代罪羔羊：《分崩離析》主角奧康渥的挫敗與哀痛

Scapegoat: Okonkwo's Frustration and Sorrow in Things Fall Apart

鍾淑玫(Shu-Mei Chung)

《國立彰化師範大學文學院學報》 10期 (2014/09) Pp. 75-85

摘要

齊努亞．阿奇貝（Chinua Achebe）的小說《分崩離析》（Things Fall Apart）描述的是前殖民時期的「依波族」（Igbo），在面對歐洲人以傳教之名行侵略之實時，其原本就充滿衝突對立的「烏穆菲亞」（Umuofia）傳統社會生活如何瓦解分裂的故事。此小說被公認為非洲史詩小說；其主角奧康渥（Okonkwo）也常被視為悲劇英雄。奧康渥並非亞里斯多德的詩論（Poetics）中所定義的典型的出生高貴、能意識到缺點卻無力阻擋其將他帶入毀滅、從好運直墜厄運的悲劇英雄。讓奧康渥成為英雄的是他以死明志的勇氣，但此舉卻也使他成為顢頇族人的代罪羔羊。他以一人的犧牲，讓族人免於對其部族精神價值的淪亡產生集體罪惡感，才是使他成為悲劇英雄的主因。本論文將檢視阿奇貝在《分崩離析》中如何處理悲劇英雄奧康渥在內憂外患之際所遭遇到的挫敗與悲痛，進而討論作為族人代罪羔羊的奧康渥，如何在表述人世間無可避免之境遇外，也幫助讀者滌除迫害代罪羔羊的罪惡感與哀傷。

關鍵字

非洲史詩小說 ； 悲劇英雄 ； 詩論 ； 集體罪惡感 ； 代罪羔羊

並列摘要

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart describes how the people of the former colonial Igbo society are faced with European aggression in the name of the missionary work and how the already conflicted traditional social life of Umuofia eventually collapses. This novel has been recognized as an African epic and the protagonist Okonkwo is often seen as a tragic hero, too. However, Okonkwo is not the kind of tragic hero defined in Aristotle's Poetics, who is a person of noble birth, aware of his own flaws, but unable to stop himself from falling into destruction. Instead, Okonkwo becomes a hero because of his bravery in sacrificing his life for his people, which makes him the scapegoat of the tribe. By so doing, he also saves his tribe's spiritual values and prevents the community from feeling collective guilt, which makes him a tragic hero. This essay will examine how Things Fall Apart deals with Okonkwo's frustration and grief when he encounters the internal and external problems of Umuofia society. It will discuss, as a tribal scapegoat, how Okonkwo expresses his personal experiences, and thus helps the readers free themselves from the guilt and grief of persecuting a scapegoat.

並列關鍵字

African epic novel ； tragic hero ； Poetics ； collective guilt ； scapegoat