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1、TheLiteratureofPainJeffreyMeyersInlightoftherecentAbuGhraibprisonscandal,thispaperexaminesvariousworksofliteraturetorevealthatpeoplewhohaveprisonersintheirpowertendtotormenttheirvictims.RichardHenryDanaandHermanMelville’sseafaringnovelsrevealhowthecaptainandhismatesassumebrutal,go
2、dlikepowersoverthecommonsailors;T.E.Lawrencedescribeshowthevictim’spaincanbecomeamasochisticpleasure;FranzKafkaimaginesastateofuniversalguilt,wherethevictim,anaverageman,suffersinthegripofanelaboratetorturemachine;FyodorDostoyevskyandJacoboTimerman,bothpoliticalprisonerswhosurvive
3、dtodescribetheirterror,andGeorgeOrwell,meditatingoncontemporarytotalitarianregimesashesufferedtheagoniesofmedicaltreatment,transformtheirpainintoart.Suchliteraryworksprovideinsightsintothemorallyambiguousdepthsofpunishment.Everysceneoftorture,basedontheauthors’experience,observati
4、onandimagination,hasthesamecontextasthosevividlycapturedintheAbuGhraibsnapshots.Whatneedistheretoweepoverpartsoflife?Thewholeofitcallsfortears.SenecaAmericanswereshockedbythephotographsofU.S.soldiersterrifyingandtorturingprisonersinIraqandbytheabuseanddeathsofdetaineesinAfghanista
5、nandGuantánamoBay.WeknowthatevenU.S.citizensdetainedunderHomelandSecurityrulescanbeheldindefinitelyandwithoutlegalaidandthatourmilitaryhasbeendelegatinginterrogationsofcaptivestosecretprisonsinEasternEurope.Yetourattorneygeneralpubliclydefendstheseandotherviolationsofourlawsasvital
6、tonationalsecurity.InthewidercontextoftheWorldTradeCenterattackandtheinvasionofIraq–twohugeeventsthatarepersistentlyandfraudulentlylinked–Americanshavelargelyignoredtheseatrocities.A“fewbadapples”havebeenputinjailandthemythofessentialAmericangoodnessandGodlinesspersists,despitethe
7、horrificevidenceofourhistoryandculture.Ourliterature,however,revealsthatpeoplewhohaveprisonersintheirpowertendtotreatthemcruelly.RichardHenryDanaandHermanMelville’sseafaringnovelsrevealhowthecaptainandhismatesassumebrutal,godlikepowersoverthecommonsailors;T.E.Lawrencedescribeshowth
8、evictim’spaincanbecomeamasochisti
