Tales of the Terrible Past

It is not the job of fiction writers to analyze and interpret history. Yet by writing about the past in a vivid and compelling manner，storytellers can bring earlier eras to life and force readers to consider them seriously. Among those taking on the task of recounting history are some black writers who attempt to examine slavery from different points of view.

Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison deals specifically with the legacy of slavery in her book Beloved. The main character in this novel，a former slave called Sethe，lives in Ohio in the years following the Civil War，but she cannot free herself from her horrific memories. Through a series of flashbacks and bitter reminiscences，the reader learns how and why Sethe escaped from the plantation she had lived on; the fate of her husband，who also tried to escape; and finally，what happened to the child called Beloved. Morrison's scenes of torture and murder are vivid and strongly convey the desperation of the slaves and the cruelty of their owners.

Charles Johnson's Middle Passage approaches slavery from a different，yet no less violent，vantage point. His main character，Rutherfprd Calhoun，is a ne'er-do-well free black American who stows away on a slave ship bound for Africa to collect its "cargo". Put to work after he is discovered，Calhoun witnesses firsthand the appalling conditions in which the captured Africans are transported. When they finally rebel and take over the ship，he finds himself in the middle -- and is forced to come to terms with who he is and what his values are.

Neither Beloved nor Middle Passage is an easy read，but both exemplify African American writers' attempts to bring significant historical situations alive for a modem audience.

詞匯:

interpret /in't?:prit/ v. 解釋，翻譯 desperation /desp?'rei??n/ n. 絕望的境地

recount /ri'kaunt / v. 敘述 capture /'kæpt?? / v. 俘獲

slavery /'sleiv?ri / n. 奴隸制度

注釋:

1. Yet by writing about the past in a vivid and compelling manner，storytellers can bring earlier eras to life and force readers to consider them seriously. 然而通過用一種生動有趣的方式來描

寫過去，小說家可以將早期時代重現，并引起讀者的重視。

2. His main character. Rutherford Calhoun. is a ne'er-do-well free black American who stows away on a slave ship bound for Africa to collect its "cargo" .他的主人公叫做 Rutherford Calhoun，是一個游手好閑，身份自由的美國黑人。他偷偷登上了一艘開往非洲販賣奴隸的船只。