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1、AMercy.ToniIVlorrison.NewYork:Knopf,2008.196pages.$23.95cloth;$15.00paper.AMercybringsusthepoignantlivesofbondedlaborthatforabriefspellinAmericanhistoryalsobondedmenandwomenofdisparateanddesperateorigins.Thisisseventeenth-centurycolonialAmerica,beforeracewasformulatedasessenceandmarkertodivid
2、ethosedeemedworthyoffreedomfromthosenot.ThenoveldeliversanimpressionisticaccountoftheNewWorldlandscape—thesublimebeautyandterrorofthewil-demess,theunsentimentaleconomyofslaveandindenturedlabor,andasuperstitiousandself-righteousChristianityatwarwithitselfandothers.YettherawNewWorldofferscharms
3、andvistasthattheharshstreetsofLondondonot.ThenovelplayswiththeimageryofEdenasitdoeswiththatofHell.With"forestsuntouchedsinceNoah"(13),thelandscapeisprimeval:"[f]og,Atlanticandreekingofplantlife,"is"sunfired,tumingtheworldintothick,hotgold"(10).Thenovelisnarratedintumsbysevencharacters,allorph
4、ansmoreorless,formingaloose-knitkinshiponJacobVaark'shomesteadinDutchAngloNewYork.Vaark,"arattyorphanbecomelandowner"(13),inheritslandfromanuncleandpurchasesfromsomePresbyteriansaNativeAmericanwomantohelpmnthefarm.HethenacquireshisEnglishwifeRebekka,soldtohimbyherfamilyasamail-orderbride,andp
5、icksupSorrow,ashipwrecksurvivor,inexchangeforlumber.Finally,hegainsFlorens,anAfricanslavegirl,asdebtrepayment.Alsofi-omtheneighbor-ingfarmareWillardandScully,Englishbondedlaborersloanedtohimin"exchangeforlandunderlease"(7).Morrisongivesabluntpictureofthetimewithitsfluidcontradictions.Vaarkisa
6、kindmanwhoseProtestantworkethicmakeshimdisdainfulofslaveholdersandCatholics,yethelendstheslaveholdersmoneytotradeinfleshandprofltsfromtheslaveeconomyofmmindistantBarbados.AMercyofferspoeticvignettesofthelimitedandtraumatizedlivesofthemenandwomenwhohelpmnthefarm."Brawls,knifingsandkidnaps"char
7、acterizetheLondonlifeRebekkaknewpriortohermarriage(88),herprospectsbeingthoseof"servant,prostitute,wife"(91).LinaistheNativeAmericansurvivorofasmallpoxedvillagetorchedbysoldiers;FlorensMELUS,Volume36,Number2(Summer2011)192REVIEWSisthedaughter
