A,Good,Man,Is,Hard,to,Find

弗兰纳里·奥康纳（Flannery O’Connor） 1925年出生于美国南部佐治亚州的萨凡纳，在深厚的天主教传统的影响下长大。21岁时，她从佐治亚州女子学院毕业，随后获得奖学金，进入衣阿华大学作家培训班学习。1951年，奥康纳查出罹患红斑狼疮，1964年因病去世。奥康纳是美国最优秀的短篇小说家之一，也是美国最为重要的南方小说家之一。她擅长描摹南方的社会生活，对人性有着非凡的洞察力。她曾先后获得欧·亨利短篇小说奖和美国国家图书奖。她的主要作品有长篇小说《智血》（Wise Blood）和《暴力夺取》（The Violent Bear It Away），以及短篇小说集《好人难寻》（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.节选部分选自小说《好人难寻》的开头，描写了一家人开车去佛罗里达的情景。

2.aloose [əˈluːs] adj. 逃离的。文中的意思是“越狱的”。

3.Federal Pen：指联邦监狱，此处pen是penitentiary （监狱）的缩写。

4.slacks [slæks] n. 便裤；宽松的长裤

5.apricot [ˈeɪprɪˌkɒt] n. 杏子

6.stocky [ˈstɒki] adj. 粗壮的；低矮结实的

7.cuff [kʌf] n. 袖口

8.organdy [ˈɔː（r）ɡəndi] n. [纺]蝉翼纱，玻璃纱（一种极薄的棉布）

9.sachet [ˈsæʃeɪ] n. （熏衣等用的）香囊；小香袋

10.granite [ˈɡrænɪt] n. 花岗岩，花岗石

11.hillbilly [ˈhɪlˌbɪli] n. 乡巴佬的，土里土气的

12.lousy [ˈlaʊzi] adj. 讨厌的；污秽的；极坏的

13.pickaninny [ˌpɪkəˈnɪni] n. 黑人小孩

14.britches [ˈbritʃɪz] n. 裤子；马裤（长及膝盖的裤子）

作品赏析

弗兰纳里·奥康纳的小说因具有以下两个特点而有较高的识别度：一是对邪恶的直面，不掺杂温情主义的抚慰；二是对暴力的刻画，以不动声色的冷静描写残忍的杀戮和剜心的创痛。这两个特点在美国女性作家中是十分少见的。这位只活到39岁、身体孱弱的女人有着比硬汉还要强韧的神经。她的笔端收纳了一个哥特色彩浓重的美国南方社会。在她的短篇小说集《好人难寻》中，透过篇篇作品，你都能看到这位天才作家那双洞悉黑暗的眼睛。

短篇小说集《好人难寻》共收录了十篇作品。小说标题可谓点题：在这些故事里，主人公们无一例外都不算好人，每个人物都袒露出了人性的缺憾；而且，当他们遭遇困境，也没有好人前来扮演拯救者，他们所遇到的是和他们一样甚至比他们更为邪恶的陌生人。在同名小说《好人难寻》中，一家人决定去佛罗里达度假，出门后却遭遇了通缉犯，全家三代共六口人，其中还有一名襁褓中的婴儿，无一幸免地遇害。在《河》中，保姆带着主人家的小孩参加布道者在河边举行的洗礼。孩子第二天返回河边，想要像布道者所说的那样，沿着水流抵达基督的国度，结果溺亡在河中。在《救人就是救自己》中，老妇人哄骗流浪汉迎娶自己的智障女儿。对方以带她的女儿出门旅行为借口，骗走了她的汽车，将她的女儿扔在途中经过的快餐店。在《好运降临》中，女主人公被算命的提示好运即将降临，即她已经怀孕，然而当她发现这一事实时，却惊恐不已。在《圣灵所宿之处》中，12岁的小姑娘愤世嫉俗，生活在压抑的天主教会学校。在《人造黑人》中，爷爷带着小孙子进城长见识，却在孙子和他人起冲突时，为了避免赔别人钱，宣称他完全不认识这个孩子。在《火中之圈》中，三个半大的孩子和库普太太作对，出于破坏欲纵火焚烧她家对面的树林。在《临终遇敌》中，孙女出于虚荣，坚持要求自己104岁的祖父出席她的毕业典礼，老人在典礼上死去。在《善良的乡下人》中，女主人公是一位身体有残疾的老姑娘，她是哲学博士，自以为看透世界，却被上门的推销员骗了亲吻，对方离开时还拿走了她的假肢。在《流离失所的人》中，农场主麦克英特尔太太因为新雇佣的波兰难民古扎克先生而和原来的雇农肖特利夫妇交恶，将他们解雇，后来却和古扎克闹翻，与肖特利一起将古扎克杀死。

在奥康纳的小说集《好人难寻》中，亲人之间没有足够的沟通，老人自私，孩子无知；异性之间没有爱情，只有欲望；乡下的社区封闭没落，人们相互利用；而陌生人则往往是撒旦式的闯入者。阅读奥康纳小说的过程往往伴随着压抑感和不安感，她在不断挑战着读者的心理承受力，令人不禁想要追问：这样的写作，除了再三地暴露出恶的多种样态，有没有别的深意？

这个问题的答案需要在奥康纳的天主教信仰中寻找。奥康纳是虔诚的天主教徒，对神的信仰对照出了人间的种种丑恶。奥康纳曾经说过：“对于近乎耳聋的人，你要大声喊叫；对于视力不清的人，你要画出大而惊人的人物。”当代社会越来越世俗化，人们不再相信上帝，道德真空使人们回避了对人性恶的探究，满足于表面的社会祥和。奥康纳则用近乎偏执的聚焦，逼迫读者面对人性的脆弱，思考末日的审判，从而从恶中领悟救赎和神恩的意义。

以《好人难寻》为例，小说拉开序幕时是庸常的日常场景。老太太的儿子和儿媳妇决定带着三个孩子到佛罗里达去旅行。老太太则喋喋不休，想要让儿子改变主意，带全家去东田纳西见老熟人。奥康纳寥寥几笔就勾勒出了一个不算可爱的老太太的形象：自私、世故、夸张、虚荣。小说悲剧的结局从某种角度来说是由她造成的：她突发奇想，想要去看看旧时的种植园，故意撒谎说房子有暗格，勾起了孙子孙女的好奇心，一家人离开原定的路线，才遭遇了通缉犯“格格不入”和他的两个帮凶。然而，即便老太太算不得一个好人，不等于说她以及她的家人应该面临这样的惨遇。她听到了自己的儿子、媳妇和孙子孙女在小树林里被人枪杀。她苦苦哀求“格格不入”放了她，可是“格格不入”还是将她杀死。

这篇小说的开篇是一地鸡毛的琐碎，在结尾却变为冷血的灭门惨案，在有限的篇幅里，情节急转直下，表现出作者高超的艺术天分。小说最令人震撼的一幕出现在老太太临死前。面对死亡，她有片刻的顿悟，看到“格格不入”因激动而扭曲的脸庞时，出于同情，她竟然想要伸手抚摸他，并且呼唤他：“哎呀，你是我的儿呢，你是我的亲儿。”死后的她不再有生前的自私乖戾，而是呈现出难得的祥和感：“她（老太太）的两条腿像孩子一样盘在身下，面孔朝向无云的天空微笑着。”这不是和解的结局，“格格不入”没有被她感化，救赎没有直接出现，但这个结尾也不是全然的黑暗。老太太离开这个世界时的微笑仿佛是被神恩普照，在黑暗的尽头，不是更深的黑暗和虚无，而是上帝不计好人与恶人给予的一样平等的慈悲。

读奥康纳的小说，往往会有如临深渊的战栗感。她的世界里，暴力与邪恶不是偶发事件，而是随时随地可能加之于每一个普通人。人间多苦又多难，上帝好像早已隐退。可是在奥康纳看来，上帝其实从没有离开。诚如《圣经》所言：“他叫日头照好人，也照歹人，降雨给义人，也给不义的人。”我们所习惯的是赏善罚恶的对账簿式的清算系统，奥康纳却相信上帝的宽容超越了简单的善恶。她是一位宗教作家，却和我们传统意义上理解的用爱打动人心灵的布道者不同。她用一个个短篇描摹这个世界，就像是一位画师，在同一张画布上涂了浓淡不匀的一重又一重的黑色。然而，这黑暗若隐若现透露出神启的光。她剥夺了我们对世界的幻想，使我们无法再粉饰人性，却令我们渴望着信仰的神恩。