的影响不同。个性的定义也由于每个人所处的年代不同而趋多样化 －－第一代是移民，第二代是移民的孩子，一直照此延续下去。
The temptation is strong to lump all Americans together.Yet those who look a little deeper are puzzled by the seeming contradictions in American life.It is true that Americans as a whole work hard.But they also play hard.They spend more time and money in traveling, camping, hunting, watching sports, drinking, smoking, going to movies, watching television and reading newspapers and magazines than any other people in the world.Yet they also spend more money on churches, social services, hospitals and all kinds of charities.They are always in a hurry, yet they spend more time relaxing.They are at the same time sensitive to the rights of the individual and habitual conformist.They worship bigness yet idealize the little man, whether he be the small business man as opposed to the big one or the plain citizen as opposed to the big wheel.强大的吸引力把众多的美国人聚集在了一起。然而那些想再了解深入一点的人弄不懂美国人生活中各种似乎自相矛盾的东西。的确，美国人总体上工作努力。但他们也拼命地玩。他们去旅游、露营、打猎、看体育比赛、喝酒、抽烟、看电影电视、读报纸杂志，花的时间和金钱比世界任何地方的人都多。而他们还把更多的时间花在教会、社会服务、医院和各种各样的慈善活动上。他们总是忙来忙去，又总是花更多的时间休闲。他们十分在乎个人的权利，又习惯于墨守陈规。他们崇拜大人物，也把小人物理想化，不论他是和大商人形成对照的小商人，还是和大权在握的人形成对照的平民百姓。
Success as a Goal 成功作为目标
One thing almost everyone is agreed on, including Americans, is that they place a very high valuation upon success.Success does not necessarily mean material rewards, but recognition of some sort － preferably measurable.If the boy turns out to be a preacher instead of a business man, that's all right.But the bigger his church and congregation, the more successful he is judged to be.包括美国人在内几乎每一个人都会赞同的一点是，美国人极为看重成功。成功不一定是物质上的回报，而是得到某种认可，最好是可以衡量的那种。如果一个男孩后来没有从商，而是做了布道的教士，那也没什么。但是他的教堂规模越大，教堂会众越多，别人就认为他越成功。
A good many things contributed to this accent on success.There was the Puritan belief in the virtue of work, both for its own sake and because the rewards it brought were regarded as signs of God's love.There was the richness of opportunity in a land waiting to be settled.There was the lack of a settled society with fixed ranks and classes, so that a man was certain to rise through achievement.好多事情都说明，成功是美国人生活的重点。清教徒相信工作带来的好处，既有工作本身的乐趣，还因为工作的回报是上帝之爱的体现。一片富饶的土地到处都是机遇，等待着人们到来。在一个不固守陈规的社会，没有严格的等级和阶级，这样人就一定能通过成功提升自己的社会地位。
There was the determination of the immigrant to gain in the new world what had been denied to him in the old, and the part of his children an urge to throw off the immigrant onus by still more success and still more rise in a fluid, classless society.Brothers did not compete within the family for the favor of the parents as in Europe, but strove for success in the outer world, along paths of their own choosing.凡是旧的世界拒绝给的，移民决心都要在新的世界得到。对于他的后代而言，要摆脱作为移民的负担，只有在一个灵活自由的无阶级社会里取得更多的成功，升至更高的地位。他们的兄弟之间不象欧洲人那样为获得父母的欢心而相互 倾轧，他们都在外面的世界 沿着各自选择的道路为成功而奋力拚搏。
The English anthropologist, Geoffrey Gorer, sees the whole situation in Freudian terms.Europe is the father rejected by every immigrant who turned his back on his own culture in order to make a new life in America.The immigrant's struggle for success never ends, because there is no limit to the possible goal.The second generation child, in turn, rejects the alien parents because they cannot measure up to American standards.The only way he can soften the blow is to achieve a still greater success.All over America the lawyers, doctors, professors and politicians with Italian, Irish, German or Polish names testify to the urgency of this drive.英国的人类学家杰弗里·戈罗尔用弗罗伊德的说法来解释这一切。欧洲是被所有的移民抛弃的父亲，移民为了在美国过上新生活，背离了自己的文化。移民为了要成功从未停止过奋斗，因为目标 的内容没有限制。同样，第二代移民拒绝接受移民过来的父母，因为后者无法适应美国标准。他能减轻压力的唯一方式，就是取得更大的成功。在整个美国，有意大利人、爱尔兰人、德国人或波兰人名字的律师、医生、教授和政治家，都能证明这种成功欲望的强烈。
Not to strive, not to take advantage of the opportunities in such a world, not to succeed where success was so available － these things naturally became a sort of crime against the state.To develop the resources of a new country required energetic people, bent upon using their energies － not only for the rewards that would result to themselves, but even more important, to the community.So material success in the United States is not looked upon as selfish.Its results are seen to have communal value.要是不奋斗，不利用这个世界的各种机会去成功而不能成功---这些无疑都是对国家的一种犯罪。开发一个新国家的各种资源，需要精力充沛的人不遗余力地发挥他们的充沛精力---不仅仅是为了他们会得到的回报，更重要的是给社会带来的回报。所以在美国，没有人把物质上的成功看成是自私的。成功的果实被看作具有全民共享的价值。
Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller built great fortunes for themselves.But they also built an economy which has brought a great deal of material well-being, higher health standards and better educational opportunities to millions of Americans.This is how it looks to us, anyway, from inside.福特、卡耐基、洛克菲勒，都为自己创造了极大的财富。但他们也建立起一种经济，既可以带来许多物质上的幸福，更高的健康水平，也可以给上千万的美国人创造更好地受教育的机会。无论怎样，这就是成功的内涵。
A society which values competition so highly is inevitably an aggressive one, even though the laws carefully limit the forms aggression may take.It has a toughness about it which is good for the muscle tone of the economy but hard on some individuals.In our pioneering days this aggressiveness was essential to survival.Now it can be a menace to society.The factory worker who reaches a dead end and sees himself stuck in the same job year after year may take out his aggressive feelings in race hatred or fighting management, or he may even turn it against himself by way of alcoholism, proneness to accident, or neurotic behavior.一个如此注重竞争的社会必定是攻击性的社会，尽管法律严格限制各种攻击形式。这种对攻击的严格限制对 完善经济的肌体有益，但对某些个人却过于严格。在拓荒时代，这种攻击性是生存所必需的，但现在可能是一种对社会的威胁。走投无路、常年被同一工作所困的工人可能会将这样的攻击性用于种族仇恨或反对管理，或 开始酗酒、滋事、神经质、和自己过不去。
Since a high regard is felt for success, the rewards are high.Money is rarely cherished for itself in America;it is rather a symbol and a tool.As a man's status rises, the demands upon him also increase.He is expected to give liberally to the hundreds of voluntary associations which nourish and minister to the community.Look at the Who's Who entry for any prominent business man, and you are likely to find him involved in an amazing number of committees and associations organized for the public good.既然高度注重成功，回报也就很高。在美国，人们很少看重金钱本身，它更多的是一种标志，一种工具。当一个人的地位提高，人们对他的要求也相应提高。成百上千各种各样的志愿者协会有益于社会并服务于社会，人们期望他能慷慨捐钱给这些协会。你去看看《名人录》，随便找一个知名商人的条目，就会发现他参加的公益性委员会和协会多得令人吃惊。
This striving for success and prestige, according to psychologists, is a way of overcoming fears and a sense of inner emptiness.In a mobile society an energetic person can hardly help matching himself against others and seeing how far he can go.这种为成功和名望而奋斗的心理，按心理学家的说法，是一种克服恐惧和内心空虚感的方式。在一个时刻变化着的社会，一个有进取精神的人难免会拿自己与别人相比，知道自己能达到的目标是什么。
Such a system is fine for those who have it in them to succeed.It is not so good for the mediocre.The fear of failure, the fear of competitors, the loss of self esteem － these arouse tensions that some people cannot handle.In their turn they produce an excessive craving for love.So love and success are linked.Gorer believes that most Americans by the time they are adolescents have confused two ideas: to be successful is to be loved, and to be loved is to be successful.Mothers help to impose the pattern by showing affection and admiration when their children do well at school and by withholding affection when they fail.这种思维方式对于那些本来就这样想的人是有利的。但对不求上进的人却没什么好处。害怕失败，害怕竞争对手，丧失自尊---都导致了一些人无力应付的紧张情绪。然后，这种紧张情绪就产生了对爱的极度渴望。因此爱和成功是密不可分的。戈罗尔认为，许多美国人在少年时期就被两个问题困扰：成功就是要得到爱，要得到爱就要成功。母亲们把这个模式成功地灌输给孩子：孩子们在学校里表现好，她们就对他们显示出无限的疼爱和喜爱；孩子们要是做得不好，她们就拒绝给予关爱。
Since there are no limits of class, inherited occupation or education to hold a child back, there are, in theory, no limits to what he can achieve.Consequently there is no point at which he can say: “ There, I've done it.From now on all I have to do is to hold on.” Since any boy can, in theory, become President, striving is a moral obligation.Achievement, not class, is the standard by which men are judged.There is little or no glory attached to being born wealthy or privileged;the real test is how far you climb from where you started.既然没有阶级限制、世袭职业或教育来阻碍孩子的发展，所以从理论上说，他所能取得的成就也没有限制。如果他说：“哦，我已经做到了。从现在起我要做的就是继续保持，”这样的话毫无意义。因为，理论上，任何孩子都可以做总统，奋斗是一种道德上的义务。评价人的标准是成功而不是阶级。不论出身豪门还是出身显赫，都没有什么可炫耀的；真正的考验就是：从你的起点你能爬多高。
Americans love work.It is meat and drink to them.In recent years they have learned how to play, but they make work of that too.If it's skiing, they throw themselves at it with an effort that would kill a horse.If it's a vacation, they travel five or six hundred miles a day, take in the sights at sixty miles an hour, pause only long enough to snap pictures, and then discover what it was they went to see when they get home and look at the photographs.美国人热爱工作。工作就是他们的命根子。近年来他们已经学会玩，但是将玩也当成了工作。要是去滑雪，他们就在雪地上猛冲，那样子连马都会累死。如果去度假，他们就每天开车五六百公里，以每小时60英里的速度观光，沿途只停下来拍些快照。然后，发现了自己要看的东西是怎么一回事，就打道回府，回去看照片。
Until very recently there has always been a great deal of work to do in this country, a great deal that needed doing.At the beginning men of all sorts and conditions had to pitch in.The preacher had to fell trees and plough fields.The teacher, the doctor and the magistrate had to shoulder guns for the common defense.The farmer made his own tools, harness, household equipment.He was blacksmith, carpenter, tinsmith, brewer and veterinary all rolled into one, as his wife was spinster, weaver and doctor.直到最近，这个国家还总是有许多事要做，还有许多事情必须要做。以前不管什么人都工作得很辛苦。传教士要伐树、犁田。教师、医生，还有地方法官得扛着枪当民兵。农场主自己动手做工具、马鞍和家用器具。他集铁匠、木匠、白铁匠、啤酒酿造者和兽医于一身。他的妻子既是纺纱工、织布工，又是医生。
Americans still like to be handy at all things.College professors go in for making furniture or remodeling an old house in the country.Bankers don aprons and become expert barbecue chefs.Nearly everyone knows how to use tools, make simple repairs to plumbing or electrical fixtures, refinish furniture or paint a wall.Far from being thought a disgrace if he performs these “menial” tasks, a man is thought ridiculous if he does not know how to perform them.美国人仍然喜欢什么都学着做。大学教授喜欢做家具或是改造乡下的老房子。银行家穿上围裙，就成了专业的烧烤厨师。几乎每一个人都懂得使用工具，懂得简单的下水道或电力装置的修理，还会修家具，刷墙。做这些“粗活”绝不会让人认为不体面，不会做才是让人觉得不可思议呢。
Along with this urge to be jack-of-all-trades goes a willingness to change from one occupation to another.It surprises no one in America when the banker's son becomes a farmer or vice versa.Or when a college professor shifts into industry, or a young man who starts out with a truck purchased on credit ends up running an enterprise with fleets of trucks spanning several states.President Truman was a farmer, an operator of a haberdashery and an army officer before he turned to law and politics.James Bryant Conant, first a chemist, then President of Harvard University, resigned this highest post in the academic world to become High Commissioner and then Ambassador to Germany.与这种成为万事通愿望并存的是变换职业的愿望。在美国，不管是银行家的儿子当了农场主还是农场主的儿子做了银行家，都不会让人吃惊。更不用说大学教授转行干上了实业。一个年轻人靠一辆贷款买来的卡车起家，后来当上了公司的老板，拥有卡车车队，行驶在好几个州。杜鲁门总统经营过农场，开过男装店，当过陆军军官，后来才转学法律和政治。詹姆斯·布莱恩特·克兰特原先是化学家，后来担任哈佛大学的校长，辞去了这个学术界的最高职位后担任了高级公共事务官员，后被任命为驻德大使。
“For a European,” writes Andre Maurois, “life is a career;for an American, it is a succession of hazards.” 安德鲁·莫里斯写道“对于欧洲人来说，生活是生命的历程，而对于美国人，生活就是一个接一个的危险。”
A single individual can be at once an intellectual, a Boy Scout leader, a business man, a sportsman, a dabbler in music or painting, a nature-lover, and one who does many of his own household chores.An employer, he may go hunting with his own or someone else's employees.A shopkeeper, he may run for local office and be on familiar terms with professional men and government officials.He will live on several levels which in other countries might be separated by class distinctions.一个人可以同时是知识分子，童子军首领，商人，运动健将，音乐绘画的爱好者，热爱大自然的人，做大部分家务的人。当老板的也许会和自己的或别人的雇员一起打猎。经营商店的可能会竞选当地的政府职位，熟悉专业人士和政府官员。他可以同时位于别的国家也许会用等级的概念来划分的不同社会阶层。
The emphasis on success and achievement, coupled as it is with a desire to be loved and admired, leads to a critical dilemma of personality.To succeed one must be aggressive;to be liked, one must be easy-going and friendly.强调成功和成就，再加上要得到爱和赞赏的强烈愿望，会导致个性发展的两难境地：要成功，人就必须好斗；要别人喜欢自己，人就得宽容、友好。
One way out of the difficulty is to acquire groups of friends － lodge brothers, members of the same church, a veteran's organization － towards whom you are pledged in friendship.Having thus acquired assured friends, you can practice your aggression on those who don't belong.This pattern explains to some extent the suspicion or hostility towards those of other races or religions.走出困境的一个办法就是有成群的朋友---会社支部的会员，同一教堂的成员，退伍军人组织---他们一定会给你友谊。有了这些可以信赖的朋友，你就可以对那些不在朋友之列的人表现出你的攻击力。这种模式也或多或少地解释了，为什么会对其他的种族或教会的人持怀疑敌视的态度。
Materialism 物质享乐主义
The men and women who staked everything on America were for the most part poor.They struggled hard, went without, and saved in order to build up a business or buy a farm of their own.The freedom to own rather than the freedom to vote was the magnet that drew the majority of them across oceans.Naturally enough they put a high value upon the land or the business they acquired through their own efforts.把赌注都押在美国的男男女女绝大多数是穷人。他们努力挣扎，忍气吞声，努力存钱，目的就是做点买卖，买个属于自己的农场。像磁铁一般吸引着他们大多数人远涉重洋的，是拥有财产的自由而不是投票的自由。所以他们很看重靠自己的努力得来的土地和做的买卖。
In contrast with this natural acquisitiveness of the new arrivals, the American attitude toward money is quite different.As the German psychologist Hugo Munsterberg observed, the American “prizes the gold he gets primarily as an indication of his ability....It is, therefore, fundamentally false to stigmatize the American as a materialist, and to deny his idealism....The American merchant works for money in exactly the sense that a great painter works for money －” as a mark of appreciation for his work.和初来者自然的获取思想相比，美国人对钱的态度是很不一样的。就象德国心理学家休格·爱斯特伯格所指出的，美国人“很看重他挖到的金子，主要是因为金子是他的能力的体现……因此把美国人定义为物质享乐主义者而否认他的理想主义，从根本上就是错误的……美国的商人为钱工作，伟大的画家为钱绘画，意义是完全一样的——”，都是是对自己的工作欣赏的标志。
The acquisition of money is important as the clearest proof of success, though there are other acceptable proofs － prominence, public notice, good works, fame.But the retention of money is not important at all.Indeed, it may be frowned upon if it keeps the owner from living well, subscribing generously to a long list of charities, and providing for members of the family who may have been less fortunate.获得金钱是重要的，因为钱最能证明成功。当然还有人们可以接受的其他的证明---卓越，公众瞩目，工作优秀，名声，等等。但是存钱并不重要。事实上，钱的主人留着钱，不过好日子，不慷慨地捐款给大串的慈善机构，不接济家里没钱的人，人们也会不喜欢。
So the materialism that strikes a visitor to America is not that of loving and hoarding wealth;it is a love of making and consuming wealth.It is probably a middle-class rather than a distinctively American phenomenon, for most Americans are middle-class.所以，到美国的人感到震惊的不是物质享乐主义的爱财和守财，而是美国人的既喜欢赚钱又喜欢花钱。这可能不是美国人特有的性格，而是中产阶级才有的现象，因为大多数美国人都是中产阶级。
America has been blessed with a rich supply of raw materials.It learned during the depression that even a rich country can become impoverished if it fails to use its wealth to benefit the majority.And it does not propose to make that error again.A sizable portion of what it produces goes overseas, including agricultural and industrial machinery sent with the hope that standards of production and consumption can be raised in other parts of the world too.上天赋予美国丰富的自然资源。但在大萧条时期美国人懂得了，如果一个国家不把财富造福社会，再富有也会遭受贫困。它再也不会重蹈覆辙。美国生产的产品相当一部分到了国外，其中有工农业用的机械设备，就是希望世界其他地方的生产水平和消费水平能得到提高。
There is no denying the fact that the high level of production does lead to a high level of material comfort, and that Americans are mighty fond of having things that are new, shine, softly padded, conveniently arranged, efficient, and so far as may be, effortless.The bread comes already sliced so that the housewife need not exert herself to slice it.It used to be that when she put the bread in the toaster, she had to turn it once to toast both sides.Then came the toaster which did both sides at once, then the toaster which popped the toast out when it was done, so that she did not have to turn a handle to raise it.Soon, no doubt, there will be a toaster which butters the toast, cuts it in quarters, and puts it on a plate.Perhaps there is one even now.无法否认这样一个事实：高水平的生产一定会带来高水平的物质享受，所以美国人非常喜欢把东西做得新颖、光亮，有柔软的衬垫，使用 起来方便，这样就可以不费气力。买回来的面包已经切好片，主妇就省得再切。以前她把面包放进烤面包机，还要翻转一次面包，才能烤另一面。于是就有了可以同时烤两面的烤面包机，烤完了还会把烤的面包送出来。所以她不必转手柄就能拿到烤面包。过不久，肯定会有更新的烤面包机，可以把烤面包涂上黄油，切成四分之一块，然后放到盘子上。说不定现在就已经有这样的烤面包机了。
Food comes ready-cooked and frozen, vegetables already washed.Floor wax must be self-polishing, pens write for years without having to be filled.Storm windows change to summer screens at a touch.Heat is thoroughly automatic, and air conditioning keeps the house equally comfortable in summer.Automation now promises to put a final end to all drudgery, even to building in the controls which will keep the machines from making mistakes.食物买的时候是煮熟的、冰冻的，蔬菜是已经洗干净的。地板蜡肯定是自动上光的，钢笔写上几年都不用上墨水。轻轻一按，防暴风雪的窗子就变成了夏天的屏幕。暖气是自动的，冷气使房子即使在夏天也一样舒适。自动化现在可以让人再也不用做单调乏味的工作，自动装置用在控制器中，机器再也不会出错。
Why is it that, having created a world in which he could live without raising a hand or taking a step, the American habitually seeks ways of letting off steam? His towns are full of bowling alleys, golf clubs, tennis courts, clubs, lodges, churches and associations into which he pours energy both physical and mental.The labor-saving gadgets, the love of comfort turn out to be ways of saving his time and energy for something else.美国人创造了一个不用举手投足就能过得舒舒服服的世界，为什么还是习惯于用各种方式放松自己呢？他们住的地方到处都是保龄球馆，高尔夫俱乐部，网球场，俱乐部，房子，教堂，以及各种可以让他们全身心投入的协会。他们制造省时省力的小器具，喜欢舒适，就是为了节约时间和精力做其他的事情。
(2476 words)Culture notes: 1)Materialism: It is a general view about what actually exists.Put bluntly, the view is just this: Everything that actually exists is material, or physical.Many philosophers and scientists now use the terms `material' and `physical' interchangeably.Characterized in this way, as a doctrine about what exists, materialism is an ontological, or a metaphysical view;it is not just an epistemological view about how we know or just a semantic view about the meaning of terms.2)Puritan: It was the name given in the 16th century to the more extreme Protestants within the Church of England who thought the English Reformation had not gone far enough in reforming the doctrines and structure of the church;they wanted to purify their national church by eliminating every shred of Catholic influence.In the 17th century many Puritans emigrated to the New World, where they sought to found a holy Commonwealth in New England.Puritanism remained the dominant cultural force in that area into the 19th century.Most of American puritans held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought.In addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience.During the whole colonial period Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America.In the 19th century its influence was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations.3)Boy Scout of America(BSA): It was incorporated on February 8, 1910, and charted by Congress in 1916.Its purpose is to provide an educational program for boys and young adults to build character, to train in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and to develop personal fitness.4)Sigmund Freud:(1856-1939), The inventor of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, changed the way we all think about ourselves, our language, and our culture.Drawing upon both nineteenth-century science and nineteenth-century Romanticism, Freud created a description of the mind that emphasizes the major role played by unconscious drives, particularly those of sexuality.His theories, which struck many contemporaries as sordid and threatening, represents the most recent democratization or leveling of the old hierarchical conception of mind.5)Andre Maurois: Biographer, novelist, essayist, children's writer.Maurois is best known for his vivid, romantic style biographies of such authors as Shelley, Byron, Balzac, Proust and others.The Quest for Proust is considered by many his finest biography.
第五篇：林黛玉性格分析
林黛玉是《红楼梦》中的一号女主角。她天生丽质，两弯罥烟眉，一双含露目，更兼具动静交融的柔弱气息。她虽才华横溢，却心底狭窄，与人常存芥蒂。特别是在与宝玉的爱情互动中，她一直在使小性子，闹别扭，活脱脱一个古代版的“野蛮女友”。
黛玉的野蛮女友表现
黛玉对宝玉常常是处处苛刻，容不得一丝玩笑之言。她的野蛮女友行径可用以下八个字概括：无理取闹,胡搅蛮缠。
例如，《红楼梦》第十八回中写到，黛玉怀疑宝玉把自己赠送的香袋给了别人，但宝玉珍藏衣内，黛玉自悔莽撞，未见皂白，就剪了香袋，低头一言不发。宝玉道：“你也不用剪，我知道你是懒待给我东西。我连这荷包奉还，何如？“说着，掷向他怀中便走。黛玉见如此，越发气起来，声咽气堵，又汪汪的滚下泪来，拿起荷包来又剪。宝玉见他如此，忙回身抢住，笑道：“好妹妹，饶了它罢！”不想黛玉将剪子一摔，拭泪说道：“你不用同我好一阵歹一阵的，要恼，就撂开手。这当了什么。”说着，赌气上床，面向里倒下拭泪。禁不住宝玉上来“妹妹”长“妹妹”短赔不是。在香袋这件事上，黛玉对宝玉原本不信任，误会解除后又不肯认个错，反而因为宝玉的一时赌气话而更加来劲，如此纠结折腾，不仅苦了宝玉，也苦了自己。
在《红楼梦》第二十回中，宝玉去了宝钗那里，黛玉冷笑说：“我说呢，亏在那里绊住，不然早就飞了来了。”宝玉笑道：“只许同你玩，替你解闷儿。不过偶然去他那里一趟，就说这话。”林黛玉道：“好没意思的话！去不去管我什么事，我又没叫你替我解闷儿。可许你从此不理我呢！”说着，便赌气回房去了。宝玉忙跟了来，问道：“好好的又生气了？就是我说错了，你到底也还坐在那里，和别人说笑一会子。又来自己纳闷。”林黛玉道：“你管我呢！”宝玉笑道：“我自然不敢管你，只没有个看着你自己作践了身子呢。”林黛玉道：“我作践坏了身子，我死，与你何干！“宝玉道：“何苦来，大正月里，死了活了的。”林黛玉道：“偏说死！我这会子就死！你怕死，你长命百岁的，如何？”宝玉笑道：“要象只管这样闹，我还怕死呢？倒不如死了干净。”黛玉忙道：“正是了，要是这样闹，不如死了干净。”黛玉的这些举止，完全是在胡搅蛮缠，且不说宝玉与宝钗是表亲关系，就是平时有些来往，黛玉也常常抓住不放，故意曲解宝玉的话，惹得大家都不痛快。而每每遇此，宝玉免不了“打叠起千百样的款语温言来劝慰”。
《红楼梦》第二十二回中，众人看戏见到一位九岁的小旦，凤姐说：“这个孩子扮上活象一个人。”众人都猜到了，偏偏湘云不藏话，直接出口“倒象林妹妹的模样”。宝玉忙向湘云使眼色，但这事最终还是传到黛玉的耳中。宝玉去找黛玉，刚到门口，就被黛玉推了出来。宝玉大惑不解。黛玉说你们“拿我比戏子取笑 ”。宝玉说他并没有比，也没有笑。黛玉说：“你还要比？你还要笑？你不比不笑，比人比了笑了的还利害呢！”宝玉无话可说了。黛玉又道:“这一节还恕得。再你为什么又和云儿使眼色 ? 这安的是什么心 ? 莫不是他和我玩，他就自轻自贱了？他原是公侯的小姐，我原是贫民的丫头，他和我顽，设若我回了口，岂不他自惹人轻贱呢。是这主意不是？这却也是你的好心，只是那一个偏又不领你这好情，一般的也恼了。你又拿我作情，倒说我小性儿，行动肯恼。你又怕他得罪了我，我恼他。我恼他，与你何干？他得罪了我，又与你何干？”
黛玉此言未免太过不近情理，原本宝玉给湘云使眼色就是为了避免黛玉受到伤害，但做了之后反而惹来黛玉的更多猜疑，实在是落得两面不是人。
黛玉无理取闹的根源是自卑情结
黛玉在与宝玉相处中，经常无理取闹，蛮不讲理。表面上看，这是因为黛玉是一个小心眼的人，平时爱使个小性子；但深层次看，这是因为她对爱情没有安全感，渴望占据宝玉的全部心思。由此，黛玉一旦感觉失去了宝玉的关注，就会焦虑不安，失去了平日的气度和理智，对宝玉斤斤计较，事事苛责。再进一步说，黛玉爱情焦虑的根源是自己内心深处无法克制的自卑感。
在心理学上，自卑情结是指个体的一种软弱、无能、低劣或自感不如别人的复合心态。它使人自我评价偏低，时常自愧无能，自怨自艾，悲观失望。奥地利心理学家阿德勒（Adler）认为，自卑感起源于童年时期的弱小和无助，加上器质性的缺陷和社会性挫伤，会使人形成一种复杂的情结。从黛玉的出身来看，她是姑苏才子林如海与贾敏的女儿，林如海是前科探花，升至兰台寺大夫，又被钦点为扬州巡盐御史，而贾敏是荣国府中贾母的女儿，贾政的亲妹妹。由此，黛玉本是出身“钟鸣鼎食之家，诗书翰墨之族”的大家闺秀。但母亲贾敏在黛玉幼年时就离世了，贾母念其孤苦，便接来荣国府抚养。可没多久父亲林如海也病故了，黛玉就长住在荣国府。对于皇亲国戚又是高官厚禄的荣国府，黛玉是“步步留心，时时在意，不肯轻易多说一句话，多行一步路，惟恐被人耻笑了他去”。总之一句话，寄人篱下的日子不好过。
虽然林黛玉深得贾母的喜爱和贾宝玉的呵护，但毕竟是外孙女，身份上比不得孙女的“四春”，而在外戚中，林黛玉又比不得拥有百万家富的薛宝钗，甚至比不上同是父母早亡的史湘云，尽管她也只是贾母的侄孙女，却还有叔叔婶婶来抚养。对于林黛玉来说，除了荣国府，她举目无亲，万一出了岔子得不到荣国府的抚育，她将走投无路。凡此种种，都使得黛玉不得不谨小慎微，变得敏感而自卑。如《红楼梦》第二十六回中，黛玉想到“虽说是舅母家如同自己家一样，到底是客边。如今父母双亡，无依无靠，现在他家依栖。如今认真淘，也觉没趣”。此外，黛玉早年是父母的掌上明珠，而后却是寄人篱下的孤儿，这一落差感也时刻伤害着黛玉的自尊，令她更加消极看待自己。黛玉的自卑情结使她常常表现得孤高疏离、多疑脆弱。爱情是一种平衡结构，其核心成分是自信。可悲的是，黛玉带着满腹的自卑展开了与宝玉的爱情。这使得她看自己极端不自信，看宝玉极端不信任，使原本甜美的爱情变成了折腾彼此的怨情。
黛玉的自卑情结还使她对自己的言行极度敏感，生怕别人看低。如在《红楼梦》第三回中，众人初见黛玉，见她有不足之症便询问为何只服药却不疗治，黛玉道：“我自来是如此，从会吃饮食时便吃药，到今日未断„„”黛玉的答非所问和“自来如此”，可以略微看出黛玉怕被众人轻视的高姿态。在《红楼梦》第七回中，周瑞家的挺吩咐给黛玉带来了宫制堆纱新巧的假花儿，黛玉看了便问道：“还是单送我一人的，还是别的姑娘们都有呢？”周瑞家的道：“各位都有了，这两枝是姑娘的了。”黛玉冷笑道：“我就知道，别人不挑剩下的也不给我。”这话一出，黛玉的敏感可见一斑，她深怕自己受到别人的轻视而不断揣摩别人的言行，事实上，最轻视黛玉的恰恰是她自己，她的自卑使她深陷抑郁的泥潭，很难体会到生活的乐趣，也使得她与宝玉的爱情之路走的异常曲折。
黛玉是抑郁型人格障碍患者
自卑的人常常情不自禁地夸大自己的缺陷，总爱拿自己的短处比别人的长处相比，不能冷静地分析自己所受的挫折，不能正确地对待自己的过失，不能认真地思考别人对自己的期望，也不能客观地理解别人对自己的评价。其久而久之，就很容易形成忧郁性人格障碍。在心理学上，抑郁型人格障碍症(depressed personality disorder)属于情感型人格障碍(affective personality disorder)的一种，也被称为情绪低落性人格障碍，多见于女性。其临床表现为精神不振，寡言少语，过分担忧，容易发怒，自感负担沉重，精力不济，对任何事情都感到困难重重、无能为力和难以预料结局，对生活的看法充满悲观愁情，成天抱怨命运，而林黛玉就是这类的典型代表。
例如，在《红楼梦》第二十三回，黛玉在回房途中，只听唱道：“则为你如花美眷，似水流年„„”林黛玉听了这两句，不觉心动神摇。又听道：“你在幽闺自怜“等句，亦发如醉如痴，站立不住，便一蹲身坐在一块山子石上，细嚼”如花美眷，似水流年“八个字的滋味．忽又想起前日见古人诗中有”水流花谢两无情“之句，再又有词中有”流水落花春去也，天上人间“之句，又兼方才所见《西厢记》中”花落水流红，闲愁万种"之句，都一时想起来，凑聚在一处，仔细忖度，不觉心痛神痴，眼中落泪。再如，在《红楼梦》第二十七回中，黛玉所吟唱的“侬今葬花人笑痴，他年葬侬知是谁”，“一朝春尽红颜老，花落人亡两不知”。在这里，黛玉不仅是在伤景，更是由景及人，想到了自己的悲苦身世和处境。
纵观《红楼梦》全局，黛玉对爱情的焦虑本是可以理解的。一方面，她并非是宝玉婚姻的最佳人选。除了她之外，宝玉还可选择素有“金玉良缘”之称的薛宝钗，及有“金麒麟”之称的史湘云。她们两个一个是有才有貌有家世，另一个也是才貌双全并性情温和，两人都深得贾府长辈的喜爱，对黛玉构成了极大的威胁。另一方面，宝玉自小成长于女儿堆里，虽与黛玉最为亲近，却也有些心性未定，爱与其他人打打闹闹，而黛玉性格偏静，容易胡思乱想，却碍于女孩的矜持和自尊，不便与宝玉一再提起，因而更加焦虑不堪。而黛玉表达焦虑的方式就是与宝玉闹别扭，耍性子，三日一小闹，五日一大闹，到头来把自己闹成了一个地地道道的抑郁症患者。
情感小贴士：做个进退自如的野蛮女友
随着社会的多元化，男女性性别角色不再拘于一格，男性会越来越忍受女性的生硬蛮横，女性越来越希望男性会变得温柔体贴。但凡是都有一个分寸火候，偶尔野蛮一把，恋人之间还可能觉得回味无穷；但没完没了地折腾，任何恋人都会敬而远之的。黛玉作为古代版的“野蛮女友”，给今人最大的启示是：恋人之间小打小闹，收发自如，是爱之流露，但大打大闹，没完没了，则是爱之施虐。由此，怎样，怎样做一个做个进退自如的野蛮女友，有下边几条建议：
一、小事大闹大事小闹
在恋爱当中，蛮横无理虽然折腾，却可能给恋爱双方带来某种乐趣，起到维持爱情的新鲜感和紧张感的作用。但是面对关于感情的重要事件时，恋人一定要保持理智，识得大体，此时耍性子相威胁往往给人不会做人不会处世的印象，反而弄巧成拙。
二、闹过就忘 不算总账
女孩子在恋爱中耍些小性子可以，但要过了就忘，不揪住不放。古人云，过犹不及，女孩子的闹腾也是如此。其实，每个人都有自己的脾性，偶尔的折腾和别扭无可厚非，也算得人之常情。但是频繁折腾胡闹是任谁也吃不消的，人的容忍是有限度的，所以耍小性子也要适时适度，这其实也是为了保护自己。
三、爱要自信更要坦诚
爱情中的自信不仅有利于完善自我，更能推动爱情的长远发展，给与携手未来的勇气和信心。而耍性子，其实是隐秘的抗议行为，以求将心中的不满发泄出来，期望寻求关注。但是，与其耍性子让对方猜心思，不如直接明了的说出不满，以自己的坦诚换取对方的包容，而不要以闹别扭来获取对方的纵容。
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