《为奴十二年》中的英雄追寻自由之旅

A Hero’s Pursuit of Freedom in Twelve Years a Slave

小说《为奴十二年》是美国黑人作家所罗门·诺瑟普根据自己十二年的为奴经历而创作的一部介绍黑人奴隶苦难生活的小说。他十二年的人生经历大致可以分为三个阶段:被迫与家人分离;作为奴隶的抗争及成长;回归家庭和社会。这一历程也符合美国神话学作家约瑟夫·坎贝尔(Joseph Campbell)的英雄之旅。本文将运用坎贝尔的单一神话模式来分析诺瑟普的艰难为奴历程,在逆境中同命运抗争,最终获得自由,回家和亲人团聚并把自己的经历写成书,让更多的人了解奴隶的卑微和这个不合理的残酷制度。

The novel Twelve Years a Slave written by a black American writer Solomon Northrop is about the miserable life of black slaves based on his twelve years’ experiences in servitude. His twelve-year life experience can be roughly divided into three stages: forced separation from his family;struggle and growth as a slave;and return to his family and society. This journey also coincides with the heroic journey of Joseph Campbell’s mythology. This article will use Campbell's single mythological model to analyze Northrop's difficult experiences as a slave, his struggle with fate in adversity, and eventually gain freedom and return home. Later he wrote down his own experiences into a book so that more people can understand the humility of slaves and this unreasonable cruel system.