《宠儿》中浓厚而畸变的母爱

The Killing Maternal Love in Beloved

《宠儿》是现代小说中颇有争议和成就的小说之一。作者托尼·莫里森通过一系列不连贯的倒叙手法向读者展示了一部完整的关于奴隶制、关于种族歧视、关于复仇的小说,同时它又是一部处处洋溢着无私母爱的感人挚深的小说。塞丝对孩子们的爱是无法改变和无法超越的,同时她的母爱又有别于普通意义上的母爱,因为她的爱过于浓厚过于极端,她宁愿亲手杀死自己的女儿也不愿看着女儿重复自己做奴隶的悲惨命运。如此浓厚而畸变的母爱是同她当时所处的奴隶制度这一特定历史背景是紧密相关的,也是对奴隶制最无情最犀利的批判。

Beloved is one of the most controversial and celebrated contemporary novels. Toni Morrison presents her readers a whole story of slavery, of racism, of revenge, and it is also a touching novel permeated with selfless maternal love. Sethe ’s love to-wards her children is irreversible and insuperable. At the same time, her love is not as same as those taken-for-granted ones, for her love is too thick, and even killing to such an extent that Sethe would rather kill her own daughter than leave her to the brutal hands of slavery. The extreme love is inseparable with the specific background of slavery, and it also serves as a most biting attack on the brutality and evils of slavery.