“小时光老人”和铁路时间——解读《无名的裘德》中的铁路意象

"Little Father Time"and the Railroad Time:An Interpretation of the Image of the Railroad in Jude the Obscure

火车/铁路意象在《无名的裘德》中的重要性有待于深入的探讨,它能为我们打开小说意义之门提供一把钥匙。"小时光老人"的"无名"以及他乘着火车在书中首次露面这一事实是我们破解小说题目的关键之一,而火车/铁路意象频繁地穿插于阴差阳错的事件,这本身是对"进步"神话的讽刺。火车/铁路所带来的并非都是进步.更不是人类的共同进步,火车/铁路的高速"前进"只能让无名的人变得更加"无名"。

Great importance is yet to be attached to the image of the train/rail- road in Jude the Obscure,for it provides us with a key to the significance of the novel.The fact that the name of'Little Father Time'is obscure and that he makes his debut in a train is nothing short of a most crucial clue.The way in which the image of the train/railroad is frequently intertwined with all sorts of accidental mishaps is in itself a satire on the myth of'progress'.All that is brought by the train/road is not progress,let alone the common progress of mankind.The high-speed'march forward'of the train/railroad can only make obscure people even more'obscure'.