談霍桑短篇小說中惡的主題

摘 要：霍桑，美國心理分析小說的第一人，因深受家庭和清教徒思想的影響在其作品中更多地反映人心深處的惡，他的四篇短篇小說中惡的主題尤其明顯。本文依此探討惡在其作品中的體現。

關鍵詞：霍桑，原罪，短篇小說

作者簡介：邢樹娜，臨沂大學外國語學院教師，英美文學。

1.0 Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)， the greatest romantic novelist of the nineteenth century in American literature， is regarded as one of the pioneers of short stories. His tales “belong to the highest region of art.” Besides Mosses form an Old Manse and The Snow Image and Other Stories， his another collection of short stories， Twice-Told Tales，“ contains perhaps the best definition of the short story from and ranks Hawthorne as the best practitioner of the art.” He created “the romance history of psychology，” which put emphasis on psychological analysis. Like Poe， in his over one hundred short stories， Hawthorne usually explored the dark recesses of the human heart， as Herman Melville’s remark of his greatest achievement which is the best description of darkness. The Minister’s Black Veil， Young Goodman Brown ，Rappccini’s Daughter ，The Birthmark are four of his famous short stories， and also are the good examples of Hawthorne’s common theme-probing into the essence of the sin.

2.0 The source of Hawthorne’s creation thought

Hawthorne’s work are famous of ambiguity， which always examples the complication of the author’s thinking， based on his complicated life.

2.1 Hawthorne’s life

Bore in Salem， Hawthorne was himself the descendent of Puritan worthies， two of his ancestors won notoriety in the Puritan theocracy of seventeenth century New England， which he took shame upon himself.

2.2 Puritanism

Hawthorne is both an inheritor and critic of New England Puritanism. He was born in the old Puritan family and haunted by the spell of his ancestors’ misdeeds. Yet， though Hawthorne freed himself from its precepts， he never escaped from the brooding upon sin and the moral life that was the cause of Puritanism and its legacy. The doctrine of original “sin” and entire degenerate rooted in Hawthorne’s thought. Puritanism， for him， was a “fortress from which he had escaped and was glad to be gone”.⑤ The Puritan age and its sure morality was an obsession in his life. Spiritual failures， moral failures， were for him; as for the Puritans， the great theme， and all of his great characters can be described in no other terms.

3.0 Exploration of the sin in Hawthorne’s tales

3.1 Through symbolism and allegory

Though quite different from the optimistic Emerson， Hawthorne is influenced by the transcendentalist principle. Transcendentalists believe the universe is composed of Nature and the soul. On the one hand， they put emphasis on the spirit， or the over soul， which is regarded as omnipotent and omnipresent. It exists in Nature and man alike and constitutes the chief element of the Universe. On the other hand， the Transcendentalists offer a new conception of Nature far from being pure matter. Nature is symbolic of the spirit， or God. The physical word is a symbol of the spiritual. Hence the symbolism and allegory are used effectively in his works. Hawthorne believes that all truth that matters is inner and externalities are inherently deceptive. He tends to apprehend truth through emblems and with his deep ideas in simple and even mysterious symbols.

3.1.1 Scenes used as symbols.

Rooted deeply in the doctrine of Calvinism—predestination， original sin and total depravity， Hawthorne， in his tale describes many gloomy scenes to show his evil themes. The forest， which is always used as a symbol in Hawthorne’s works， is described as “the whole forest was people with frightful sounds， the creaking of the trees， the howling of wild beasts and the yell of Indians; while， sometimes， the wind tolled like a distant church bell， and sometimes gave a broad roar around the travellers， as if all， nature were laughing him to scorn.”

3.1.2 Characters used as symbols

Besides the description of atmosphere， the theme also can be found out through the fates of characters. Faith’s name clearly indicates something of that quality， but the young wife’s misgiving and pink ribbons are also real. Furthermore， her husband’s loss of his wife implies his loss of his own faith. Brown cried in the forest. This faith implies nit only his wife， but also the faith f the religion and human. At the beginning of the tale， the author said : “Faith， as the wife was aptly named”. This Faith symbolizes Brown’s original faith， which becomes collapsed and lost when he meets with Satan and becomes suspicious of the goodness. Brown has been aware of his misbehavior on the way to the meeting， and also wants to turn back. However， He gradually loses himself when he finds more and more respected people get—together in the meeting. The sable from (Satan) shouts the secret deeds to Brown :“how hoary bearded elders of the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a woman， eager for widow’s weds， has given her husband a drink at bedtime， and let him sleep his last sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers’ wealth; and how fair damsels—blush not， sweet ones—have dug little graves in the garden， and bidden me， the sole guest， to an infants funeral.”

4.0 Conclusion

As the first American psycho—analytical writer， Hawthorne’s influence has been great. As Henry James puts it “(Hawthorne’s) work will remain… Among the men of imagination he will always have his riche.”

參考文獻：

[1] 霍桑.霍桑短篇小說選》[M].陳冠商譯.濟南：山東人民出版社，1983.