《基姆》中的家庭焦虑

The Anxieties of Family in Kim

在对英国作家吉卜林的代表作《基姆》的评述中,大家关注的中心问题是基姆的身份问题,但却忽视了基姆对家庭的渴望和向往。作为一位在印度出生的英籍爱尔兰士兵的遗孤,基姆从小就没有得到家庭的温暖和照顾。他与喇嘛寻求'落箭之河'以及参加'大游戏'的过程其实也是他寻找亲人、回归家庭的过程。生身父亲的遗物、精神父亲喇嘛的陪伴和帮助以及事业父亲马哈布·阿里的培养等在一定程度上加深了基姆的家庭焦虑。同时,英帝国当时的社会发展状况也是基姆产生家庭焦虑的动因。因此,家庭焦虑也体现出帝国的焦虑。

Kim’s identity issue is the everlasting focus in the analysis of Kim,Kipling’s masterpiece,but Kim’s expectation and concerns for family are often neglected.As an orphan born in India with an Irish soldier as his father,Kim has not received any care from his family.The process of seeking for'the River of the Arrow'and taking part in the'Great Game'with Lama is also a process of finding his parents and returning to family.The legacy left by his father,the company and influence of his spiritual father,Lama,and his career mentor,Mahbub Ali,in some sense deepen his anxieties of family.Furthermore,the social development of England at that time is also the motivation for Kim to feel anxious.Therefore,the anxieties of family reveal the anxieties of the empire.