《沙崔》中的种族界限、轻罪制度与团结乌托邦

Racial Boundaries,Misdemeanor System and National Unity Utopia in Suttree

《沙崔》是美国当代四大小说家之一的科马克·麦卡锡创作历时最久,篇幅最长的一部小说。小说展现了美国社会一直存在的种族界限。白人不愿越过与黑人之间的种族界限,黑人也深知与白人之间的种族界限。种族界限将黑人边缘化,很多被社会边缘化的黑人生活在穷困的泥淖中。美国各个领域长期存在着种族主义,因而衍生了种族主义文化,美国黑人成了种族歧视和偏见的最大受害者。《沙崔》揭示了美国白人对黑人根深蒂固的种族歧视和偏见,描绘了美国底层黑人真实的悲惨境况,同时控诉了将底层黑人进一步推向深渊的轻罪制度。虽然《沙崔》中以沙崔为代表的一部分白人与黑人跨越了白人与黑人之间的种族界限有着互助与友爱,但在种族主义文化影响下,这些白人难以弃绝种族主义的意识与无意识,自然难以真正理解黑人境遇,也很难与黑人建立起真正的友谊和团结,因而白人与黑人之间的团结只是一种乌托邦。

Suttree is a novel written by one of the four greatest contemporary American novelists,Cor‐mac McCarthy,and is the longest and most time-consuming one in his oeuvre.The novel shows the racial boundary that has existed for long in American society.White Americans would not like to cross the white-black racial boundary,and black Americans are well aware of its existence.Marginalized by this racial boundary,many black Americans live in the marsh of poverty.In all fields in America there is longstanding racism which gives rise to a racist culture.Black Americans are the biggest victims of racial prejudice and discrimination.Suttree reveals the deep-rooted racial discrimination and prejudice of white Americans against blacks,and portrays the real miseries of the bottom blacks in the United States.It accuses the misdemeanor system that pushes the bottom blacks further into the abyss of plight.In Suttree,although a few whites,as are represented by Suttree,indeed cross the racial boundary together with some blacks and obtain brotherliness and mutual assistance,under the influence of a racist culture,it is difficult for the whites to abandon racism consciously or unconsciously.Therefore,the national unity between whites and blacks is just a utopia,since white Americans cannot truly understand blacks’conditions and it is not easy for them to have true friendship and unity.