- 學位論文
威廉．高汀《蒼蠅王》小說中 「天堂島」人性真相
The Truth of Human Nature in "Paradise" Island In William Golding's Lord of the Flies
摘要
威廉‧高汀 (William Golding)的《蒼蠅王》(Lord of the Flies)小說中有任何歷史涵意嗎? 如果這樣的意涵確實存在於小說中，為何高汀沒有指出島嶼的確切位置和歷史的時間背景？在小說中，高汀是如何評價人性的？這些問題都是圍繞在高汀的小說主題中。高汀關注於災難後的影響，這近似於羅伯特‧麥可‧巴蘭坦 (R. M. Ballantyne) 的《珊瑚島》 (The Coral Island) 。因此本文藉由克萊爾‧布拉德福德 (Clare Bradford) 的「社群」(Community)、「權力主義」(Authoritarianism)以及「黑暗旅程」(Travel into the darkness) 這三個觀點來探討威廉‧高汀 (William Golding) 《蒼蠅王》 (Lord of the Flies) 小說中的人性與社會的腐敗。 根據布拉德福德對於烏托邦文學的想法，本文將分為兩章，分別對應高汀對小說中三位角色：傑克、拉夫和皮基的象徵之使用。這些角色的想法和態度都會於本文中探討。由於高汀《蒼蠅王》(Lord of the Flies)小說中的象徵物提供許多評論者的討論，第一章會關注於角色象徵物品。第一、為了弭平高汀杜撰出來的物件，本文將會探討伯納‧歐迪 (Bernard S. Oldey) 的護符物與布拉德福德「社群」的概念來分別分析拉夫和傑克的「社群」。透過這樣的分析，本文著重於每位角色的獨立性與追求獨立的渴望。第二、本文將會應用布拉德福德的「權力主義」來發展個體的自由、創新與自我實現。這些特徵都代表著角色們逐漸成熟的特徵。第三、本文將再次應用布拉德福德的黑暗旅程的概念來探討人性的缺陷。同樣地，威廉‧高汀 (William Golding) 曾經提及的「原罪」近似於布拉德福德的理論，將它視為個體迷失。第四、本文將分析青少年文學與威廉‧高汀 (William Golding)《蒼蠅王》(Lord of the Flies) 兩者的關係，由於兩者皆關注於成人與青少年之間的衝突。他們分別站在不同的立場並代表著不對等的關係。本文主張高汀運用「反烏托邦」(Dystopian) 的想法鄙視當今的社會，充斥著成人與青少年、政府與市民之間的對立。 第二章著重於漢娜‧鄂蘭 (Hannah Arendt) 的集權主義和威廉‧高汀 (William Golding) 的罪惡與童真，兩位學者在自覺與失去的童真上進行探討。本文主要分為三個部分。第一、本文將介紹鄂蘭的極權主義並連結到高汀小說中提到對戰征的經歷。本文同樣也會將高汀與鄂蘭在學校的教學經歷與對戰爭的經驗作分析。第二、本文將深入應用克萊爾‧布拉德福德 (Clare Bradford) 在兒童文學中闡釋的烏托邦概念，分析高汀如何詮釋冒險與死亡經驗中失去的童真。本文主張高汀與鄂蘭所認為的人類的純潔部分來自於原罪。除此之外，高汀小說中的角色因為自我欺騙而掩蔽了真相，這些也包含在高汀的原罪中。第三，本文將檢視高汀因為雙親而影響了他對宗教的態度。我認為高汀小說中所提及的降落傘屍體和豬死亡的頭骨都視為道德教訓暗示，這些都是我們應該從高汀的小說和鄂蘭的哲學中學起。這兩個主題揭露了作者對科學的真偽作探討。或許，因為兩位學者的教育職業背景，使他們皆關注於社會和教育之間的連結。因此他們對自覺和童真的失去有深刻的體悟。換句話說，威廉‧高汀 (William Golding)的小說可以被解讀為極權主義影響下顯現的人性缺陷而造成失去童貞與自覺的結果。
關鍵字
威廉‧高汀並列摘要
Does William Golding’s Lord of the Flies have any historic suggestion? If so, why does Golding not specify the island’s exact location and time in the novel? How does Golding evaluate humanity in the novel? These questions surround the themes of Golding’s works. Similar to R. M. Ballantyne’s The Coral Island, Golding is beware of the impact of catastrophe. Drawing on Clare Bradford’s concepts of “community,” “authoritarianism,” and “travel into the darkness,” this thesis aims to discuss the defects of human nature and the social corruption in Golding’s Lord of the Flies. According to Bradford’s ideas about Utopian Literature, this thesis is divided into two chapters relying on Golding’s symbolic objects between Jack, Ralph and Piggy. These characters’ thoughts and attitudes are discussed in this thesis. The first chapter marks the protagonist’s symbolic objects, because of which Golding’s Lord of the Flies gives critics fuel for many arguments. To dismiss Golding’s mythical object, I discuss Oldey’s idea of talismanic objects and Bradford’s ideas of community to analyze the community between Ralph and Jack. Along with this analysis, I intend to focus on each characters’ individuality and demand for solitude. Second, I adopt Bradford’s idea of authoritarianism to develop personal freedom, innovation and self-realization. I suggest that these characteristics are the main elements involved in growing to maturity. Third, I intend to probe human defects by Bradford’s concepts of traveling into the darkness. Similarly, William Golding has mentioned original sin which is analogous to Bradford’s theory, considered as losing identity. Fourth, I plan to examine the connection between young adult literature and Golding’s Lord of the Flies because both feature conflict among adults and juveniles. They hold opposite-end views on the equality that displays unequal relation. I argue that Golding uses dystopian ideas to scorn current society which is full of subordination between adults and young adults, between government and citizens. The second chapter of this thesis focuses on awareness and innocence lost through Hannah Arendt’s idea of totalitarianism and William Golding’s opinion toward sin and innocence. This section includes three parts. At first, I briefly introduce Arendt’s theory of totalitarianism; the purpose of this is to connect the experience of wars with Golding’s novel. Moreover, both lectured in school and took part in the affairs of war, their experience can help us understand the truth human nature. Second, I further apply Clare Bradford’s conception of utopia in children’s literature to analyze how Golding depicts innocence lost by experiencing a series of adventures and death. I argue that Golding and Arendt consider human innocence as the part of original sin. In addition, Golding’s characters disguise the truth because of the self-deception included in Golding’s sin. Third, I intend to examine Golding’s attitude toward religion because he was influenced by his parents as a child. I consider the dead parachutist and the pig head as implications hinting at the moral lesson that we should learn from Golding’s novel and from Arendt’s philosophy. From these two subjects, I show that both writers’ scientific exploration is the search for authenticity. Perhaps because of their education careers, they paid more attention to the connection between society and education. Focusing on awareness and innocence lost, they have a deep understanding. In short, I maintain that William Golding’s defective humanity in the novel results from the impact on totalitarianism, which loses human innocence and awareness.