论文总字数：31278字

摘 要

托妮·莫里森是历史上唯一一位获得诺贝尔文学奖的黑人女作家，其多数作品关注黑人妇女经历的苦难与觉醒、性别和种族歧视以及人与自然的和谐。《恩惠》讲述了十七世纪末农奴制刚萌芽时，北美农场主雅各布与他的邮购妻子丽贝卡、年轻黑人女仆弗洛伦斯、印第安人莉娜以及混血女孩索萝在农场里发生的故事。本篇论文将从生态女性主义角度分析《恩惠》，重点解析四位女性人物在生态环境破坏后各自的成长经历和自我追寻的过程，剖析了在父权和奴隶制度下男性对女性的控制及对自然的破坏。

关键词：生态女性主义；父权；自我追寻

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2.Literature Review 2

3. A Brief Introduction to Ecofeminism 3

4. An Ecofeminist Analysis of the Female Characters in A Mercy 4

4.1 Before the Destruction of the Ecological Environment--The Female Characters’ Plights in A Mercy 4

4.2 After the Destruction of the Ecological Environment--The Female Characters’ Self-pursuit in A Mercy 8

5. Conclusion 13

Works Cited 15

1. Introduction

Toni Morrison was born in 1931, in Ohio, the daughter of Gorgia-born George Wofford, a shipyard welder, and Alabama-born Ramah Willis Wofford. Morrison attended an integrated school in Lorain and excelled early on, especially in reading. Among her favorite authors were Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. Before her formal school years, Morrison had absorbed a lot of stories from her parents at home, both of whom were storytellers and musicians and they also instilled in their children deep respects for the black people’s heritage through the stories they told. Morrison graduated from Lorain High School in 1949 and enrolled in Howard University, where she majored in English and minored in classics. During her college school years, she joined a university-affiliated touring repertory company, and changed her name to Toni, because so many people had difficulty in pronouncing Chloe. After graduating from Howard in 1953, Morrison attended Cornell University and earned a master’s degree in English after writing a thesis on William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf.

Morrison has published nine novels since 1970, and they are: The Bluest Eye(1970), Song of Solomon(1977), Sula(1973), Tar Baby(1981), Beloved(1987), Jazz(1992), Paradise(1999), Love(2003), A Mercy(2008), and Home(2012). She won the Nobel Prize in literature for her excellent performance in 1993, as a first black American in history. Her books are short but highly emotional, and famous for the acute observation of the black’s life in America. These works are based on the black’s life, and the themes are all about black culture, black women’s suffering and awakening, racial and sexual discrimination, and the harmony between man and nature. Though Morrison’s works seem all about the black, but A Mercy uncovers what lies under the surface of slavery in the late 17^th century. In the novel the farmer Jacob Vaark, a white man, adopts four abandoned women—one white, one native American and two blacks—all enslaved in some way, trying to maintain their precarious life together on a failing farm.

In this thesis there are five chapters. The first part gives a brief introduction to Toni Morrison and her novel A Mercy. The second part briefly tells what people have studied on this novel home and abroad. The third part explains the term “ecofeminism” and focuses on natural ecofeminism, which will be used as an angle to analyze the novel. The fourth part is the main part of the whole paper; it is about the seemingly peaceful life of the four women on the farm at the beginning of the novel and how the four finally figure out their identities and complete their self-pursuits after their owner Jacob died from the revenge of his destruction of nature. The last part is the conclusion.

2. Literature Review

Since Toni Morrison’s A Mercy was published in Nov. 2008, many people have conducted research on the novel. Jennifer McKeown’s review “Mother and Daughter” talked about what women had suffered in slavery, and said that “all women in this world are at the mercy of the men in their lives; without them, these women are as good as lost”(Morrison, 2008: 50). In her view, being a female in slavery is just like an open wound that will never heal; even if the scar forms, the festering is still underneath. Michiko Kakutani published his article Bonds that Seem Cruel Can be Kind, which considered A Mercy as a variation on Beloved’s exploration of the personal costs of slavery—a system that moved men, women and children around like checkers and cast a looming shadow on both parental and romantic love.

As A Mercy becomes popular in mainland of China, many people have paid more attention to this book, and among those people Wang Shouren and Wu Xinyun have to be mentioned first. They study Morrison’s works mainly from the angles of gender, race and culture; as to A Mercy, they focus on analyzing Florens to remind people that “the race or the color of a person’s skin is not the reason for him or her to be enslaved.” (Wang Shouren amp; Wu Xinyun, 2009: 44) In the aspect of culture, they think “only the blacks know their own roots can they survive.” (Wang Shouren amp; Wu Xinyun, 2009: 35) Other domestic studies on A Mercy from the perspective of ecofeminism mainly focus on racial discrimination, cultural identity, the growth of Florens and the themes in this novel. The uniqueness of this paper is that it analyzes the four female characters’ changes before and after the destruction to nature. This thesis analyzes A Mercy from the perspective of ecofeminism, mainly natural ecofeminism, to illustrate the hard life experiences and the self-pursuit of the four female characters after the destruction of the ecological environment, revealing how men control women and destroy the nature both in patriarchy and in slavery.

3. A Brief Introduction to Ecofeminism

Ecofeminism originates from 1970s, and is put forward by a French feminist Francoise d’Faubonne. She thought women being oppressed is connected with nature being controlled; hence she called on women to carry out an ecology movement and reconsidered the relationship between humans and nature. “Ecofeminists concern about the oppressed, but their focus is on femininity and nature.” (Gaard amp; Greta, 1993: 20)

Ecofeminism is the combination of ecology and feminism, which includes ecology of feminism and the feminism of ecology. Not only ecofeminism is one of the important genres to study feminism, but also is an important genre for ecological consciousness. Ecofeminism treats ecological crisis from the perspective of gender. It points out and criticizes that men rule society and nature is based on their acknowledgment of patriarchy. “Ecofeminism aims for a harmonious relationship between human beings and nature” (Sun Xueqi, 2010: 132). It holds that people should change the mind that it is men who dominates nature, which comes from the way they rule other people. It also insists that how women are controlled and oppressed is related to the way men dominate nature. Ecofeminism believes that only people change the way they treat nature, can women get liberation.

There are three main genres in ecofeminism: natural ecofeminism, social ecofeminism and philosophical ecofeminism. Though these genres have their different opinions, they do criticize patriarchy and anthropocentrism, and they propose to liberate nature and women.

This thesis analyzes the novel from the perspective of natural ecofeminism. Natural ecofeminism pays more attention to historical reasons that women and nature were oppressed. It holds nature and women are combined together, like the earth can produce products and women can give birth to new lives. It also stresses a more perfect lifestyle—less invasion but more sustainable development, while this lifestyle can only be cultivated by traditional female virtue. Natural ecofeminists advocate people should live harmoniously with nature, not to exploit and control it, and men should get along well with women too, not to rule and enslave them. Ecofeminism pays close attention to the relations of men taking control of women and nature. It also believes that there is a symbolic and historical basis on how the western culture belittles women and nature and that basis is patriarchy. Ecofeminism reminds people to update their old traditional worldview and fulfill the whole transformation from having values to realize them all. What is more, “it urges people to show more respect to women and rehabilitate the balance of human and nature.” (Zeng Mei, 2006: 16)

4. An Ecofeminist Analysis of the Female Characters in A Mercy

4.1 Before the Destruction of the Ecological Environment--The Female Characters’ Plights in A Mercy

Jacob Vaark, an orphan and poorhouse survivor, luckily inherited a heritage and became a small landlord, having his own farm and a boundless primitive forest. Because of his miserable childhood, Jacob had a deep sympathy for poor people. Walking on his land, he felt it was like the Garden of Eden, “Fog, Atlantic and reeking of plant life, blanketed the bay and slowed him…unlike the English fogs he had known since he could walk…this one was sun fired, turning the world into thick, hot gold.”(Yu Xiaofang, 2013: 18)

Before he went to visit Senhor’s house, he was satisfied with the current house he was living now. His current farm had been built into an asylum for the poor people like the Garden of Eden. On the farm, his wife Rebekka, the slave Lina, Florens and Sorrow got the protection that they could never imagine before. He was against slavery and regarded those “slaves” to be his wife’s assistants instead of commodity or his property. After the death of his daughter, he brought Florens of the same age with his daughter home for the sake of comforting his wife’s lonely, broken heart. Later, he has had four women on his farmland to help him manage the farm, while he had lots of time to travel and conducted his business. Also, in Morrison’s work, every community is consisted of men and women, though women play a more important role to pilot the community. And here are our women in this novel:

4.1.1 Mailed wife--Rebekka

Just like other middle or lower-class white women, Rebekka doesn"t have a right to control her own destiny. Since Rebekka has grown up, the prospects she faces are servant, prostitute and wife, and the last seems the safest. “The one where she might have children and therefore be guaranteed some affection.” (Morrison, 2008: 78) As with any future available to her, it depended on the character of the future husband in charge. Being a mailed wife, Rebekka was shipped from England to Virginia to marry Jacob, who was the only one willing to pay her father some money back for raising Rebekka to an adult and without asking for any dowry. In short words, Rebekka’s father sold her to a stranger, who lived far away. On the cruise liner to America, Rebekka lived in the third-class cabin, where was dark, small and crowded with other middle or lower-class women.

Back in the 17^th century, England was a patriarchal society. It means that men thought they were much stronger than other species, so they deserved much more power, rights and advantages; women, in a way, only existed meaningfully as men needed them. In that circumstance, even white women were properties or accessories to their husbands, and they had to fulfill their obligations of being a wife and mother. In the early colonial times in North America, any woman of any race, ethnicity or complexion could be the oppressed object. They could be traded, changed names and owned by someone else, losing their liberty. “Women are victims under the oppressions of slavery and patriarchy.”(Sun Xueqi, 2010: 130) Therefore, women’s fates were completely determined by men. Men always forced women not only to do heavy manual work, but also to meet their bodies’ needs. As fathers and parents, they had total control power over their wives, children and other properties in the family. As an adult, Rebekka wasn’t really an individual person. She couldn’t choose whom she would marry, and she was powerless to control much about her life. And her mother couldn"t help her with any of it. This is the true reflection of middle and lower-class women’s life, and without any doubt, it is a reflection of how women are oppressed in the patriarchal society.

On the new continent, Rebekka once talked to Lina “I don’t think God knows where we are and we are not in his mind.” (Morrison, 2008: 96) Therefore, at the bottom of her heart, she didn"t believe in God, and that was why she didn"t choose to go to the village congregation.

4.1.2 The Indian woman--Lina

Lina is a native Indian, the only one who survives from variola among her family clans. She was saved by some white people, but it doesn’t mean it was lucky for her. She was brainwashed as being a pagan and turned into a Christian, then “They named her Messalina, just in case, but shortened it to Lina to signal a sliver of hope.” (Morrison, 2008: 47) She was given a new name which carries the meaning of “hope”. They changed her, hoping her to forget the ethnic cultures, abandon those old tribal customs and be willing to follow the white’s orders. However, to most white people, they still thought Lina was a pagan, or a fake Christian. But the worst thing happened to her is the same man who saved her also raped her afterwards, abused her when he got into a temper and sold her to Jacob in the end. Lina’s tribes are set on fire, her name is changed, her tribal customs are abandoned and her behaviors are controlled now. Lina loses her freedom and the most important independent identity, and the Indian tribe she comes from will no longer exist any more either.

But at the early stage of living on Jacob’s farm, Lina kind of found her value: she taught Sir Jacob how to sow, how to store food, etc. She was an indispensible helper to the farm. Even after mistress Rebekka came, she still cooperated with and helped the mistress run the farm successfully in every aspect, with all her hearts. And that helped them make their friendship stronger and stable.

4.1.3 A bonded labor--Florens

Florens was taken back to the farm from Portigal as a bonded labor by Jacob when she was about eight years old. As the youngest slave on the farm, the bewilderment of her adscription always puzzled her. The scene that Florens’ mother begged Jacob to take away Florens rather than herself or her baby boy still cast its shadow on Florens, and that nightmare still haunted her many years later. She could never understand why her mother sent her away, and being abandoned is an eternal trauma in her inner world. “minha mae saying something [Florens] cannot hear. Saying something important to [Florens], but holding the little boy’s hand.” (Morrison, 2008: 8) Therefore those words always sprang to her mind. Living without mother’s protection made her feel like losing mother’s love. She thought herself as an unnecessary nobody, and believed that is why her mother deserted her. But the longing for love still occupied her mind totally. On the farm, even though others didn’t take or treat her like a slave, she still thought herself different and inferior to them. She tried to please everyone and felt ashamed for others’ mistakes. So not only the transaction fundamentally interferes Florens’ humanity development, but also the slavery constrains her physical and mental freedom.

4.1.4 A mixed-race girl—Sorrow

Sorrow, a mixed-race girl, as the name suggests, had sad and unfortunate life experience, and always lived with her captain father on the ship before a wreck. She was the only survivor of the accident and saved and taken in by a sawyer. Yet suddenly becoming an orphan made Sorrow into a trance-like state, she couldn"t even answer the sawyer’s wife’s simple questions properly:

Where do you live?

On the ship.

Yes, but not always.

Always.

Where is your family?

Shoulders lifted.

Who else was on the ship?

Gulls.

What people, girl?

Shrug.

Who was the captain?

Shrug.

Well, how did you get to land?

Mermaids, I mean whales. (Morrison, 2008: 118)

From her answers, we can feel Sorrow felt lonely deep inside and her ridiculous answers expressed her introverted, isolated and indifferent disposition. And sometimes she was absent-minded all day long and it affected her to work anything right given by the sawyer’s wife. At last, she was sent away to Jacob by the kindhearted sawyer. Though Sorrow was rescued, she was still enslaved and made inferior to other girls on the farm; hence, she decided to take silent response to everything. Maybe Sorrow thinks she can be herself maximum in this way, but in fact, every part of her even including her name does no longer belong to her; everything once belonged to her belongs to her owners now. As we know, names are often symbolic of conditions in society or in the context of the story. “They are important not only as ironic comments on the characters that bear them, but also as symbols of the black community’s resistance to the white culture’s negation of its world.” (Wang Yaxian, 2010: 21) A name’s change is not just a change of salutation, but a loss of the independent identity. And since that time, she wasn’t able to reinstate her status, from being a slave to a free man.

Natural ecofeminism holds the view that the damage to nature is equal to the damage to women. In other words, when nature is damaged and takes revenge on human beings, women will be awakened. To some extent, the destruction to nature is a trigger to encourage women to start learning from the plights they have suffered. However, at that moment, Jacob hadn’t destroyed nature yet, and all he had done was trying to make a better life for the women he lived with, which means at that time, the women on the farm were seemingly living a quiet and peaceful life, but they didn’t know their identity and what they would do.

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