《麦田里的守望者》的禅宗思想分析

Zen Buddhism in The Catcher in the Rye

从禅宗哲学思想入手分析《麦田里的守望者》的情节安排和写作手法。作者塞林格设置了多处具有禅宗公案性质的隐喻情节,促使主人公和读者在思考疑问的过程中探求属于自己的解答。写作方法中各种角色的师徒关系转换、当头棒喝式的教导和主人公的顿悟都体现出作者对佛教禅宗哲学的推崇和运用,给读者以潜移默化的感染。由于小说作者自身对禅宗教义认识上的缺陷,作品中表现的禅宗思想相对浅薄,有明显的局限性。

The paper analyzes with Zen Buddhism the plotting and writing characteristics of The Catcher in the Rye.Metaphoric stories,similar to Koans used in Zen Buddhism,are introduced by Salinger to guide the protagonist and the readers as well to their own enlightenments.Salingers＇s appreciation of Zen Buddhistic philosophy is also reflected in his writing style including switching roles for the teacher and the student,tipping-off the protagonist abruptly and eventually guiding him to Satori,a moment of sudden enlightenment.Though Salinger and Holden show definite partialities towards Zen Buddhism,their philosophy remains quite superficial and scant compared with true concepts of Zen.