but also hosts of other prior literary texts,

作家的作品其用意在于
is the point that the tradition precedes the individual speaker.

告诉读者传统高于个人论述
The individual speaker believes that he has an original voice.

论述者认为自己有发言权
He believes he's speaking in his own voice, but, lo and behold,

认为自己是在发表个人观点而事实上
his words are not his own.

那都不是他的观点
So, just as this is a redaction and a compression of all the various

因此正如这是各种西方哲学思想中
meanings of life that Western philosophy has offered up,

关于人生意义的修改和简练
it is also a demonstration of how literary tropes,

它同时也运用了诸如转义
literary language, little packaged bits of literature,

文学化语言和与文学相关联的手法
quotations, allusions,

例如引用用典等
lard the language that is available to this creature.

来润色这个角色的语言
His final reflections on page 12 suggest his ambition as a speaker,

在书中第12页他的最后一番反思反映了