动用武力

动用武力》(英語:The Use of Force)是美国作家威廉·卡洛斯·威廉斯短篇小说[1]。作品首次出版于1938年短篇小说集《帕塞伊克河畔的生活》,后亦收录于作者1984年小说集《医生故事》中[2]

动用武力
原名The Use of Force
作者威廉·卡洛斯·威廉斯
类型短篇小说
语言英语
發行信息
出版時間1938年
出版地點美国

虽然作者的短篇小说多数无名,但《动用武力》自1950年来便纳入各类作品选,跻身美国文学经典之列[3]。作品亦有「威廉斯最知名故事」之称[4]

故事梗概

故事以第一人称自白的视角,叙述乡村医生在农舍为女孩玛蒂尔达诊断的故事。玛蒂尔达发烧三日,医生怀疑她患上致命的白喉,要检查她的喉部。然而她十分顽固,拒绝配合医生,百般抵抗口腔检查,并将木制压舌板咬碎。医生屡次失败后怒火中烧,用近乎武力的手段,向女孩嘴里塞入了汤匙。最终医生撬开口腔发现,玛蒂尔达的扁桃体已然发炎[5][6]

分析

我左手抓住小孩的头,想把木压舌板塞到嘴里。她拼命地反抗,紧闭着嘴巴!而这时,对着一个孩子,我也变得狂怒了。我想冷静下来却做不到……而最糟的是,我也丧失了理智。狂怒的我想撕碎小孩来快活。我为此而脸红……[a]
《动用武力》节选,为多篇文学批评引用[7][8]

主题方面,小说探讨了武力的复杂性。作家罗伯特·F·基什认为小说探讨了武力与反抗:力量存在于白喉这种强大疾病的的背后,也存在于女孩的意志、愤怒和美丽之中[9]。评论家佩舍尔和佩舍尔则指出:医生欣赏女孩倔强的固执,或许因为同样的性格,他也用执着征服了病人[10]。霍华德则认为小说提出了道德问题,必要时是否应该动用武力保护无知者[11]。小说还展现了理智和情感的冲突。医生起初以职业态度来为玛蒂尔达诊断,但最终理智不敌情绪,把战胜女孩当成了目标[12];而对此,医生亦怀抱愧疚之情[13]

评论谈到了性暴力相关问题。作家吉什认为这是小说的潜在主题:「威廉斯在《动用武力》中植入了他熟悉的性暴力暗示……在小说中性暗示方面,无论威廉斯还是他笔下的叙事者都不纯洁」[14]。佩舍尔和佩舍尔的评论则称,标题警示了类似强奸的可怕侵犯,但因为女孩身体身体不健康,故而消弥了这种负面暗示[15]

艺术手法方面,小说以医生的主观视角展开,采用自由间接引语记录对话,即直接采用写出直接引语,不加引号也不转换人称[16]。Howard Allen认为小说运用了象征和讽刺手法:例如从木制压舌板到金属汤匙,象征着医生怒火的升级;而医生对女孩的第一印象是文静,但结果正好相反[17]

注释

  1. ^ 原文:I grasped the child’s head with my left hand and tried to get the wooden tongue depressor between her teeth. She fought, with clenched teeth, desperately! But now I had also grown furious—at a child. I tried to hold myself down but I couldn’t...the worst of it was that I too had got beyond reason. I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it. It was a pleasure to attack her. My face was burning with it...

参考

  1. ^ Williams, William Carlos. The Use of Force. Goodreads. [2024-06-08]. (原始内容存档于2023-11-02). 
  2. ^ The Use of Force. Encyclopedia.com. [February 5, 2015]. (原始内容存档于2016-07-02). 
  3. ^ Slate, 1968 p. 160: “...needs no defense in academic circles…Endorsed by critics and teachers who print it in anthologies.” And p. 161: “...enshrined in college texts” since 1950.
  4. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 71
  5. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 71-72: Plot summary
  6. ^ Allen, 2023
  7. ^ Peschel and Peschel, 1984 p. 156
  8. ^ Perloff, 1980, p.194
  9. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 72:
  10. ^ Peschel and Peschel, 1984 p. 157: Ellipsis for brevity, meaning is unaltered.
  11. ^ Allen, 2023
  12. ^ Allen, 2023
  13. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 72:
  14. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 71
  15. ^ Peschel and Peschel, 1984 p. 157: Ellipsis for brevity, meaning is unaltered.
  16. ^ Gish, 1989 p. 71-72
  17. ^ Allen, 2023
  • Gish, Robert F. 1989. William Carlos Williams: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. Gordon Weaver, General Editor. G. K. Hall & Co. pp.71-72 ISBN 0-8057-8307-5
  • Peschel, Richard E. and Peschel, Enid Rhodes. 1984. When a Doctor Hates a Patient: Case Histories, Literary Histories from the Michigan Quarterly Review, 23 no. 3 (Summer 1984) in William Carlos Williams: A Study of the Short Fiction by Robert F. Gish, Twayne Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. Gordon Weaver, General Editor. Pp.152-158 ISBN 0-8057-8307-5
  • Slate, J. E. 1968. William Carlos Williams and the Modern Short Story from The Southern Review 4, no. 3 (July 1968) in William Carlos Williams: A Study of the Short Fiction, by Robert F. Gish. Twayne Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts. Gordon Weaver, General Editor. G. K. Hall & Co. pp.160-169 ISBN 0-8057-8307-5
  • Allen, Howard. 2023. Analysis, Themes and Summary of "The Use of Force" by William Carlos Williams页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆 from Owlcation (6 October 2023).