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.

词汇:

interpret /in't?:prit/ v. 解释，翻译 desperation /desp?'rei??n/ n. 绝望的境地

recount /ri'kaunt / v. 叙述 capture /'kæpt?? / v. 俘获

slavery /'sleiv?ri / n. 奴隶制度

注释:

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. 然而通过用一种生动有趣的方式来描

写过去，小说家可以将早期时代重现，并引起读者的重视。

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，是一个游手好闲，身份自由的美国黑人。他偷偷登上了一艘开往非洲贩卖奴隶的船只。