Abstract

Rather than grant readers the catharsis of identifying culprits, Georges Simenon’s denouements frequently leave them unsure of which characters to condemn. While scholars often note this lingering uncertainty, they have yet to explain how Simenon generates it or how it contributes to readers’ enjoyment. I contend that Simenon exploits anchoring—people’s tendency to weigh initial information more heavily—to lead readers to misjudge characters. As an analysis of “Les Mains pleines” (1945) illustrates, he employs this tactic to produce a sensation of disorientation that prompts readers to scrutinize the processes by which they form judgments.

摘要

乔治·西梅农（Georges Simenon）的名言常常使他们不确定该谴责哪些字符，而不是让读者认罪。虽然学者们经常注意到这种挥之不去的不确定性，但他们仍未解释Simenon是如何产生这种不确定性或它如何促进读者的愉悦感的。我认为Simenon利用锚定（人们倾向于更加权衡初始信息的倾向）来导致读者误判字符。正如对“ Les Mains pleines”（1945年）的分析所表明的那样，他运用这种策略产生了一种迷失方向的感觉，促使读者仔细研究他们形成判断的过程。