(doc) 派拉特:《所罗门之歌》里的领航者
派拉特:《所罗门之歌》里的领航者
语文学刊?外语教育教学2011年第3期
Pilate..APilotinSongofSolomon
oLiYing
(ZhengzhouInstituteofAeronauticalIndustryManagement,Zhengzhou,Henan,450015)
[Abstract]ToniMorrisonisafirst—ratenovelistinAmerica.Songof.~omon(1977),tracesablack,man’_口
(Mi~nan)pms~eintomanhoodandmaturityundertheguideofhisauntPilate.PilatebecomesapilotinMilkman’siui-
tiatlonandasymbolofAfricanculturaltraditionandheritage.Thispaperaims
atinterpretingPilate’sroleasapilotfrom
afeministapproach.
[Keywords]Pilate;Milkman;Feminism
[中图分类号]I106.4[文献标识码]A[文章编
号]16724610(2011J03-0056-02
ToniMorrison(1931,)isanoutstandingAfro—
Americanfemalewriter.Untilnow,shehaspublishednineno-
velsandhasestablishedherselfasafirst—ratenovelstinAnler-
leanandAfiicanliterature.SheistlleonlyblackAmericanthat
haswontheNobelPrizeforliteraturein1993.Amongher9no-
vels,SongofSolomonistheonlyonewithablackmanasthe
protagonist,notablackwoman.ShewontheNationalBookCrit-
ics
CircleAwardandAmericanAcademyandInstituteofArtsand
Lettersbecanseofthisbook,Thisbookwastllefirstno_
velbyablackwritertobechosenasamainselectionforthe
Book—of—the—MothClubsinceRichardWright’sNativeSon
seller.Moreover.itisthisbo0k in1940andapaperbackbest—
thatbroughtMorrisontonationalrecognition.
SongofSolomontellsaTIinitiationstoryofMilkman’spas—
sageintomanhood,hissearchforidentityandroots,theidentity
crisisthatcomesfrombeingthesonofthemostpropertiedAfri—
canAmericanintheirMichigantown,andhissenseofhimself
andhisheritageatlast.HeisguidedmainlybyhisauntPilate
Deadtotmhieveself-knowledgeandself—sufficiency.111isno.
velconsists0ftwoparts.PartonedealswitllMilkman’scozybut
vacuouslifeintheirMichigantown.Parttwotraceshisjoumey
totheSouthinsearchofgrid,butactuallyhediscovershisreal
nameandthehistoryofhisfamily.
ThenovelopenswitllPilate’8singingasongofhergrandfa-
ther’sflightbacktoAfricatoescapeslaveryonthedaybefore
Milkman’sbirth.Milkmangrowsupinanunhappyfamilywitha
timid,passivemother(RuthFoster);agreedy,abusiveand
materialistiefather(MaconDead);andsilent,frustrated
sisters.Hisnanlesuggestshismother’sexcessiveandprolonged
nursingandhisdependenceonwomen.Inhislife,womenare
theprimarysourceofknowledge.Undertheguideofhisaunt,
hegainsanunderstandingofhisr毛Ice.traditionandheritage.
Also,PilateisthepersonwhogivesMilkmanlife.Maconmar-
tiesRuthbecauseofherfather’sfameandmoney,notlove.
WhenhefindsRuthlyingnakedwithherfather’scorpse,hea-
bandonsherspirituallyandphysically.Milkmanistheoutcome
ofPilate’stricks.SowhenMacon脱lizesthat.therelationship
betweenPilateandhimWorsens.Obsessedinsuchallunhappy
family,MilkmangoesouttoGuitar’s(hisbestfriend)andPi—
late’shomeforwarmth,althoughMacondoesn’tallowhimto
haveanydealingswithPilate.
Quitedifferentfromthetraditionalfemalecharacters,Pilate
isveryconfidentandawomanofherself.She’sboma如mi-
nutesafterhermother’sdeathwithoutanyhelp,soshe’sa
daughterofnature.She’sspentahappychildhoodwithher
brotherintheSouth,butanincidentchangestheirllfe,their
fatheriskilledbyawhitemallwhocovetstheirproperty.When
huntedbythiswhiteman,theyareforcedtokillhim.Itsets
theirvaluesandlifegoalsapart,forMaconinsistsontakiIthe
whiteman’sgoldaway,butPilatestronglyrejeels.Shedoesn’t
changehermindwhenherbrotherthreatenstokillher,becauze
shebelievesmoralityism0reimportantthanMacon’Blove.She
isastrong,moral,braveandresponsiblewoman.
AfterherseparationtllMacon.sheleavesherhometown
withageographicbookandastonepickedupontheground.
Thenshefindsajobwiththeimmigrants.Havingdiscoveredshe
doesn’thaveanaval,sheisregardedasanominouswoman.
Peoplebegintokeepawayfromher.Sherealizesthatshemust
throwawayeveryassumptionshehaslearnedandbeginatzero.
Shebeginstothinkaboutthemeaningoflifeseriously,andthen
shecomestoaconclusionthattheessenceDfllfeismoreimpor-
rantthantheformoflife.Shelivesherownlife.
Pilate’sserf—dependenceandself—affirmationcomesfrom
herdirectexperienceinlife.Shelivesfreeofallmaterialcon.
venience.Thereisnorunningwaterorelectricityinherhouse,
[作者简介]李莹,女,河南郑州人,郑州航空工业管理学院外语系助教,
四川大学
语言文学硕士,研究方向:美国文化.
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56,
LITERATURELiYing/Pilate:APilotinSongofSolomon
whichsymbolizethemodelTlwayoflife.Pilatetriestoremainthe
Afro—Americantraditioninherownfamilyandresiststhewhite
people’sway.Shedoesnothaveahusband.butshehasa
daughterandagranddaughter.Shedoesn’tdependonmellor
others.buttotallyonherselfbymakingalivingasabootlegger.
Ahhoughshe’spoor,sheknowstheessenceofllveandshe’s
generousandloving.SoMilkmanfeelsrelaxedandhappyinher
home,however,MilkmanmakestwoseriousmistakestoPilate.
HeseducesHagar,hisnephew,butafterHagardevelopsade—
struetiveandobsessivelobeforhim,hedesertsher.Hagardies
inherlongingsforMilkmanwhenhegoestothesouthinsearch
ofgold.Thisisonemistake.LearningfromhisfatherthatPilate
hidesasackgoldinherhouse,MilkmangoestherewithGut—
tartostealit.Thisistheothermistake.ButPilateforgiveshim.
PilateLlSeSherdeeplovetoleadMilkmantomaturityandmal1.
h00d.
SheisthefirsttotellMilkmanthehistoryoftheirfamily.
Pilate’sgenerosityandlovingcareprovideMilkmanthatotal—
lvdiferentpictureoftheworldfromwhathisparentsorGuitar
provideforhim.Whenhestartstohavequestionsabouthisiden—
tityandwherehefitsin.heignoreshisfather’scommandand
consuhsPilateaboutit.PilatebecomesthekeytoMilkman’s
questtounderstandhimselfandhisheritage.
LearningfromhisfatherthatPilatekeepsasackofgoldina
caveinVirginia.MilkmansetsoutfortheSouthsoastobeinde—
pendenteconomicallyandtoavoidHagar’shuntingforhimbe—
causeheabandonsher.OnhistripfromMichigantotheSouth,
helearnsthatthesackPilatekeepsisasackofherfather’s
bones.Hemeetshisfather’sfriendsandlearnsthefamilystory
inShalima.However,hepassesthroughrealordealsthere.The
firstoneishisquarrelandfightwiththenatives.Hisearisbro-
kendownandhedecidestobuyanewone.Hejustwantstoget
doftsearasifjtisonlyabotthofwhiskey.,IThenativesare
irritatedbyhisprideofbeingwealthyandsuperior.Intheircon—
nict,heiswoundedandhisbeautifulclothesaretominto
pieces.Hedoesn’tknowifhewantstoknowhisidentity.he
mustgetridofhisprideandvanity.Heshouldleadasimpleway
oflifejustlikehisauntandshouldknowtheessenceoflife.
Then,thesecondrealordealcomes.Afewolderhuntersinvite
himtojointhem.Hehasnevertouchedagun,buthetellsthem
heisanexcellenthunter.Hehastoovercomehishorrorsand
thisexperiencehelpshimtogetabaptismandarebirth.His
money,hiscar,hisfather,hissuit,hisshoes,hiswatch,his
beautifulclothes,noneofthemcouldhelphim.Hemustrelvon
himself,onhisinnateabilityandendurance.Herealizesthathe
shouldberesponsibleforhispast.Herealizesthatheonly
sharedwithother’shappinessbutneversadnessinthepast.He
thinksheshouldhavegoodluckandshouldberespeeted.He
doesn’tthinkhisparentsshouldpourouttheirsufferingstohim,
orHagarshouldtakearevengeonhim.However,heknowshe
waswronginthepast.Ifastrangerwantstokillhim,whycan
notHagarwhoisdesertedbyhimafterseducingherfor12years
andifhisparentsdon’ttalkwithhim,whomcouldtheyturntO?
Herea~ze$women’ssufferingsatthattime.Hefindsanimpor-
tantconnectionwiththeothers,sohestopspretendingtobe
braveandtellsthemhewasfrightenedtodeath.Nowhegetsrid
ofllisprideandvanity.Theirmisunderstandingforhimisvan-
ishedandtheybegintomakefunofeachother.Atthebreak.
down,theysharetheheartofthepreywhichstandsforbravery.
WhenMilkmanisgoingtoeatit.awhitepeacockstandsatthe
hj11butthistimeitfliesaway.Peacockstandsforprideandvan.
ityanditsflyingawayrepresentsMilkman’spassagetomanhood
andmaturityaftergettingrid0fllisownpride.vanityandselfish?
ness.HetakeshisbestfriendGuitaradvicetoheart:”rIfyou]
wannafly,yougottogiveuptheshitthatweighsyoudown.”
HeescortsPilatebacktotheSouthtogiveherfatheraprop?
erburial,butshediesinhisgrinbecauseGuitarshootsPilate
whenaimingatMilkman.HesingstoherthesongofSolomon
whichisasongofhisancestorsandasonghelearnedfromhis
whichheonceregardedasanonsense.However,heknowsat
lastthatthissongisnotonlyasongofhispeople,butalsoa
songofthathashelpedhimreclaimasenseofseIfandhisherit.
age.WithPilate’sguide.Milkmanbecomesamatureandre—
sponsiblemallwhoknowshisconnectionswithhisancestors,his
people.1liscommunityandhisrace.Heknowstoloveandto
velove.
Pilate,apilotinMilkman’sinitiation,isallindependent,
brave,strongandresponsiblewoman.Sheusesherlovetoshow
tl1attheauthenticexistenceemergesfromself—a伍rmation.from
makingchoicesthatleadtoself—ownership,ratherthanfroma
lifeofbeing—for—others.Sheisawomanofherseff.
【References】
[1]舒逊.所罗门之歌[M].南海出版公司,2010.
[2]WilliamL.Andrews,FrancesSmithFoster,TrudierHar.
ris.The(bcfC锄DanjontocanAmericanLjteratI1re
[M].0rdUniversitvPress,l997.
【3IJessicaMunns,GitaRaian.ACuhuralstudiesReader
[M].Lon舯aJ1,l995.
[4]susaIlwindischBmwn.contemporaryN0velists[M].st.
JamesPress.1996.
派拉特:《所罗门之歌》里的领航者
李莹
(郑州航空工业管理学院,河南郑州45oo15)
[摘要]托尼莫里森是美国一流的作家.她于1977年发
的第三部小说《所罗门之歌》,记录了黑人男
子”奶娃”在他姑姑派拉特的引导下逐步走向成熟的历程.派拉特成为奶娃成长过程中的领航者,同时她也是非洲
文化传统和遗产的典型代表.本文旨在通过女性主义的视角来解读派拉特作为领航者的角色.
[关键词]派拉特;奶娃;如}生主义
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