《林中之死》的原型解讀

摘要:舍伍德·安德森的名篇《林中之死》講述了一個并不可怕但又無法避免的死亡的故事，展現了女主人公悲愴的一生和故事講述者對她的死亡的反應。認為原型批評能更好地闡釋格蘭姆斯夫人從天真純潔的女孩到最后被所有人遺棄的老女人形象。在她的一生中，不幸和悲劇總是陪伴左右，因此，認為格蘭姆斯夫人的形象體現了替罪羊原型——她不過是那個冷酷無情的的父權社會中眾多無辜女性犧牲品中的一個，她存在的唯一價值就是被男人利用，成為父權社會的替罪羊。

關鍵詞:《林中之死》;原型批評;格蘭姆斯夫人;替罪羊

中圖分類號:I3/7文獻標志碼:A文章編號:1673-291X(2010)19-0217-03

1. Introduction

Sherwood Anderson is a special literary figure in American literature. Many literary giants such as Hemingway， Faulkner and Steinbeck all owed a lot to him. In an interview for the Paris Review (Spring 1956)， Faulkner stated that Sherwood Anderson was “the father of my generation of American writers and the tradition of American writing which our successors will carry on.” As a pioneer of modernism， Anderson is especially concerned with humanity and the secret of life or the thing “beneath the surface of lives”. (See the dedication to Winesburg， Ohio) His works， especially short stories， often focus on characters we would hardly notice in real life. Frequently， Anderson reveals the hidden value of such insignificant people， their true nature， worth and their futile struggle to maintain their inner worth. A good example is Mrs. Jake Grimes of “Death in the Woods” which marks the highest peak of Anderson’s literary creation.

The story is presented as a first-person narrative by an unreliable narrator， who tells the story of an old woman， Mrs. Grimes. She lives on the edge of society and survives by selling eggs to make a living for her small family and the animals in her care. Mrs. Grimes’ personal history， according to the narrator， is that she was abandoned and grew up as an indentured servant. Later， it is Jake Grimes， who helps her escape from her malicious German masters. After marrying Jake， she has a son and a daughter， but the latter dies in childhood. The narrator tells us both father and son severely abuse and maltreat Mrs. Grimes， both verbally and physically. She does not know life could be any different as this is all she ever experienced. Her main concern in life is taking care of and feeding the animals and people in her care. On the last day of her life， on the way home from town， Mrs. Grimes reaches a clearing where she sits down to rest. While sitting down， she dies.

Though relatively a simple story， Death in the Woods brings about great artistic effect and especially the image of Mrs. Grimes lingers on readers’ mind for quite a long time. Mrs. Grimes evolves from an innocent and scared girl through the self-reliant and alienated middle-aged housekeeper to the paralytic and deserted old woman. Yet misfortune and tragedy always accompany her throughout her whole life. Mrs. Grimes’ short life shares many similarities with the image of “scapegoat”. Therefore， the author of this paper intends to analyze the character of Mrs. Grimes from the archetypal perspective， with the aim to try to identify Mrs. Grimes’ manifestation as Scapegoat Archetype——she surely is a victim of the frozen machine society who has been denied any love or tenderness and exists only to be used by men.

2. Archetypal Criticism

Archetypal criticism is one of the most important western literary critical schools in the 20th century created by Northrop Frye. The word “archetype”， originates from Greek， arche meaning “root” and “origin” while type means “pattern” or “model”. Archetype refers to a symbol， theme， setting， or character-type that recurs in different times and places in myth， literature， folklore， dreams， and rituals so frequently or prominently as to suggest that it embodies some essential element of “universal” human experience. Focusing on images， symbols， metaphors， characters， plots， events and themes which continually recur in works of literature， archetypal criticism is commonly used to describe an original pattern or model from which all other things of the same kind are made. Its critical strategy is to back up from the text， to find out the underlying correspondences or analogues in works so as to apprehend the recurrences of certain archetypes.

As a forerunner of archetypal criticism， James Frazer devoted all his life to the research on myth. In his masterpiece The Golden Bough he studies the witchcraft and rituals of many primitive tribes， trying to “show a general development of modes of thought from the magical to the religious and， finally， to the scientific， or the traces of human consciousness from the primitive to the civilized”. His book The Golden Bough is now treated as the earliest document of archetypal criticism.

The contribution of Carl Gustav Jung to the development of the theory of archetypes from the psychoanalysis perspective can not be ignored either. Based on his theory of Collective of Unconscious， he expands Freud’s theories of the unconscious by classifying it into personal unconscious and collective unconscious. According to Jung， archetypes are some images which reveal the content of collective unconscious by way of symbol or metaphor.

Above all， Northrop Frye’s contribution leads us directly into the mythological approach to literary analysis. Based on Jung’s psychological theory of collective unconsciousness and archetype and Frazer’s study on anthropology， Frye establishes his theory of archetype in the particular field of literary criticism. He transferred the definition of archetype from the field of psychology and anthropology to literature. According to Frye， archetype is independent and communicable unit of literature just like words in language. Second， archetypes take form as imagery， significance， character or plot that repeat in literary works. Third， archetypes connect all the single works with others and thereby help to unify and integrate our literary experience.

3. Analysis of Mrs. Grimes’ Image

According to Mr Gan Wenping in his On Scapegoat Novels in American Literature， scapegoat generally has the following characteristics: First， scapegoat usually refers to human， including woman， children or even saints; second， scapegoat is innocent; third， scapegoats is usually killed because his death will take away all the evils and bring about peace and safety to the community. Mrs. Grimes is a common and simple woman yet whose image just coincides with the Scapegoat archetype for they tend to elicit comparable psychological responses and to embody similar cultural connotation.

3.1 The Scapegoat Archetype

The English word “scapegoat” originally appeared at the time when British religious reformer， William Tindale， translated Holy Bible from Hebrew into English.

The archetype of the scapegoat comes from the story of Abraham in the Holy Bible. God wants to test Abraham. He asks Abraham to take his only son Issac as a burnt offering to an appointed place. Abraham raises early in the morning， takes Issac his son to the place. He splits wood， builds an altar， and places the wood in order. Just as Abraham takes the knife to slay， God， knowing that Abraham fear him，sends the Angel to stop him. And Abraham sees a goat caught in a thicket by its horns. So he takes the goat as a burnt offering to God instead of his son.

Another story about the scapegoat is recorded in the Leviticus. Goat is taken as sin offering to make atonement on the Day of Atonement and God tells them how to do it. “Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat， confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel， and all their transgressions， concerning all their sins， putting them on the head of the goat， and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.” (Holy Bible， Leviticus 16:21-22)

British anthropologist Frazer made a thorough study on the archetype of Scapegoat in his book Golden Bough. This motif centered in the belief that， by transferring the corruptions of the tribe to a sacred animal or person， then by killing this scapegoat， the tribe could achieve the cleansing and atonement thought necessary for natural and spiritual rebirth.

3.2 Mrs. Grimes’ Chosen as the Scapegoat

The value a person places on himself or herself is largely determined by the value others give to that person. Those who grow up loved and cherished learn to feel worthwhile and develop a healthy sense of self. Such a background of love and caring can even sustain a person through periods when he or she feels unloved and insignificant. But those who have never known love， who have never been given any human warmth， soon come to see themselves as worthless. Such an emotionally starved person is Mrs. Grimes in “Death in the Woods.” Mrs. Grimes is a woman who has been denied any vestige of love or tenderness; she exists only to be used， to put it more frankly， to be used by the frozen society as a poor scapegoat to achieve its atonement.

From her childhood on， Mrs. Grimes has been trapped in a cycle of exploitation. As an orphan， she became a “bound” girl， legally contracted to work as slave labor for a farmer who terrified her with his lust， and for his wife， who frightened the girl with her jealousy. The girl’s only escape from this prison was marriage to Jake Grimes， a shiftless farmer who beat her and expected her to work the farm alone. However， the hopeless and helpless marriage casts her despair and doubt about life meaning， pushing her into the deep abyss of sufferings. When the couple’s son grows up， he joins the father in abusing the mother who really lives a simple life， because she just does one thing all through her life——“feeding”. They demand that she feed them， and somehow she must also sustain the animals of the farm: How was she going to get everything fed?——that was her business. The dogs had to be fed. There wasn’t enough hay in the barn for the horses and the cow. If she didn’t feed the chickens how could they lay eggs? Without eggs to sell how could she buy things in town， things she needed to keep life on the farm going? Even though Mrs. Grimes earnestly not only performs the traditional female role of housewife， but also plays an unconventional role of a breadwinner to feed her idle husband， tough son， and loyal dogs， she gains nothing but a tragic and doomed end. Her life is nothing but an endless battle to meet the demands of the animals——as well as men——who devour her strength and youth， turning her into an “old woman when she isn’t even forty yet.”

Trapped by life， Mrs. Grimes never thinks of fighting back. Because she had always been brutalized by the world， she learns to expect nothing from it. Life， to her， is merely survival. In her world， she naturally believes that man is powerful， is dominant， and she is unable to do anything against them. As the narrator says， “Whatever happened she never said anything. That was her way of getting along.” Even her death is not a conscious suicide; it is just surrender to circumstances that dominate her， as events have always dominated her. She dies， dreamily fading into the coldness， “softly and quietly.” Even her dreams could have provided no escape， for she had no happy past to dream of because “not many pleasant things had happened to her.” In dying， as in living， Mrs. Grimes knows of no way but to give in， because she has never seen herself as someone worth fighting to save. Deprived of the love that teaches one she is valuable， Mrs. Grimes places little even no value on her life. As the narrator of the story says， Mrs. Grimes was “one of the nameless ones，” the insignificant ones， but， after her death， others began to notice her， and to see her value. Lying frozen in the snow， the body of Mrs. Grimes seems somehow transformed into “the body of some charming young girl.” The townsmen who cover her body regard it with a kind of respect and awe， and they want to avenge her mistreatment at the hands of her husband and son. The sight of the dead woman creates a “strange mystical feeling” in the minds of the adolescent narrator and his brother. Too late， someone sees the beautiful person inside of the mistreated， broken woman.

Mrs. Grimes died just as she lived， for “even after death she continued feeding animal life，” her sack of scraps is ripped open by her dogs. Treated not as a person but as a thing， Mrs. Grimes died without ever seeing her own value. Her tragedy is not so much the account of her death as it is the story of her life， the story of being chosen by the frozen society as a scapegoat. Just as Anderson wrote to the editors of The Oxford Anthology of American Literature in 1937: “It seems to me that theme of the story is the persistent animal hunger of men. There are these women who spend their whole lives， rather dumbly， feeding this hunger.” Therefore， like an innocent scapegoat， Mrs. Grimes is totally swallowed by that transitional period from the Pastoral Age to the cold-blooded Machine Age and above all， by that animal hunger of men.

4. Conclusion

There are many ways to interpret this story. The present paper interprets the image of the protagonist——Mrs. Grimes from the perspective of archetypal criticism to try to get new understanding of Anderson’s art. Trapped by life， Mrs. Grimes never thinks of fighting back. Because she had always been brutalized by the world， she learns to expect nothing from it. To her， life is merely a survival. In her world， she naturally believes that man is powerful， dominant， and she is unable to do anything against them. Such is the very image of Mrs. Grimes——from an innocent and scared girl through the self-reliant and alienated middle-aged housekeeper to the paralytic and deserted old woman. Her short life fits for the uttering perfectly——“Frailty， thy name is woman”.

With the above analysis， the paper concludes that Mrs. Grimes manifests herself as the Scapegoat Archetype——she surely is an innocent victim of the frozen Machine Age for she has been denied any love or tenderness and exists only to be used. Mrs. Grimes can never escape her doom——to be the chosen as scapegoat and make sacrifice for the cold world.

Sherwood Anderson might not be a great writer， but his works have their own distinctions and attractions. Along with the vivid character——Mrs. Grimes in “Death in the Woods”， he deserves to be a unique flower in world literature.

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An Archetypal Reading of Death in the Woods

YANG Shao-fang

(Foreign Languages College Tianjin Normal University， Tianjin 300387，China)

Abstract:Sherwood Anderson’s Death in the Woods has been usually read as a story presenting death as inevitable though not terrible， concerning the pathos of a woman’s life and the narrator’s response to her death. In this paper， the author supposes archetypal criticism would be a better angle to interpret the image of Mrs. Grimes whose personal history evolves from an innocent and scared girl to the paralytic and deserted old woman. Yet misfortune and tragedy always accompany her throughout her whole life. Therefore， the paper concludes Mrs. Grimes manifests herself as the Scapegoat Archetype——she surely is an innocent victim of the cold and merciless patriarchal society in which she has suffered all her life from a lack of any human warmth. She exists only to be used by men as the scapegoat of the patriarchal society.

Key words:Death in the Woods; archetypal criticism; Mrs. Grimes; scapegoat