无毒不丈夫 -- 闲话Ethan Frome

有段时间趴在Netflix上没完没了地看电影。大多影片看过也就忘了，连影片和男女主角的名字都记不得。在有数的三五部还记得情节的作品里，最让我唏嘘、让我牵挂纠结的，就是Ethan Frome里的三个小人物的辛酸命运和无奈人生。

Ethan Frome生长在美国东北部的一个贫困山区，十七八岁上父母送他到山外的大学去学习工程，可惜大学才上到二年级，就因为父亲病逝而不得不回乡务农。接着母亲又病倒，不久也去世了。Ethan母亲生病期间，他的远房表姐Zeena搬来帮忙照顾他们的生活。老人去世后，Ethan娶了Zeena. 两个年轻人倒也情投意合，商议着要卖掉农庄，离开穷乡僻壤，到外面去闯世界。可惜这个计划进展并不顺利，更倒霉的是婚后不到两年，Zeena也得了慢性病，渐渐的连做家务和照顾Ethan都成问题。于是远走高飞的梦想从此搁置。这样又过了几年，Zeena的一个远房表妹，二十岁的Mattie, 因父母双亡，家道中落，本人又无存身之技，被亲戚们推来推去，最后两全其美地流落到了Frome家。Mattie做家务虽然很有些笨手笨脚，Zeena也对此常有抱怨，但毕竟多一双手，还是极大地缓解了Zeena的劳动强度。出于对Mattie的同情，Ethan常常帮着干些她份内的事；她每个周末晚上到二里外的镇上参加舞会，Ethan也坚持去接她回家。如此长期相处下来，一来二去的，Mattie对Ethan的感情由感激变成了爱慕。Ethan当时二十八岁，在鲜活的生命对照之下，自己长期卧病，性情古怪、未老先衰的老婆就显得更加不堪忍受了。这一切，Zeena都看在眼里。当她确认自己的感觉可靠之后，就启动了自卫计划。她借口要到娘家看病，出去另找了一个帮佣的女孩，并决绝地命令Mattie第二天就得离开。Ethan想到了带Mattie私奔，可是却连路费都筹不来，同时心内还是放不下Zeena。在送Mattie离开的路上，两个相爱的人终于互吐衷肠。一面是炙烈的激情，一面是绝望的出路，情急之下，他们决定将雪橇对准山坡下的一棵老榆树，撞下去，相拥而死。可是在事故发生前的最后一瞬，Ethan想到了Zeena, 他心一软，手上也出了偏差，雪橇从树侧划过，摔到地上。Ethan瘸了一条腿，Mattie全身都是伤，从此生不如死。事故发生后，Zeena把他们接回家，并担负起照顾Mattie的责任。瘸腿的Ethan，还得颠跛着供养全家。电影结束前的最后一个镜头，是Zeena调整好窗户的光线，扶起卧床的Mattie，为她把书翻好，放到一个特定的位置。而至此，他们已经这样生活了二十四年了。

看这部电影之前，我知道一点儿它的原作Edith Wharton的背景，读过她的Putlizer获奖作品The Age of Innocence. 看过这部影片之后，我深深地爱上了这位生活在一个多世纪以前的女作家，她看问题的角度如此独特，讲故事的水平如此超凡，她笔下的每一个人物都鲜活生动，打动人心。读The Age of Innocence的时候，我一直在想：May知不知道Newland和Ellen之间的感情、她到底知道多少？在书的结尾，作者给出了答案。而在电影Ethan Frome里，Zeena对她丈夫Ethan的变化是一直看在眼里的，可我还有困惑：Zeena心里到底在想什么？这个答案，无论电影还是书里，都没有提及，甚至连足够的暗示都没有。因此作为读者，我只能从她的行动进行猜测。

有人说Zeena是个毒妇，我不敢认同。作者在书的前半部确实说了许多Zeena的不是，比如她来Frome家之前自己就有病，挑剔，乱花钱等，我对这些是这样理解的：首先这些都象是从Ethan眼里看到的，其次这些不是严重的毛病，很多女人都有类似的问题啊。我也是个女人，将心比心，她在确定Ethan和Mattie互相爱慕的那一瞬间所做的一切，我没有办法说我不能理解。只是作为旁观者，我看到她丝毫不留余地，把事情做得太决绝了。从自杀事故发生后Zeena的所作所为推断，我相信她是后悔自己当时的过激反应的，并且一直在用行动赎还自己的过失。如果她当时想到了这两个人会走这一步险棋，我想她一定不会那么草率地撵走Mattie的。

出事的时候，Mattie只有二十岁，几乎还是个孩子。她的所作所为，都属人类正常思维和行动。虽然遇到困难就往绝路上走实在是不可取，可她是带着美好的梦想去飞蛾扑火的，一个人有选择生死的权利，因此我不能要求她对大家的命运负责。

倒是Ethan, 前怕狼后怕虎的，一遇事就敢做不敢当，实在是叫人忍不住要哀其不幸，怒其不争。Ethan向Zeena求婚，是在他母亲去世之后，当时他孤苦无依，比他大七岁的Zeena，多少替代了母亲的角色。之后他们远走高飞计划失利，他又怨这事儿全怪Zeena高不成低不就。至于Zeena生病后他看她一天比一天更不顺眼，一直到他爱上Mattie, 倒都可以理解，因为他只是一个食人间烟火的普通男人。可是一个大男人，问题出来了，你倒是勇敢地面对啊！他又不敢。他为什么会这样？真的仅仅只是由于他的善良吗？其实不然！这三个人里，实际上只有Ethan是个真正的弱者。他精神上是极其依赖自己的老婆Zeena的，如若不然，当年就可以做通Zeena的工作，走出去的。如果那样，Zeena说不定后来还不至于病成那样呢！出事之前，Zeena让Mattie走人的时候，他也没有站出来反对。后来又在私奔和留下之间踌躇，然后Mattie说自杀，他就答应去死。事情至此，他所能做的、对大家最好的事，就是干干脆脆地跟爱的人一起死掉。可是他又犹豫了。。。 可怜的Etahn，他心理还远不如Mattie强大啊！我后来还认真的设想了Ethan跟Mattie在一起生活的情景：Mattie是在学习速记、做售货员等都不了了之、无法自立的情况下来才到Frome家的，到这里以后又连起码的家务都做不好，如果以后跟着Ethan过穷日子，她行吗？Ethan到时候会不会觉得生活之所以不幸，还是怪老婆不争气？

电影和书看到这里的时候，我想起了《围城》里的方鸿渐 -- 一个好人，但没什么用。（方鸿渐还会跟人吵架，还不肯被人随便捏着玩呢！）我同时又想到了同样是陷入感情泥沼的Newland Archer. Newland的选择，未必是对三个人最好的，可是他做出了选择、坚持了自己的选择，并且为自己的选择负责到底。当遗憾不可避免时，接受，还是改变，取一样。我看电影的时候，并没有想过要这样用心地分析其中的每一个人物，当时只是觉得命运真是残忍，小人物的生死兴衰，全由不得自己。后来读到网友bmdn的一篇评论文章，由于看到他的解读跟我的理解相去甚远，才从头把故事又过了一遍，并且把小说原文也找来一并读了。这部电影的故事情节原来是非常忠于原著的。对Ethan的不满，是我重新思考之后才有的。我们作为无足轻重的小人物活在这个世界上，其实也还是有一点点选择的。我们不能保证自己的一生不犯错误、不出差池，可是如果我们刚强一点儿，当断则断，有时候最坏的结局还是可以避免的。

其实，我内心是无限同情Ethan的。准确地说，我理解他的每一缕思绪。换了我，在他的位置，我怕是每一步也都只会跟他走的一样。何况他当时还那么年轻，而事情又都来得那么突然，他没有足够的时间来做冷静的决定。如果他们不是生活在那样恶劣艰难的环境里，如果他们有象Newland一样的家庭条件，他们就决不会往绝路上走。那样，即便一步走错，有何至于满盘皆输啊！我原谅了Ethan，实际上，我从来就没有真的责怪过他。可是我这样的妇人之仁，于他们的命运何补！


Be Decisive, Be a Man! -- My Advice to Ethan Frome

I once watched movies on Netflix everyday for quite a long period of time, and had watched countless number of all sorts of stories, most of which I remembered almost nothing ever since. Among the very few that I still remember, Ethan Frome stands out. I couldn't stop thinking about the miserable fate of the three main characters in the movie even a long time after I watched it.

The story happened in Starkfield, a remote mountainous town in Northeast America. Ethan Frome was born to a farming family there. His parents managed to send him to college to study engineering when he grew up. Unfortunately, he had to drop out and came back home to tend the land when his father died prematurely. Soon, his mother fell seriously ill, and passed away too not very long after that. When Ethan's mother was sick, his cousin Zeena came to live with them, taking care of both of them. After his mother's funeral, Ethan asked Zeena to stay and marry him. And she did. The newly married then planned to sell the farm and move out to a big city. The moving plan didn't go well, and Zeena's falling seriously sick, which happened only one year or so after their marriage, forced them to give up the idea for good. As Zeena's health condition getting worse, they started to need someone to help with the housework. And Zeena's Cousin Mattie, who just lost her bankrupted parents and failed in all efforts to obtain some surviving skills, was introduced to them. Mattie was somewhat slow and clumsy in managing the housework. Zeena had frequent complaints on her, but Ethan tried to help and sometimes he did part of Mattie's work. With time, Mattie gradually built up strong feelings toward Ethan. As a wife, Zeena had always been aware of her husband's behavior ever since Mattie came. When she became sure that something was going to happen, she found a maid to replace Mattie, and demanded Mattie to leave the next day. Ethan was dreadful upon hearing Zeena's decision. He thought of to run away with Mattie, but besides his worrying about Zeena, he wasn't able to even get the money for the trip. On the way driving Mattie to the train station, Ethan accepted Mattie's suicide proposal. They ran a sled downhill, aiming at a huge old elm tree. Right before the last instance, Zeena's image flashed in front of Ethan's eyes and his hands slightly trembled. It ended up Ethan crippled one leg and Mattie became hemiplegia. After the incident, Zeena took them home and they lived together thereafter. Now Zeena took care of Mattie and Ethan struggled to support the whole family with his lame legs. The very last scene in the movie shows Zeena adjusting the light from the window, turning a book and put it to a specific position so that Mattie could read. And that was twenty four years after the crash.

Whenever I recall this story, I couldn't let go of the feeling of sadness and deep sympathy toward the three of them in the movie. And it was this movie that lighted up my admiration to Edith Wharton, the author of Ethan Frome and other novels including The Age of Innocence. Wharton's writing has the charm of forcing the readers into the shoes of the characters, and the power of inducing the readers' thoughts and imagination. While watching the movie and reading the novel Ethan Frome, I thought of Newland Archer in The Age of Innocence every now and then, comparing Ethan against him, and wondered what Zeena and May had had in common. I tried to find if there had been any possible alternative endings if the characters had, at times, acted differently.

Someone thought that Zeena was one of the evillest among the fictional female figures. I couldn't agree to such saying in the first place. With that in mind, however, when I read the book, I tried to catch even the slightest traces of her bad behavior that could add up to qualify her as one. However, when I finished the whole book, all I could say about Zeena was: I consider myself a very kind person, but mostly I wouldn't have been able to do any better than her if I had been put in her position. She hadn't had any problem living her own life at the time she moved in to help caring for Ethan's sick mother. After the crash, as a sick person herself, she stood up and took the responsibility of caring for Mattie. I agree that she was too mad and a little inconsiderate when she decided to kick Mattie out. But as a seriously ill woman, at that point, what did she possess to keep her man? And other than a husband, what could she have to rely upon for the rest of her life? Is it really fair to blame a little woman for her resolute action in getting rid of a homewrecker, especially in Zeena's situation? Zeena was neither a perfect nor an impeccable person, but to me, what she had done in the thirty something years living in the Frome household simply showed that she was kinder and more tolerant than most women, and stronger and more decisive than the majority of men. (她是个有担当的人)

Everything Mattie did was natural for a twenty year old girl. It was natural for her to fall in love with Ethan, and natural for her to choose to die when there seemed to be no way out for love and and for the life she dreamed. Though suicide should never be encouraged, a decision to live or to die, in some certain circumstances, is random. Plus, she had the freedom to opt for ending her life, in hope of a dreamy, romantic and warm last moment.

Of the three, Ethan was the only one who could have lead their destiny to a brighter direction. He didn't try (hard enough maybe?) to convince Zeena to leave the farm in the first place when she became seesaw about the moving plan. And when Zeena demanded Mattie to leave, he didn't even spoke up. Then when Mattie proposed to kill themselves, which obviously was against his own will, I accepted. Were all these accidental? Was it purely out of his good nature? I doubt it! No one can deny that he was a good person -- kind hearted, considerate, diligent, caring, loving, you name it. But being a good person is far from enough, especially at times of crisis. Kindness is in general a good quality. But when kindness is applied at places where it is least required, it could do harm to or even ruin people's life. We should not always let our kindness (and pride, in Ethan's case) overtake them. Ethan was not mature enough, and emotionally he was terribly dependent, first upon Zeena, then Mattie when Zeena was out of sight. He had been used to do things he didn't really want to do, and then it was inevitable that he could only do them half-heartedly. And that was the fundamental cause of his misfortune. Since he had somewhat blamed Zeena on their staying at the farm and struggling there, I have been wondering what he would have thought of Mattie if they had successfully run away. Mattie failed to learn stenography and failed being a store clerk before coming to Starkfield. She didn't even look like the kind of material for a good housewife. Life must have been tough for them if they had lived 'happily' ever after. Would Ethan have blamed Mattie for that if life had been again unsatisfying after they were together? 

While reviewing Ethan Frome, I recalled Fang Hongjian, a 'good, but useless man' in Fortress Besieged. However, even Fang had a stronger personality than Ethan, for he fought at times to not allow others take control of his own life. I also thought of Newland Archer, who too was once trapped between the woman he wanted and the one he was engaged to. Newland made a choice, and stuck to it full-heartedly all his life long without looking back. And that made the difference. If Ethan had made a conscious decision and stood firm to it at any one of the key turns, the life of the three of them would have been totally different.

I am not really blaming Ethan for anything. I have never really blamed him. If I were him, I am sure I would have made exactly the same move at each step. He was young when things happened, and they happened so abruptly that he wasn't given the time to think thoroughly before he had to react. As a matter of fact, their struggling living condition was what played the key role in their fate. If Ethan had been in Newland's financial situation, even if he had taken the same moves, life mustn't have ended up so unbearbly miserable for them. Writing this piece of text is tough for me, especially when I have to go through their life and think about it the second time, trying to express my thoughts in English. How cruel and unfair life is to those who are struggling in the bottom of the society! But my understanding and sympathy to them obviously would do no good to their life. The only one who could have made a difference was Ethan himself. Had he made a choice - it doesn't matter what he chose - and stuck to it, the turnout (?) would have been much more acceptable. To me, only being decisive would have saved them.