论文总字数：25781字

摘 要

宗教是西方文化密不可分的一部分。这篇论文有六个部分，首先简要介绍托妮莫里森和《宠儿》，然后回顾国内外的学者对《宠儿》的研究成果，第三部分对宗教的功能进行简单介绍，在小说中，宗教的治愈功能最明显。第四部分对小说中的宗教因素进行分析，选取了开头的罗马经文，宗教的重要组成部分——宗教场所，在小说中即林中空地以及贯穿始终的鬼魂形象宠儿。紧接着，分析了小说中这些宗教因素的原因。最后对小说中宗教因素进行总结以及回顾这几个月来完成的论文的过程。

关键词：《宠儿》；宗教；圣经

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. The function of religion 3

3.1The essence of religion 3

3.2 The integration of religion 4

3.3 The healing of religion 4

4. Religious symbols in Beloved 5

4.1 Scripture in Romans 5

4.2 Forest hollow 6

4.3 Phantom image 6

5. Reason analysis 7

5.1 The author’s life experiences 7

5.2 The existence of black slavery system 8

5.3 The far-reaching influence of the Bible 8

6. Conclusion 9

Works cited 11

1. Introduction

Tony Morrison"s novel Beloved is a novel with unique artistic charm. In the late 1960s, Morrison went to the altar and her works were hot, short and poetic, and she was known for her keen observation of African American life. Morrison"s childhood life has heard a lot of stories about religion, which also provided material for the completion of the Beloved. Coupled with the independent female consciousness of the author and the examination of history, the novel can be made available. This novel shrouded in the haze of oppressive system not only reveals the darkness of black slavery, but also a valuable historical asset.

Seth, the protagonist in the book, killed her daughter because she did not want her daughter to experience the same pain from slavery. The reason why she did it was Partus sequitur ventrem policy that the mother is a slave, regardless of the identity of the father, the child was also a slave. Anyway, the system had established the black as a slave for one"s life. Eighteen years later, when beloved returned, it was nine years since the abolition of slavery. Even so, Seth was still alienated by the external and the pain of his own heart because of infanticide. More importantly, the great spiritual crisis and profound effects were brought about by the slave system.

If Sethe hadn’t killed her child, the child must have same fate, suffering from slavery system. She would have no right to choose, no future, and no freedom. “When someone in the black world dies, they will think that the soul of the deceased has gone to heaven, and no longer suffers from slavery, and always gets peace” (Chen 191). Religion may also be the reason why Seth made this choice.

Even though black slavery system has become a distant past, it is still an indispensable part of American history. It is also the heavy suffering of the entire black people. The Beloved born in the context of this system was adapted from real events. The black female Sethe was chosen to kill her children in order not to make her children a slave again and suffer a lot like her. Although Sethe had a short happy time in the Sweet House, when the plantation changed owner, the pain caused by slavery was still exist.

2. Literature Review

Beloved tells the story of a mother who killed her own child shocked the readers. What makes the mother so desperate to kill her own baby? What is the driving force behind Sethe’s behavior? In 1993, Tony Morrison, the first black female writer won the Nobel Prize for Literature for her extremely rich imagination and poetic expression. The Swedish Academy gave evaluation to her: “Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul. You, old woman, blessed with blindness, can speak the language that tells us what only language can: how to see without pictures. Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names. Language alone is meditation.” Then numerous scholars studied works of Tony Morrison from different perspectives. Li Fang coming from Beijing Foreign Studies University interprets maternal love in The Maternal Writing of American Contemporary Female Novelists. In the chapter “Becoming the Subject of Love” with the theories of love between Benjamin and Iriqri, as well as Gilligan et al. she used feminist ethical theory to analyze the issue of maternal love in “Beloved” and “Men and Angel”, and discussed the connotation of the mother becoming the subject of love and the significance of the construction of the mother"s subject. In “Beloved”, although Sethe abandoned her children, but from the perspective of history and reality, she still had subjectivity of a mother. Liu Wei, who comes from Shandong Normal University, analyzed the process of black identity construction in Beloved from three aspects in “The Construction of Black Identity in Toni Morrison lt;Belovedgt;”: ethnic identity, gender identity and cultural identity. Finally, in the conclusion section, although some blacks failed in the process of constructing their identity, their attempts were meaningful. From the beginning of life in the United States, black people began a journey of identity construction. On this journey, blacks face many problems and they still have a long way to go. There are not many documents on the study of religious factors in Beloved, what these articles and literatures discussed are religious elements, including religious feelings, the religious identity of the characters in the works, the resurrection of the phantom image, and the content related to the Bible. But all study focus on a certain point, and there is no comprehensive discussion of the content involved.

In the book of Religious behavior and psychotherapy, readers can understand the power of faith; In an Analysis of the Resurrection Ghost Image in Beloved, the author analyzed the ghost image and discussed the concept of ghosts, African legends and the topic of life and death. At the end of the article, the writer conclude that “Beloved” constructs the role of the beloved under the framework of traditional African religion, but there is no deeper discussion in the context of white religion or even religious integration. While in the Feeling: The Religious Feelings of Toni Morrison"s Novels: A Case Study of The Bluest Eyes, Beloved and Heaven, Reader can find that the contents of Morrison"s works almost are related to the lives of black people, and all contain religious feelings. However, the length of the article is limited, and the contents involved are slightly more. In the analysis of the religious feelings in Beloved, there will be more details to be supplemented, so I will analyze it more perfectly. The author"s personal experience is a reason. The far-reaching influence of religion is also need to be considered. This thesis will explore the deep-seated reasons through a multi-angle analysis and make a general understanding of slavery system. I am also grateful to the seniors for their inspiration and help in my upcoming work.

3. The function of religion

3.1The essence of religion

First, Africa Americans were trafficked to the continental United States, and these kinds of transactions were legal then. Some traces can also be seen from the novel. In such a humiliating history, blacks are difficult to integrate into white culture under the dual pressure of oppression and racial discrimination. In fact, long before the foundation of the United States, black people already existed in the American continent, and their religion collided with the white culture, eventually they accepted the white’s. The existence of black people also makes the United States be the United States. The sense of trust is the foundation of religion; nature is the original object of religion (Feuerbach 3). Black people’s religion is multi-faceted and has the characteristics of pantheism. After accepting white’s religion, it gradually becomes monotheism. But the original sin in Christianity is not accepted by blacks. People are not born with sin, which are gradually formed the day after tomorrow. So people need to go to atonement. But it is not just Christianity. In fact, in ancient China, the tribe clan had natural worship, fetishism, totem worship, or the natural god that people imagined because of their fear of nature. The Almighty God, both divine and human, is closer to people"s lives but has supernatural powers. More like the embodiment of nature. Nature is not only the original object of religion, but also the unchanging foundation of religion and the latent and permanent background of religion (Feuerbach 8).

3.2 The integration of religion

Africans who believe in multi-god believe that the gods are the medium that connects the supreme god and the world. The prayers and sacrifices that people make can be passed on to the gods through the gods. There are two kinds of religious worship for Africans. One is the worship of the gods, and the worship of the gods includes the two elements of nature worship and totem worship. In the early days of human history, natural forces dominated people"s lives. Therefore, among the African blacks, the original form of traditional religions that fear the natural forces is natural worship. There are many kinds of nature worship, including: worship of natural phenomena; worship of land; worship of fire and other specific objects. In addition, totem worship is also an important part of the traditional religion of black Africans.

It is inevitable for foreign regions to invade because of colonialism. The traditional religions of Africa believed in multi-god. When Africans were forced to stay away from their homes and be sold to the American continent, their life not only went through earth-shaking changes, but even religious beliefs were challenged. However, in the long history of development, the phenomenon of religious integration can also be seen in the Beloved. Although Africans do not accept the original sin in the Christian, they eventually accept the white religion of a god, from multi-god to one god also reflects the process of integration.

3.2 The healing of religion

It has to say that the trauma caused by black slavery system is profound. It has been deeply engraved in the bones and flows in the blood. Even after 18 years, the beloved came, even the slavery system has been abolished for 9 years, which is still a gray memory that can last for whole life. In such a large background, the painful blacks need to have a faith. In addition to the scarred body, there is a shelter that can comfort spirit where is warm, hopeful, and bright, and religion is undoubtedly the best choice. People always seek more possibilities or impossibilities because of their limited nature (Zhao 14). As the Bible says, there is nothing difficult in God. After knowing the nature of religion, the healing effects of religion is self-evident. The gods are enriched, fleshy, and realistic human beings—the natural limits of the human heart or the will that have been broken, the entities of unrestricted will, the same physical and willpower entity (Feuerbach 36).

Religion has many functions, normative functions, constrained behaviors, etc., but in “Beloved”, the most important function is its healing effect. For black people who are experiencing persecution of black slavery system, only in the endless darkness can you have a formative relief and see a glimmer of light.

4. Religious symbols in Beloved

4.1 Scripture in Romans

After the preface of the novel, before the text, the scriptures of Romans ninth chapter twenty-fifth are printed:

“I will call them ‘my people,’ which were not my people; and her ‘beloved,’ who was not beloved” (Bible).

The novel has been filled with a strong religious meaning from the beginning. Including the name of the novel, beloved, is also taken from Bible. The Romans belong to the apostles in the Christian culture, and this sentence is the words of a letter written by the apostle Paul to the Romans, showing the tolerance and kindness of the God. Behind this sentence is the author"s question. Is God equally fair to his people? Are black people God"s people? Are black people also beloved? Does the existence of the black system obey the will of God? In fact, Morrison has re-examined the history of the United States here. The name of novel is also a question about black slavery system. In the Bible, and especially in the New Testament, God"s purpose is to make everything in one: one is man and nature, man and God, man and man (Liang 39).

In fact, not only the traces of Christian culture in Tony Morrison"s works, but also the allusions in the Bible appear in other writers" works. What"s more, the names of some works are taken directly from the Bible. For example, Hemingway"s The Sun Also Rises is derived from the first chapter of the Ecclesiastes, the fifth chapter: “One generation is in the past, the generation is coming again, but the earth will last forever. The sun comes out, the sun falls, and the land is rushed” (Bible).

4.2 Forest hollow

The forest hollow is an open space in nature. It is the place where Babi Saggs preached to the black compatriots who suffered from slavery, singing poetry, full of divinity. Babi lets black people learn to accept, respect, and love themselves. So the tormented body and mind have a place for temporary placement. She also used some pies and a few chickens to make 90 people full stomach. This story is very similar to the plot in which Jesus used five cakes and two fish to feed 5,000 people. She is a kind person. She is the spiritual power of black people (Liu 2). What Babi do is also to alleviate people"s pain. The acceptance of Christianity by Africa American is on their way. The original sin in Christian doctrine is not accepted by the blacks. Therefore, blacks thought that people are not born with sin. Later people need to atone for themselves. Meanwhile, Jesus preached in the world, performed miracles, and suffered a lot to save his people from sin and for the suffering of the cross, bloodshed, suspicion of the people.

4.3 Phantom image

There are legends about the resurrection of human beings in Africa, and Jesus died and resurrected in Christianity. The two are very similar. The Beloved in Beloved is a weird artistic image that makes the whole novel full of magical realism. Beloved is not only the mother"s petite pet name for the child, but also the daughter of Seth"s from the dead. It is the embodiment of the black people and psychological picture of the blacks after the abolition of slavery. In the image of the Beloved, it condenses the suffering history of black and the tragic past (Shen 1). The Beloved represents the black group. First of all, there were shocking scars on the neck of the beloved returning from the soul. It was not only the wound left by Sethe, but also the metaphor of the black group"s physical trauma under the black slavery system. In the traditional myth of Africa, life and death are considered a cycle. After death, the flesh will eventually disappear, and the soul will exist forever, affecting the living. Close people can perceive the souls of their loved ones. Just like in the novel, Denver could see the Beloved and see the childlike girl who was returning to her mother. The Beloved who returned after 18 years is greedy, although after the death of the Beloved, Seth gave the darling a tombstone of her own name, but guilt and remorse have been accompanied by Seth. Beloved’s possession was so strong that it became a persecution.

At the beginning of the opening, the author told the reader that House 124 was spiteful, full of a baby"s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children. For years each put up with the spite in his own way, but by 1873 Sethe and her daughter Denver were its only victims (Toni Morrison 3). In fact, not only the Beloved contains its strong religious meaning, the name of Sethe is taken from the third son of Adam and Eve in the Genesis of the Bible’s chapter 4 from 1 to 16. Cain killed Abel because God does not look at his offerings instead accepted the lamb that contributed Abel. So regardless of discouragement, he killed his brother Abel. Eventually, the birth of Seth made many descendants later (Zhuo 70). In the novel, Sethe was lucky, survived and the mother named her in the name of a loved man. The e makes her name negative, and Sethe was loved, and she continued this love. Even if presented in a deformed way.

5. Reason analysis

5.1 The author’s life experiences

“There is no important writer in English literature who has not received the influence of the Bible literature. No important writer has ever been trained in the language of the Bible” (Zhouamp;Wang 355).

Toni Morrison’s parents migrated to the south of the United States in order to escape racial discrimination, and moved to the north for work. Morrison was influenced of the black culture from an early age, growing up under the influence. When she made a boyfriend, she felt racial discrimination. The existence of black slavery is the most naked proof of racial discrimination. So the theme of Morrison’s novels has always been the way out for black culture. In the novel, because of the legends about ghosts in African traditional religions, it has been given the mission of revealing the inner trauma of modern blacks, and has become the bond that sustains tradition and modernity, and the Beloved of resurrection is also such a kind of existence.

5.2 The existence of black slavery system

The slavery system were created because the British North American colonies were in desperate need of labor, so the European colonists robbed blacks from Africa as slaves. The origin of the black slavery system was that in 1619 the Dutch first transported 20 black slaves to James City, Virginia, and sold them to the British colonists. Since the second half of the 17th century, slave trade has been institutionalized. The colonies successively enacted laws to determine the slave status of blacks. Due to continuous development, the black slave trading market has gradually formed. At that time, there was a saying that black people were the tools to talk and the property of the master.

When the black slaves are treated as private property for bartering or trading, the blacks have been deprived of human rights. The black slaves suffered from the 170-year black slavery system’s torture. On September 17, 1859, Abraham Lincoln gave an important speech in Cincinnati, Ohio: “Slavery is wrong and morally and politically wrong. I hope that slavery will not continue in the federal states. If slavery disappears throughout the Union, I will not object” (Lecture for the Senate). 1865 witnessed the ending of American Civil War. In the same year, slavery system, the inhuman system was abolished nationwide. The slaves regained their freedom legally. However, thereafter the slaves were still in a low position and lived a hard life. For the black, to recover from the psychological trauma and regain a sense of cultural identity still has a long way to go.

5.3 The far-reaching influence of the Bible

The Bible is not only a religious classic, but also a masterpiece of literature. It consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. “Testament” refers to the contract between man and God. The law of the Jewish people is called the “Old Testament”, and God’s coming to the world is a “new testament” with man. The Bible also has a profound impact on the spiritual life of mankind（Zhou 11）.

The Bible has extremely far-reaching influence. The Bible has inspired the formation of Western philosophy because its status in the development of Western society. The three major sources of Western civilization can always see one or two in the Bible. In addition to its own literary value, the Bible provides an important starting point and many rich materials for its literary form and content in the development of Western literature since the Middle Ages (Zhuo 369). In music, the Holy play with the theme of the Bible, the sacred music was once popular in the Middle Ages. Even now, church music is still an indispensable part of people"s religious life. In addition to this, the Bible also profoundly affects painting, sculpture and architecture.

Religious belief can alleviate physical pain and psychological trauma of black people who suffered from the persecution of black slavery system. Only in the endless darkness can they see a glimmer of light.

6. Conclusion

It has been about three months since the beginning of determining the title of the paper in March, and the title of my thesis has been revised, so many references and efforts have been invalidated. But no matter what, until now, the paper has finally been completed. I chose to study the religious symbols in “Beloved”. I read the related literature and books, and focused on the analysis of the reasons behind religious symbols, religious functions, and religious symbols, centering on the Beloved. And I have a certain understanding about the black slavery system, and the far-reaching impact of the system. In fact, the book “Beloved” has also been adapted into a movie. I have seen the 1988 version of the movie. The visual impact brought by the film will be more intuitive and more intense than the novel, and it will also make people feel the emotions of the characters more directly. The helplessness of Sethe, the greed of the beloved, the kindness and fraternity of Babi Saggs, were staged under the gray haze of the slavery system. All of this is infinitely magnified under the brutal system.

Religion is the carrier of culture, and works itself presents culture. By doing a research on the works, we explore the deeper implication behind it. Perhaps it is black slavery, perhaps the trauma of black people after the abolition of slavery system, perhaps the identity they seek for self-culture. The works will be more brilliant when time elapsed. The religious factors used in the Beloved not only deepen the theme of the article, but also enrich the image of the character. In particular, the Beloved image of this rich religious connotation makes the article more full and far-reaching.

Works cited

陈志杰: 《顺应与抗争——奴隶制下的美国黑人文化》. 北京：中国社会科学出版社，2010.

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