圣杯何在——科马克·麦卡锡小说《路》的圣杯母题解读

Interpreting the Holy Grail Motif in Cormac McCarthy's The Road

科马克·麦卡锡后"9·11"小说《路》以圣杯为母题,将圣杯传说置换成一个探寻生命意义的神秘故事。小说中的圣杯具有隐喻意义,父亲象征受伤的鱼王,揭示末日后的荒原乃人类圣杯丢失所致;小说亦将父亲及其他人物置换成骑士,他们都在追寻各自心中的圣杯;追寻虽以失败告终,但作为圣杯象征的男孩却给人类带来救赎希望,成为指引人类走出荒原的涅磐之光。麦卡锡改写并诠释了末日后的圣杯母题,使之成为后"9·11"时代追寻人类社会本质及意义的载体。

In his post-9/11 fiction The Road, Cormac McCarthy transforms the Holy Grail legend into a mystery story to explore the meaning of life. The father in this novel evokes the image of the injured Fisher King, revealing that the post apocalyptic wasteland is caused by the loss of the Holy Grail. The father and other characters, transformed into King Arthur＇s knights, each seek their own particular Grail but all end up in failure, yet the boy as the real Holy Grail becomes light to lead human beings out of the wasteland. McCarthy rewrites the Holy Grail legend by setting it in a post-apocalyptic landscape, therby investigating the nature and meaning of post-9/l 1 human society.