约翰·班维尔的《海》讲述了一个多重家庭伦理混乱叠加而造成的伦理悲剧故事。本文从文学伦理学批评的视角,对主人公马克斯·莫顿身份认同的危机和建构及发生在格雷斯家的伦理混乱这两条伦理线进行了梳理,认为正常的爱的缺失及错乱的爱所导致的伦理混乱,是造成马克斯人生迷失的隐性悲剧和格雷斯家双胞胎溺亡的显性悲剧的根本原因。这个发生在海边的故事告诉读者:感情像大海一样,既能包容一切也能毁灭一切。无论是父母之爱还是恋人之爱,只有在有序的状态下才有利于建构正确的身份和积极的人生。
John Banville's The Sea narrates a tragic story caused by ethical confusion. From the perspective of ethical literary criticism, this article sorts out the two ethical lines in the story: Max Morden's identity crisis and identity construction, and the ethical confusion and ethical tragedy of the Graces. It argues that the ethical confusion resulting from the replacement of normal love by distorted love is the primal cause of Max's identity crisis and the death of the Grace twins. Set beside the sea, the story gives its readers an ethical instruction: love can be as tolerant and destructive as the sea and, be it parental love or sexual love, only in an orderly condition can it play a positive role in constructing our self-identity and guiding our life.