Zhang Xianliang, Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus
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DEATH IN THREE NOVELS BY ZHANG XIANLIANG, SAMUEL BECKETT AND ALBERT CAMUS BY MAK MEI KWAN ALISA B.A., Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997 THESIS Submitted to the Graduate School of The Chinese University of Hong Kong In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH Hong Kong 2000 i(njy；! 11 )i UNIVERSITY ^^XLIBRARY Table of Contents Abstract i 摘要 iii Acknowledgements v Chapter One: 1 The Displaced Man Chapter Two: 19 The Fragmented Self in Xiguan siwang Getting Used to Dying Chapter Three: 46 Deatti of the Author: An Abandoned Being in Malofie\ Dies Chapter Four: 67 Death of Sharing: A Man of Authenticity in The Outsider Chapter Five: 94 Conclusion: The Helplessness of Life Works Cited 108 Wor卜 Consulted 115 丨 I 1 I i Abstract This thesis examines the fictional treatment of the topic death in three writers, Zhang Xianliang, Samuel Beckett and Albert Camus, of the century, presenting an age of life-in-death. Their treatments of death are believed to be the result of pressure from the socio-political background in different parts of the world. The first chapter is a brief sketch of the socio-political conditions affecting the three writers. It points out that an individual is by no means trapped in the relationship with the society, which makes them suffer from a deep sense of helplessness. The writers' personal experiences of being exposed to multi-national environment adds complexity to such relationship. r� I • ；Chapter Two examines how political power penetrates into the human mind and causes psychological distortion in the novel Getting Used to Dying 習 1 貫死亡� Itreveals the real power of the Chinese politics. The heavy sense of origin and history makes a Chinese identity for some writers a pressure rather than a homely feeling, requiring not just respect but total submission of the individual to the political interest. ‘Chapter Three unfolds the unbearable situation of men in the I condition critics have called the "absurd." Through the simple setting of the novel Malone Dies where there is not much pressure on the human being, Beckett introduces another painful situation of "fake freedom". At a glance, men think freely on their own. Their thoughts maybe controlled by language. This causes Beckett to indulge in the relationship between mind and I i I i language. The novel generally brings out a risk: flow of mind may be led by language rather than exist independently. Chapter Four uses Camus's Outsider to stress the impossibility of escape from the situation of the absurd existence of man. In this existentialist novel, the self-indulgent attitude of the protagonist violates the social rules at that time. He becomes a traitor of the society. Hence, man is born being tied in a set of rules within the society. The conclusion in the final chapter provides a new refinement to the study of the topic spiritual death in different cultures. Although the three writers generally present a pessimistic view to human existence, their attitudes provide a new vision to the understanding of life. V \ } . ii I 摘要 本論文探究三位二十世紀小說作者一張賢亮(Zhang Xianliang)� 貝克特（Sammel Beckett)和艾拔卡,繆(Albert Camus)處理死亡這一 課題的寫作手法’呈現出一個喻死於生的年代。這些處理手法，相 信是受當時世界各地的政治社會氣候影響所致。 - 論文第一章簡略地介紹影響三位作者思想的政治社會環境。並 點出個人無可避免地要與社會扯上關係，這種關係令三位作者深感 無助。而他們的多國籍身分令這種關係變得更複雜。 声二章探究在《習慣死亡》(Getting Used to Dying) 一書中，政 ‘： 治i量怎樣滲入人的思想而導致心理上的扭曲。它揭示出中國政治 i 的真正力量。身爲中國人那種沉重的根源感及歷史感，爲一些作家 帶來壓力多於家的感覺。因爲這種身分不僅要求個人尊重政治，還 要個人完全臣服於政治利益之下。 第三章帶出人在「荒旨i�世界中那難以忍受的情況。貝克特 ($eckett)通過小說《馬龍之死》(MaloneDies),帶出人要面對的 <'•： 另i種苦況一虛假的自由。即處身在簡單和沒有什麼壓力的環境 下”人雖然能無拘無朿地思考，但思考卻很可能是被語言操控著。 i 這令百吉著迷於思索思想與語言的關係，最後揭示出一個危機：思 想可能並不是獨立存在，而是在語言控制之下。 I 1 iii 第四章用卡謬（Camus)的《異鄉人》(Outsider�強調人不可能 逃避荒謬地存在。在這本存在主義的小說裏，主人公那種自我享受 的生活態度，與當時的社會規條背道而馳，因而負上背叛社會的罪 名。由此可見，人與生俱來便受社會的規條限制著。 最後一章爲不同文化對「精神死亡」的硏究作總結：雖然三位 作者對人的存在都持悲觀態度’但這種態度亦爲我們提供了一個薪 新的角度去硏究人的生存這課題。 I ’1\ « } \、，, 、 f I i 丨 iv I I Acknowledgments This dissertation would not have been possible without many people's support and assistance. I would like to give my whole-hearted thanks to Prof.Andrew Parkin and Prof. Tarn Kwok-kan for their co-supervision. They are always enthusiastic, patient and helpflil. Prof. Parkin's trust and openness enable me to pursue what I believe to be important and meaningful. He encourages me to write on whenever I am frustrated and has read carefully and commented on the various drafts. I feel very comfortable in being his student. My deepest gratitude goes to Prof. Tarn. Thanks for his timely assistance and penetrating remarks. His. careful reviews of the manuscript an4 his many useful suggestions definitely enlighten my academic de^^elopment. Thanks for his special attention in supervising chapter two of my thesis which is about the Chinese writer Zhang Xianliang 張賢 亮 ° Without his advice and encouragement, I would not have the courage to start my thesis with a Chinese writer. My thanks also go to Prof. Timothy Weiss and Prof. Zhang Benzi, « who are very generous with their time and advice. I must thank also Prof. Wimal Dissanayake for his encouragement of m^ literary studies. He encouraged and recommended me to further my studies in the postgraduate school. Although he has left the Chinese University now, he still shows concern for my thesis and is enthusiastic in lending a helping hand to me all the time. I am grateful to my aunt May and my friend Rae for their timely help in typing all the Chinese characters for me in this thesis. I cannot helping I , V ‘ i ‘ I j looking for Jacky every time I have problems with my computer, no matter where he is and when. Peter and Cecilia gave me the most comfortable emotional support whenever I got too nervous about my thesis. I would also like to express my gratitude for my family's understanding, for I was too busy and spent less time with them this year. Special thanks must go to my brother, Stanley, who upgraded my computer and set up all the necessary programs for me. I appreciated his patience when I occupied his computer and desk 15 hours a day! V m \ 1： \ I j , vi Chapter One The Displaced Man The "Displaced Man" refers to the displacement of people as a result of events in Europe after the Second World War and the displacements in China at the time of the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957. This generally brings a view of life where there is no hope or optimism. Such feeling intensifies after the Second World War, when people who had lost their homes and families were "displaced persons," who suffered intensely, and were disappointed by the inability to escape, and the inevitability of experiencing such horror. Disappointed by life experience, some people turn to death for relief, and as the only source V of jhope. According to Lawrence L. Langer in his book The Age of Atf'ocity, the “Second World War destroyed all the previous judgments about reality" (115). This is regarded as an age of hatred. Heroism is replaced by the fragility of man. Adaptation becomes the only way for human survival, which in turn results in a habitual mode of life, namely life-in-death« . In such a world where creativity dies, some writers find that what remains is only anguish and hatred. Hope, the luxurious thing, is available only in the fantasy of an afterlife. The novels discussed here are regarded as an artistic representation of mental suffering after realizing the incapability of human control over lif0. The three novels are all published after the wartime period: China has undergone civil war and Europe was swept by the two World Wars. Alvarez wrote, “The real resistance now is to an art which forces its audience to recognize and accept imaginatively, in their nerve ends, not I 1 ‘ M the facts of life but the facts of death and violence: absurd, random, gratuitous, unjustified, and inescapably part of the society we have created" (Alvarez 15). By the time the writers wrote the novels, they were all exposed or had been exposed to great social changes caused by political events. In this chapter, I am going to examine the social background in causing the feeling of displacement to the writers. Also, I will see how the different cultures of the novels deal with death. Zhang Xianliang: a criminal of China Zhang suffers from an incurable psychological pain of loneliness and helplessness throughout his life. Although he was bom in a rich family in Nanjing in 1936, he was abandoned by his father. And later, V he ；led a poor life with his mother. "A lonely childhood that is deprived of warmth and laughter leaves the little mind of Zhang with emotional deficiency.”缺少溫暖與歡樂的孤獨童年，在張賢亮幼小的心靈世界 留下了深深的感情缺憾（Zhang & Zhang 1) His publication of the long poem Dafeng ge 大風歌[The song of wind] brought him to a political struggle. He was condemned as a Rightist in the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957. This was a great blow to his literary career. In the following eighteen years, he was classified as a political criminal and w马s placed in the lowest rank of society. He suffered from starvation, I i imprisonment and was put into the labor reform camp. All these experiences bring unbearable helplessness to him. He always mentions I that “deep in my heart there is always a nucleus of loneliness" ,[L�靈、深處 總有一個孤獨的內核（quoted in Zhang and Zhang 3) I 2 • \ J I Because of his personal experiences, Zhang's novels reflect the impact of Chinese socio-political environment. The World Wars raise a general sense of nationality to the countries, especially for China, where mass responsibility is emphasized. As a child in the course of the Second World War when China was assaulted by the Japanese and torn by the civil war, Zhang was educated in an environment when the individual's interests were subordinated to his country, China.