阿甘練舌
熟能生巧
有段時間趴在Netflix上沒完沒了地看電影。大多影片看過也就忘了，連影片和男女主角的名字都記不得。在有數的三五部還記得情節的作品裏，最讓我唏噓、讓我牽掛糾結的，就是Ethan Frome裏的三個小人物的辛酸命運和無奈人生。
Ethan Frome生長在美國東北部的一個貧困山區，十七八歲上父母送他到山外的大學去學習工程，可惜大學才上到二年級，就因為父親病逝而不得不回鄉務農。接著母親又病倒，不久也去世了。Ethan母親生病期間，他的遠房表姐Zeena搬來幫忙照顧他們的生活。老人去世後，Ethan娶了Zeena. 兩個年輕人倒也情投意合，商議著要賣掉農莊，離開窮鄉僻壤，到外麵去闖世界。可惜這個計劃進展並不順利，更倒黴的是婚後不到兩年，Zeena也得了慢性病，漸漸的連做家務和照顧Ethan都成問題。於是遠走高飛的夢想從此擱置。這樣又過了幾年，Zeena的一個遠房表妹，二十歲的Mattie, 因父母雙亡，家道中落，本人又無存身之技，被親戚們推來推去，最後兩全其美地流落到了Frome家。Mattie做家務雖然很有些笨手笨腳，Zeena也對此常有抱怨，但畢竟多一雙手，還是極大地緩解了Zeena的勞動強度。出於對Mattie的同情，Ethan常常幫著幹些她份內的事；她每個周末晚上到二裏外的鎮上參加舞會，Ethan也堅持去接她回家。如此長期相處下來，一來二去的，Mattie對Ethan的感情由感激變成了愛慕。Ethan當時二十八歲，在鮮活的生命對照之下，自己長期臥病，性情古怪、未老先衰的老婆就顯得更加不堪忍受了。這一切，Zeena都看在眼裏。當她確認自己的感覺可靠之後，就啟動了自衛計劃。她借口要到娘家看病，出去另找了一個幫傭的女孩，並決絕地命令Mattie第二天就得離開。Ethan想到了帶Mattie私奔，可是卻連路費都籌不來，同時心內還是放不下Zeena。在送Mattie離開的路上，兩個相愛的人終於互吐衷腸。一麵是炙烈的激情，一麵是絕望的出路，情急之下，他們決定將雪橇對準山坡下的一棵老榆樹，撞下去，相擁而死。可是在事故發生前的最後一瞬，Ethan想到了Zeena, 他心一軟，手上也出了偏差，雪橇從樹側劃過，摔到地上。Ethan瘸了一條腿，Mattie全身都是傷，從此生不如死。事故發生後，Zeena把他們接回家，並擔負起照顧Mattie的責任。瘸腿的Ethan，還得顛跛著供養全家。電影結束前的最後一個鏡頭，是Zeena調整好窗戶的光線，扶起臥床的Mattie，為她把書翻好，放到一個特定的位置。而至此，他們已經這樣生活了二十四年了。
看這部電影之前，我知道一點兒它的原作Edith Wharton的背景，讀過她的Putlizer獲獎作品The Age of Innocence. 看過這部影片之後，我深深地愛上了這位生活在一個多世紀以前的女作家，她看問題的角度如此獨特，講故事的水平如此超凡，她筆下的每一個人物都鮮活生動，打動人心。讀The Age of Innocence的時候，我一直在想：May知不知道Newland和Ellen之間的感情、她到底知道多少？在書的結尾，作者給出了答案。而在電影Ethan Frome裏，Zeena對她丈夫Ethan的變化是一直看在眼裏的，可我還有困惑：Zeena心裏到底在想什麽？這個答案，無論電影還是書裏，都沒有提及，甚至連足夠的暗示都沒有。因此作為讀者，我隻能從她的行動進行猜測。
有人說Zeena是個毒婦，我不敢認同。作者在書的前半部確實說了許多Zeena的不是，比如她來Frome家之前自己就有病，挑剔，亂花錢等，我對這些是這樣理解的：首先這些都象是從Ethan眼裏看到的，其次這些不是嚴重的毛病，很多女人都有類似的問題啊。我也是個女人，將心比心，她在確定Ethan和Mattie互相愛慕的那一瞬間所做的一切，我沒有辦法說我不能理解。隻是作為旁觀者，我看到她絲毫不留餘地，把事情做得太決絕了。從自殺事故發生後Zeena的所作所為推斷，我相信她是後悔自己當時的過激反應的，並且一直在用行動贖還自己的過失。如果她當時想到了這兩個人會走這一步險棋，我想她一定不會那麽草率地攆走Mattie的。
出事的時候，Mattie隻有二十歲，幾乎還是個孩子。她的所作所為，都屬人類正常思維和行動。雖然遇到困難就往絕路上走實在是不可取，可她是帶著美好的夢想去飛蛾撲火的，一個人有選擇生死的權利，因此我不能要求她對大家的命運負責。
倒是Ethan, 前怕狼後怕虎的，一遇事就敢做不敢當，實在是叫人忍不住要哀其不幸，怒其不爭。Ethan向Zeena求婚，是在他母親去世之後，當時他孤苦無依，比他大七歲的Zeena，多少替代了母親的角色。之後他們遠走高飛計劃失利，他又怨這事兒全怪Zeena高不成低不就。至於Zeena生病後他看她一天比一天更不順眼，一直到他愛上Mattie, 倒都可以理解，因為他隻是一個食人間煙火的普通男人。可是一個大男人，問題出來了，你倒是勇敢地麵對啊！他又不敢。他為什麽會這樣？真的僅僅隻是由於他的善良嗎？其實不然！這三個人裏，實際上隻有Ethan是個真正的弱者。他精神上是極其依賴自己的老婆Zeena的，如若不然，當年就可以做通Zeena的工作，走出去的。如果那樣，Zeena說不定後來還不至於病成那樣呢！出事之前，Zeena讓Mattie走人的時候，他也沒有站出來反對。後來又在私奔和留下之間躊躇，然後Mattie說自殺，他就答應去死。事情至此，他所能做的、對大家最好的事，就是幹幹脆脆地跟愛的人一起死掉。可是他又猶豫了。。。 可憐的Etahn，他心理還遠不如Mattie強大啊！我後來還認真的設想了Ethan跟Mattie在一起生活的情景：Mattie是在學習速記、做售貨員等都不了了之、無法自立的情況下來才到Frome家的，到這裏以後又連起碼的家務都做不好，如果以後跟著Ethan過窮日子，她行嗎？Ethan到時候會不會覺得生活之所以不幸，還是怪老婆不爭氣？
電影和書看到這裏的時候，我想起了《圍城》裏的方鴻漸 -- 一個好人，但沒什麽用。（方鴻漸還會跟人吵架，還不肯被人隨便捏著玩呢！）我同時又想到了同樣是陷入感情泥沼的Newland Archer. Newland的選擇，未必是對三個人最好的，可是他做出了選擇、堅持了自己的選擇，並且為自己的選擇負責到底。當遺憾不可避免時，接受，還是改變，取一樣。我看電影的時候，並沒有想過要這樣用心地分析其中的每一個人物，當時隻是覺得命運真是殘忍，小人物的生死興衰，全由不得自己。後來讀到網友bmdn的一篇評論文章，由於看到他的解讀跟我的理解相去甚遠，才從頭把故事又過了一遍，並且把小說原文也找來一並讀了。這部電影的故事情節原來是非常忠於原著的。對Ethan的不滿，是我重新思考之後才有的。我們作為無足輕重的小人物活在這個世界上，其實也還是有一點點選擇的。我們不能保證自己的一生不犯錯誤、不出差池，可是如果我們剛強一點兒，當斷則斷，有時候最壞的結局還是可以避免的。
其實，我內心是無限同情Ethan的。準確地說，我理解他的每一縷思緒。換了我，在他的位置，我怕是每一步也都隻會跟他走的一樣。何況他當時還那麽年輕，而事情又都來得那麽突然，他沒有足夠的時間來做冷靜的決定。如果他們不是生活在那樣惡劣艱難的環境裏，如果他們有象Newland一樣的家庭條件，他們就決不會往絕路上走。那樣，即便一步走錯，有何至於滿盤皆輸啊！我原諒了Ethan，實際上，我從來就沒有真的責怪過他。可是我這樣的婦人之仁，於他們的命運何補！
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. (她是個有擔當的人)
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.
