Why should you read “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding? - Jill Dash

翻译人员: Yuxin Zhang 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

William Golding was losing his faith in humanity.

威廉 · 戈尔丁（William Golding） 丧失了对人性的信心，

Serving aboard a British destroyer in World War II,

第二次世界大战时， 他在英国驱逐舰上服役，

the philosophy teacher turned Royal Navy lieutenant was constantly confronted

这位哲学老师变成了 皇家海军中尉，

by the atrocities of his fellow man.

不断遭到同胞的残暴对待。

And when he returned to England to find Cold War superpowers

当他返回英国， 发现冷战的超级大国

threatening one another with nuclear annihilation,

用核武器来互相威胁时，

he was forced to interrogate the very roots of human nature.

他不得不质疑人性的根源。

These musings on the inevitability of violence

这些关于暴力不可避免地沉思，

would inspire his first and most famous novel: "Lord of the Flies."

激发他写出了第一本 也是最著名的一本小说：《蝇王》。

After being rejected by 21 publishers,

在遭遇了 21 个 出版商的拒绝后

the novel was finally published in 1954.

这本小说终于在 1954 年出版。

It takes its title from Beelzebub, a demon associated with pride and war—

书名来自于巴力西卜， 一个和骄傲及战争有关的恶魔——

two themes very much at the heart of Golding’s book.

这两个主题正是 戈尔丁这本书的核心。

The novel was a bleak satire of a classic island adventure story,

这是一部凄凉的讽喻小说，

讲述了一个经典的岛屿冒险的故事，

a popular genre where young boys get shipwrecked in exotic locations.

一种流行的体裁，

即小男孩们在异国他乡遇到了海难。

The protagonists in these stories are able to master nature

这些故事中的主角们 可以掌握大自然，

while evading the dangers posed by their new environments.

同时规避了新环境带来的危险。

The genre also endorsed the problematic colonialist narrative

这种体裁也支持了 有问题的殖民主义叙述，

found in many British works at the time,

这在当时的英国许多作品中被发现，

in which the boys teach the island’s native inhabitants

在故事中，男孩们教岛上的原住民

their allegedly superior British values.

他们那些所谓的 优越的英国价值观。

Golding’s satire even goes so far as to explicitly use the setting

戈尔丁的讽刺作品甚至明确使用了

and character names from R.M. Ballantyne’s "Coral Island"—

R · M · 巴兰坦的《珊瑚岛》的 场景设定和角色名称，

one of the most beloved island adventure novels.

《珊瑚岛》是最受人喜爱的 岛屿冒险小说之一。

But while Ballantyne’s book promised readers

但是，当巴兰坦的作品向读者承诺

"pleasure... profit... and unbounded amusement,”

“愉悦、利益、以及无限的娱乐”时，

Golding’s had darker things in store.

戈尔丁的作品中 却拥有更加的黑暗东西。

"Lord of the Flies" opens with the boys already on the island,

《蝇王》的开头， 男孩们就已经在岛上了，

but snippets of conversation hint at their terrifying journey—

但是对话的片段已经 暗示了他们恐怖的旅程——

their plane had been shot down in the midst of an unspecified nuclear war.

他们的飞机在一场 未指明的核战争中被击落。

The boys, ranging in age from 6 to 13, are strangers to each other.

这些男孩的年纪 从 6 岁到 13 岁不等，

彼此并不认识。

All except for a choir, clad in black uniforms and led by a boy named Jack.

除合唱团外，其余均身着黑色制服，

并由一个名叫杰克的男孩带领，

Just as in Ballantyne’s "Coral Island,"

就像巴兰坦的《珊瑚岛》一样，

the boy’s new home appears to be a paradise—

这个男孩的新家似乎如天堂一般——

with fresh water, shelter, and abundant food sources.

拥有淡水，庇护所 和丰富的食物来源。

But even from the novel’s opening pages,

但是即使从小说的开篇页来看，

a macabre darkness hangs over this seemingly tranquil situation.

这个看似平静的情境 被恐怖的黑暗笼罩着。

The boys’ shadows are compared to “black, bat-like creatures”

男孩们的影子被比作 “黑色的蝙蝠状的生物”，

while the choir itself first appears as

而合唱团首次出现时则是

“something dark... fumbling along” the beach.

“有些黑暗……在海滩上摸索着”。

Within hours of their arrival,

在他们到达的几小时内，

the boys are already trading terrifying rumors of a vicious “beastie”

男孩们就已经在互相传言，

潜伏在树林里的一个 邪恶“野兽”的恐怖传闻。

lurking in the woods.

从这些不祥的开始，

From these ominous beginnings,

Golding’s narrative reveals how quickly cooperation unravels

戈尔丁的故事揭示了 合作如何迅速瓦解的，

without the presence of an adult authority.

在没有成年人的职权下。

Initially, the survivors try to establish some sense of order.

最初，幸存者试图建立某种秩序感。

A boy named Ralph blows into a conch shell to assemble the group,

一个叫做拉夫的男孩通过吹响海螺

and delegate tasks.

来集合大家，并委派任务。

But as Jack vies for leadership with Ralph,

但是当杰克要争夺 拉尔夫的领导权时，

the group splinters and the boys submit to their darker urges.

这个小组分裂了， 男孩们屈服于更加黑暗的驱使。

The mob of children soon forgets their plans for rescue,

暴徒般的孩子们很快 忘记了他们的营救计划，

silences the few voices of reason,

沉默掉少数理性的声音，

and blindly follows Jack to the edge of the island, and the edge of sanity.

然后盲目地跟着杰克到了岛的边缘，

以及理智的边缘。

The novel’s universal themes of morality, civility, and society

这本小说包含道德、 文明和社会这些主题，

have made it a literary classic,

使其成为文学经典，

satirizing both conventions of its time and long held beliefs about humanity.

它讽刺了时代的常规习俗

和长期以来对人类的信仰。

While island adventure stories often support colonialism,

尽管岛屿冒险的故事 时常支持殖民主义，

"Lord of the Flies" turns this trope on its head.

《蝇王》却调转了这种风格。

Rather than cruelly casting native populations as stereotypical savages,

戈尔丁并没有残酷地将 土著人口作为刻板印象的野蛮人，

Golding transforms his angelic British schoolboys into savage caricatures.

而是将天使般的英国男生 转变为野蛮的讽刺形象。

And as the boys fight their own battle on the island,

并且当男孩们在岛上 打他们自己的战争时，

the far more destructive war that brought them there

将他们带到那里且更具 毁灭性的战争仍在继续。

continues off the page.

Even if the boys were to be rescued from themselves,

即使男孩们从他们自己的战争中获救，

what kind of world would they be returning to?

他么又将返回什么样的世界呢？

With so few references to anchor the characters

由于很少有参考文献

将人物对应到特定的地点和时期，

in a specific place or period, the novel feels truly timeless—

这本小书似乎是永恒的巨作——

an examination of human nature at its most bare.

从根本上考验人性。

And though not all readers may agree with Golding’s grim view,

尽管并非所有读者 都同意戈尔丁的严厉观点，

"Lord of the Flies" is unsettling enough

但《蝇王》足够令人不安，

to challenge even the most determined optimist.

甚至可以挑战最坚定的乐观者。