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Remnants of the Empire in William Golding's Lord of the Flies
帝國的餘毒：威廉高汀《蒼蠅王》之初探
摘要
《蒼蠅王》是諾貝爾文學獎得主威廉高汀的第一本長篇小說。文本論及一群約六至十二歲的英國公立學校學生因戰爭爆發倉皇逃難，又遇飛機失事而流落荒島。一開始，他們相互扶持，企圖經由團體秩序重建與個人自律以等待救援。但理性的努力終不敵生存現實之需求，而在嗜血、驚悚、及失控的遊獵過程中，最終變成互相殘殺之野蠻人。《蒼蠅王》為小說中之經典，問世後數十年間，許多學者一直思考文本中原本唱詩班天使般的Jack及 Roger在脫去文明外衣後快速墮落，轉化成凶殘野獸(我們需要肉！)的狠樣，打獵目的更進一步漸漸從充飢變成了樂趣，打獵的對象也從野猪變成了人類等種種轉變之原因。多年來這部小說屢被視為一部呈現普通人性善惡之作。高汀曾說過《蒼蠅王》此書旨在嘗試將社會的缺陷溯源到人的劣根性上。其寓意為社會的型態應維繫於個人的道德性，而不是任何政治制度，不管這制度看來是如何合理或受人推崇。換言之，高汀本人是相信人性本惡，而社會之缺陷，追根究底實肇因於人性之醜陋。本文認為孩子初始之野性或劣根性究為遺傳(人性本惡)抑或後天習得實有進一步探討之必要，且環境之影響絕不可等閒視之。本文結合《蒼蠅王》文本與長約數百年之帝國殖民文化脈絡，試圖論證帝國主義意識型態對文本中這些公校菁英學生之影響。殖民者對被殖民者之滅種屠殺、奴役與經濟成果之搜刮、經濟的封鎖與政治的控制，西方霸權凌虐他者歷史斑斑可考。此種殖民文化形成普及霸權心態，荒島上之少年亦不得倖免。
並列摘要
Published in 1954, Lord of the Flies was the first novel written by the Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding. Set at a time when Europe is in the midst of nuclear destruction, the novel chronicles events leading a group of English public schoolboys from innocence to savagery as they are evacuated from England and crash land on a deserted tropical island. The novel is often read as a reflection of the innate wickedness in human nature. However, the present study argues that it is quite impossible to explain the boys’ descent into evil if we neglect the novel’s connections with the British colonial background. This study aims at examining the predictable effects that a colonial culture has on its young boys and reads Lord of the Flies in the context of Britain’s imperial culture and politics.