A Good Man Is Hard to Find

弗蘭納里·奧康納（Flannery O’Connor） 1925年出生于美國南部佐治亞州的薩凡納，在深厚的天主教傳統的影響下長大。21歲時，她從佐治亞州女子學院畢業，隨后獲得獎學金，進入衣阿華大學作家培訓班學習。1951年，奧康納查出罹患紅斑狼瘡，1964年因病去世。奧康納是美國最優秀的短篇小說家之一，也是美國最為重要的南方小說家之一。她擅長描摹南方的社會生活，對人性有著非凡的洞察力。她曾先后獲得歐·亨利短篇小說獎和美國國家圖書獎。她的主要作品有長篇小說《智血》（Wise Blood）和《暴力奪取》（The Violent Bear It Away），以及短篇小說集《好人難尋》（A Good Man Is Hard to Find）等。

Excerpts1）

The Grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida. She wanted to visit some of her connections in east Tennessee and she was seizing at every chance to change Bailey’s mind. Bailey was the son she lived with， her only boy. He was sitting on the edge of his chair at the table， bent over the orange sports section of the Journal. “Now look here， Bailey，” she said， “see here， read this，” and she stood with one hand on her thin hip and the other rattling the newspaper at his bald head. “Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose2） from the Federal Pen3） and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn’t take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn’t answer to my conscience if I did.”

Bailey didn’t look up from his reading so she wheeled around then and faced the children’s mother， a young woman in slacks4）， whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like a rabbit’s ears. She was sitting on the sofa， feeding the baby his apricots5） out of a jar. “The children have been to Florida before，” the old lady said. “You all ought to take them somewhere else for a change so they would see different parts of the world and be broad. They never have been to east Tennessee.”

The children’s mother didn’t seem to hear her but the eight-year old boy， John Wesley， a stocky6） child with glasses， said， “If you don’t want to go to Florida， why dontcha stay at home？” He and the little girl， June Star， were reading the funny papers on the floor.

“She wouldn’t stay at home to be queen for a day，” June Star said without raising her yellow head.

“Yes and what would you do if this fellow， The Misfit， caught you？” the grandmother asked.

“I’d smack his face，” John Wesley said.

“She wouldn’t stay at home for a million bucks，” June Star said. “Afraid she’d miss something. She has to go everywhere we go.”

“All right， Miss，” the grandmother said. “Just remember that the next time you want me to curl your hair.”

June Star said her hair was naturally curly.

The next morning the grandmother was the first one in the car， ready to go … She sat in the middle of the back seat with John Wesley and June Star on either side of her. Bailey and the children’s mother and the baby sat in front and they left Atlanta at eight forty-five with the mileage on the car at 55890. The grandmother wrote this down because she thought it would be interesting to say how many miles they had been when they got back. It took them twenty minutes to reach the outskirts of the city.

The old lady settled herself comfortably， removing her white cotton gloves and putting them up with her purse on the shelf in front of the back window. The children’s mother still had on slacks and still had her head tied up in a green kerchief， but the grandmother had on a navy blue straw sailor hat with a bunch of white violets on the brim and a navy blue dress with a small white dot in the print. Her collars and cuffs7） were white organdy8） trimmed with lace and at her neckline she had pinned a purple spray of cloth violets containing a sachet9）. In case of an accident， anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady.

She said she thought it was going to be a good day for driving， neither too hot nor too cold， and she cautioned Bailey that the speed limit was fifty-five miles an hour and that the patrolmen hid themselves behind billboards and small clumps of trees and sped out after you before you had a chance to slow down. She pointed out interesting details of the scenery： Stone Mountain； the blue granite10） that in some places came up to both sides of the highway； the brilliant red clay banks slightly streaked with purple； and the various crops that made rows of green lace-work on the ground. The trees were full of silver-white sunlight and the meanest of them sparkled. The children were reading comic magazines and their mother had gone back to sleep.

“Let’s go through Georgia fast so we won’t have to look at it much，” John Wesley said.

“If I were a little boy，” said the grandmother， “I wouldn’t talk about my native state that way. Tennessee has the mountains and Georgia has the hills.”

“Tennessee is just a hillbilly11） dumping ground，” John Wesley said， “and Georgia is a lousy12） state too.”

“You said it，” June Star said.

“In my time，” said the grandmother， folding her thin veined fingers， “children were more respectful of their native states and their parents and everything else. People did right then. Oh look at the cute little pickaninny13）！” she said and pointed to a Negro child standing in the door of a shack. “Wouldn’t that make a picture， now？” she asked and they all turned and looked at the little Negro out of the back window. He waved.

“He didn’t have any britches14） on，” June Star said.

“He probably didn’t have any，” the grandmother explained. “Little niggers in the country don’t have things like we do. If I could paint， I’d paint that picture，” she said.

1.節選部分選自小說《好人難尋》的開頭，描寫了一家人開車去佛羅里達的情景。

2.aloose [??lu?s] adj. 逃離的。文中的意思是“越獄的”。

3.Federal Pen：指聯邦監獄，此處pen是penitentiary （監獄）的縮寫。

4.slacks [sl?ks] n. 便褲；寬松的長褲

5.apricot [?e?pr??k?t] n. 杏子

6.stocky [?st?ki] adj. 粗壯的；低矮結實的

7.cuff [k?f] n. 袖口

8.organdy [???（r）ɡ?ndi] n. [紡]蟬翼紗，玻璃紗（一種極薄的棉布）

9.sachet [?s??e?] n. （熏衣等用的）香囊；小香袋

10.granite [?ɡr?n?t] n. 花崗巖，花崗石

11.hillbilly [?h?l?b?li] n. 鄉巴佬的，土里土氣的

12.lousy [?la?zi] adj. 討厭的；污穢的；極壞的

13.pickaninny [?p?k??n?ni] n. 黑人小孩

14.britches [?brit??z] n. 褲子；馬褲（長及膝蓋的褲子）

作品賞析

弗蘭納里·奧康納的小說因具有以下兩個特點而有較高的識別度：一是對邪惡的直面，不摻雜溫情主義的撫慰；二是對暴力的刻畫，以不動聲色的冷靜描寫殘忍的殺戮和剜心的創痛。這兩個特點在美國女性作家中是十分少見的。這位只活到39歲、身體孱弱的女人有著比硬漢還要強韌的神經。她的筆端收納了一個哥特色彩濃重的美國南方社會。在她的短篇小說集《好人難尋》中，透過篇篇作品，你都能看到這位天才作家那雙洞悉黑暗的眼睛。

短篇小說集《好人難尋》共收錄了十篇作品。小說標題可謂點題：在這些故事里，主人公們無一例外都不算好人，每個人物都袒露出了人性的缺憾；而且，當他們遭遇困境，也沒有好人前來扮演拯救者，他們所遇到的是和他們一樣甚至比他們更為邪惡的陌生人。在同名小說《好人難尋》中，一家人決定去佛羅里達度假，出門后卻遭遇了通緝犯，全家三代共六口人，其中還有一名襁褓中的嬰兒，無一幸免地遇害。在《河》中，保姆帶著主人家的小孩參加布道者在河邊舉行的洗禮。孩子第二天返回河邊，想要像布道者所說的那樣，沿著水流抵達基督的國度，結果溺亡在河中。在《救人就是救自己》中，老婦人哄騙流浪漢迎娶自己的智障女兒。對方以帶她的女兒出門旅行為借口，騙走了她的汽車，將她的女兒扔在途中經過的快餐店。在《好運降臨》中，女主人公被算命的提示好運即將降臨，即她已經懷孕，然而當她發現這一事實時，卻驚恐不已。在《圣靈所宿之處》中，12歲的小姑娘憤世嫉俗，生活在壓抑的天主教會學校。在《人造黑人》中，爺爺帶著小孫子進城長見識，卻在孫子和他人起沖突時，為了避免賠別人錢，宣稱他完全不認識這個孩子。在《火中之圈》中，三個半大的孩子和庫普太太作對，出于破壞欲縱火焚燒她家對面的樹林。在《臨終遇敵》中，孫女出于虛榮，堅持要求自己104歲的祖父出席她的畢業典禮，老人在典禮上死去。在《善良的鄉下人》中，女主人公是一位身體有殘疾的老姑娘，她是哲學博士，自以為看透世界，卻被上門的推銷員騙了親吻，對方離開時還拿走了她的假肢。在《流離失所的人》中，農場主麥克英特爾太太因為新雇傭的波蘭難民古扎克先生而和原來的雇農肖特利夫婦交惡，將他們解雇，后來卻和古扎克鬧翻，與肖特利一起將古扎克殺死。

在奧康納的小說集《好人難尋》中，親人之間沒有足夠的溝通，老人自私，孩子無知；異性之間沒有愛情，只有欲望；鄉下的社區封閉沒落，人們相互利用；而陌生人則往往是撒旦式的闖入者。閱讀奧康納小說的過程往往伴隨著壓抑感和不安感，她在不斷挑戰著讀者的心理承受力，令人不禁想要追問：這樣的寫作，除了再三地暴露出惡的多種樣態，有沒有別的深意？

這個問題的答案需要在奧康納的天主教信仰中尋找。奧康納是虔誠的天主教徒，對神的信仰對照出了人間的種種丑惡。奧康納曾經說過：“對于近乎耳聾的人，你要大聲喊叫；對于視力不清的人，你要畫出大而驚人的人物。”當代社會越來越世俗化，人們不再相信上帝，道德真空使人們回避了對人性惡的探究，滿足于表面的社會祥和。奧康納則用近乎偏執的聚焦，逼迫讀者面對人性的脆弱，思考末日的審判，從而從惡中領悟救贖和神恩的意義。

以《好人難尋》為例，小說拉開序幕時是庸常的日常場景。老太太的兒子和兒媳婦決定帶著三個孩子到佛羅里達去旅行。老太太則喋喋不休，想要讓兒子改變主意，帶全家去東田納西見老熟人。奧康納寥寥幾筆就勾勒出了一個不算可愛的老太太的形象：自私、世故、夸張、虛榮。小說悲劇的結局從某種角度來說是由她造成的：她突發奇想，想要去看看舊時的種植園，故意撒謊說房子有暗格，勾起了孫子孫女的好奇心，一家人離開原定的路線，才遭遇了通緝犯“格格不入”和他的兩個幫兇。然而，即便老太太算不得一個好人，不等于說她以及她的家人應該面臨這樣的慘遇。她聽到了自己的兒子、媳婦和孫子孫女在小樹林里被人槍殺。她苦苦哀求“格格不入”放了她，可是“格格不入”還是將她殺死。

這篇小說的開篇是一地雞毛的瑣碎，在結尾卻變為冷血的滅門慘案，在有限的篇幅里，情節急轉直下，表現出作者高超的藝術天分。小說最令人震撼的一幕出現在老太太臨死前。面對死亡，她有片刻的頓悟，看到“格格不入”因激動而扭曲的臉龐時，出于同情，她竟然想要伸手撫摸他，并且呼喚他：“哎呀，你是我的兒呢，你是我的親兒。”死后的她不再有生前的自私乖戾，而是呈現出難得的祥和感：“她（老太太）的兩條腿像孩子一樣盤在身下，面孔朝向無云的天空微笑著。”這不是和解的結局，“格格不入”沒有被她感化，救贖沒有直接出現，但這個結尾也不是全然的黑暗。老太太離開這個世界時的微笑仿佛是被神恩普照，在黑暗的盡頭，不是更深的黑暗和虛無，而是上帝不計好人與惡人給予的一樣平等的慈悲。

讀奧康納的小說，往往會有如臨深淵的戰栗感。她的世界里，暴力與邪惡不是偶發事件，而是隨時隨地可能加之于每一個普通人。人間多苦又多難，上帝好像早已隱退。可是在奧康納看來，上帝其實從沒有離開。誠如《圣經》所言：“他叫日頭照好人，也照歹人，降雨給義人，也給不義的人。”我們所習慣的是賞善罰惡的對賬簿式的清算系統，奧康納卻相信上帝的寬容超越了簡單的善惡。她是一位宗教作家，卻和我們傳統意義上理解的用愛打動人心靈的布道者不同。她用一個個短篇描摹這個世界，就像是一位畫師，在同一張畫布上涂了濃淡不勻的一重又一重的黑色。然而，這黑暗若隱若現透露出神啟的光。她剝奪了我們對世界的幻想，使我們無法再粉飾人性，卻令我們渴望著信仰的神恩。