Abstract Witnessing the tragic conditions of both Irish and English people brought by the War of Independence, Frank O’Connor (1903-1966) greatly sympathized the men in the war and was not content with politics, capitalism and religion at that time. “Guests of the Nation”, by which the Irish writer Frank O’ Connor as one of the representative writers of critical realism came to fame, tells us a tragic story between so-called friendly foes during the Irish War of Independence. Since its first publication in 1931, “Guests of the Nation” became popular because of the topic about the men in the war. While overlooking O’ Connor’s religion view, an underlying factor which influences a lot on the portray of the main characters of the story, this paper tries to elaborate the three types of characters in “Guests of the Nation” so as to get a clear view of O’ Connor’s religious ideas. 51896

O’ Connor molds six lifelike and vivid personages from two camps, labeled “the English” and “the Irish” during the Irish Independent War. They are standing out in the work with different religious ideas. Among them, Donovan, the Irish officer, is a Catholic. However, his tough-mindedness makes people question his religious identity; Belcher and Hawkins, two English hostages, are thorough non-believers; Bonaparte, Noble and the Old Woman are devout Catholics. People from two hostile camps get along well with each other. Nevertheless, the agreement cannot keep up because of the merciless war. In the end, the Irish soldiers are compelled to obey the order and kill the two English hostages although they have already been his friends. By describing the fact that religious beliefs cannot change the actuality of the war, O’ Connor raises doubts about the religion as a critical non-believer. This paper attempts to discuss O’ Connor’s view on religion according to the characterization in his “Guests of the Nation”, and in the meanwhile, to promote people’s reflection on war and the destruction it brings to human nature.

Keywords: Frank O'Connor; “Guests of the Nation”; characterization; religious view; war

从《异乡客》中的人物塑造看弗兰克·奥康纳的宗教观

摘  要爱尔兰作家弗兰克·奥康纳（1903-1966）目睹了爱尔兰独立战争给爱尔兰人及英国人带来的悲惨境况，其作品对战争中的人们充满了深切的同情，表达了对当时政治、资本主义和宗教的不满，被盛赞为爱尔兰独立战争时期最出名的批判现实主义作家。因为讲述关于所谓友好的敌人的悲剧故事这一主题，奥康纳的短篇小说《异乡客》自1931年发表以来广受热议。然而人们常常会忽视故事人物塑造的潜在因素——作者的宗教观。本文旨在通过解读《异乡客》中的人物塑造来分析弗兰克·奥康纳的宗教观点。

该作品塑造了爱尔兰独立战争期间来自英国和爱尔兰两大战争阵营的六位个性鲜明的人物形象，他们的宗教观念有着很大的区别。其中，爱尔兰军官多诺凡虽然是天主教徒，但是他的硬心肠让人质疑他的宗教身份；被俘虏的英国士兵贝尔切和霍金斯是彻底的无神论者；爱尔兰士兵波那帕、诺伯尔和老妇人是忠实的天主教徒。这些有着不同宗教信仰、来自两大阵营的人聚在一起相处得非常融洽，但是在残酷的战争中，他们的这份默契难以维系，最终爱尔兰士兵被迫遵照军部命令杀掉已经成为他们朋友两名英军俘虏。通过描述小说中人物的宗教信仰无力改变战争现状这一事实，无神论者奥康纳对宗教提出了质疑。本文围绕《异乡客》的六个主要人物展开来探讨作者的宗教观，旨在揭露奥康纳宗教观的同时，促使人们反思战争及其对人性的摧残。 从《异乡客》中的人物塑造看弗兰克奥康纳的宗教观:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_55683.html