『人生而戲』：戈馬克麥卡錫西部小說中的機運與鬥競遊戲

Abstract

本論文嘗試另闢蹊徑，旨在回應戈馬克麥卡錫西部小說中的根本問題：身為人的自由意志及其可能與侷限。根據本文的研究，我主張麥卡錫小說中的遊戲描寫並非單純的調劑娛樂或作為情節的喜劇調解（comic relief），而是建構小說思維價值中關於自由意志、命運和偶然等重要命題的關鍵元素。

本論文分為四個章節。在第一章導論，我初步引介過去在遊戲主題上的哲學與理論思考，並著墨於思想、作者與作品之間的關聯。在第二章，我閱讀戈馬克麥卡錫的第一本西部小說《血色子午線》，探討機運遊戲在原則被破壞之後如何影響角色命運。在第三章，我探討邊境三部曲中《那些美麗駿馬》、《平原之城》當中以鬥競精神掛帥的遊戲。與過去多數宿命論的批評相背，我主張約翰葛雷迪科爾作為小說主角展現相當程度的自由意志。在第四章，我閱讀麥卡錫的最後一本西部小說《險路》，藉由獵人與賭徒的遊戲邏輯探討鬥競和機運遊戲如何在小說中同時呈現並互相牽扯。This thesis is an attempt to provide an alternative path to answering the question concerning the possibility of human agency in McCarthy’s Western novels. In my research, I demonstrate that McCarthy’s representations of games in his novels are by no means insignificant episodes of light entertainment but an integral part to the constitution of his systems of values in which the notions of free will, fate and chance are centralized.

The thesis consists of four chapters. In the introductory chapter, I provide a basic overview of the philosophical discussions on the topics of games and play against the background of the author and his works. In the second chapter, I investigate the role of corrupted alea and its association with the characters’ fate in Blood Meridian. The third chapter discusses the principle of agon manifested in games of competition in the Border Trilogy. Countering most critics’ fatalistic view, I argue that the protagonist John Grady Cole does show considerable strength and skills in asserting his will power “to evoke the best possible game.” In the fourth and final chapter, I focus on McCarthy’s last Western No Country for Old Men, which is governed by both the principles of agon and alea as the characters embody the roles of the hunter and the gambler at the same time. In conclusion, I contend that there is a discernible line of evolution in thought on the questions of fate and will in McCarthy’s Western novels.