Orphans Left by Both Parents and Culture

【摘要】石黑一雄在作品《上海孤兒》中刻画了很多令人印象深刻的孤儿形象。主人公克里斯托弗·班克斯就是其中之一。他不仅是实际意义上的孤儿，而且也是“文化”孤儿。他沉湎于对过去的追忆，又表现对其身份的不懈追求。本文将分析主人公的双重孤儿身份。

【关键词】孤儿;文化;身份;上海孤儿

【Abstract】Kazuo Ishiguro portrays many impressing orphans in When We Were Orphans. Christopher Banks， the hero， is one of them. He is not only actually orphaned but also isolated from the culture. He is preoccupied with the memory and tries hard to define who he is. This essay will analyze the double orphan identity of the hero.

【Key words】orphan; culture; identity; When We Were Orphans

【作者简介】郑清颖（1998-），女，福建福州人，华东师范大学本科生，研究方向：英语。

When it comes to orphans， it seems that the book only refers to three orphans， Christopher Banks， Sarah Hemmings and Jennifer. Even though they are the main characters and the soul of the book， it is not the complete meaning of what Kazuo Ishiguro would like to express. Actually， I would firmly argue that the title of the book might have a more abstract explanation that it might also include the people who are left by culture instead of only those who are left by the vanished parents.

1. Orphans——Left by The Vanished Parents

Out of question， we could not deny the important roles of Christopher Banks and Sarah Hemmings played about the “orphans” in the books. Their orphanhood makes up one of the most essential elements and core issues of the book. This book describes their lives as orphans. Besides， the orphanhood also endows Christopher with the responsibility of finding his parents. For the love and miss for his parents， he also has a stubborn thought that he “has a mission to complete”. As he says in the book， “Perhaps there are those who are able to go about their lives unfettered by such concerns. But for those like us， our fate is to face the world as orphans， chasing through long years the shadows of vanished parents. There is nothing for it but to try and see through our missions to the end， as best we can， for until we do so， we will be permitted no calm.”He tried hard to find his parents and the truth. This mission is the clue of the book， and it is helpful to push forward the development of the plot orderly. It is given by his identity， an orphan.

However， the theme of this reputable book is more than what it seems on the surface. For Christopher， the sense of losing is not only from the family but also comes from the culture and society.

2. Orphans——Left by Culture

Kazuo Ishiguro shaped Christopher as the typical representative of international migrants with his own personal experience. He took Christopher as an example to show what the common dilemma of migrants is and how the loss of cultural identity would affect migrants， to raise more attention from the world.

As for Kazuo Ishiguro， many experts suppose that he might be a migrant who does not have fixed recognition of cultural identity. As a migrant from Japan， his immigration status and flexible cultural belongingness provided him a kind of world view. So with time going by， he became the outsider of both British culture and Japanese culture. He might witness many miserable people suffering from both cultural and social confusion and sense of loss under multicultural identity and background， too. Therefore， he created Christopher to speak for those people.

From Christopher， we can see clearly about his suffering from his special identity.

Christopher Banks is not only the realistic orphans because he lost his parents at his early age， but also because he was left by both Chinese and British culture and society. Therefore， he is also an orphan in a figurative sense.[2] In other words， he suffers double homelessness.[3] Born in the international settlement in China and then returned to England after he lost his parents， which was the true reason why he could not settle down well in both China and England. In China， as a foreigner， he took pride in his British blood in his body. Where he lived is the international settlement， which is separated from traditional Chinese living place. In addition， at home， his mother often taught him about British traditions. This special place in Shanghai means Christopher does not have many opportunities to touch traditional Chinese culture in person. The connection between him and true and core Chinese culture was cut off. What he knew about Chinese culture is limited， which was hard for him to establish the recognition of Chinese culture. Therefore， he could not assimilate into Chinese society completely and perfectly. And he did not build up the sense of belongingness to Chinese culture. He could not gain the identity that he needed from Chinese culture.[4] For him， China is the sweetest memory during his childhood， such as his happy time with the family， his friendship with Akira and so on.

After he returned to England， he did not raise the sense of belongingness to England immediately， either， even though England is his motherland from the aspect of blood relationship. It is more difficult for an immature boy to find his feet in a new environment without the accompany of parents. Whats worse， being unfamiliar with his relatives also caused the unsettlement in British culture. These people are all nearly strangers for him. He regards， “Actually， odd as it may sound， my lack of parents—indeed， of any close kin in England except my aunt in Shropshire—had by then long ceased to be of any great inconvenience to me.”[1] In spite of being taught the traditional British culture or customs in China， he still lacks of realistic emotion and feelings to England which should be cultivated from an early age. As a result， it is still impossible for him to blend into an absolutely unacquainted world in a short time. For a long time， he has struggled to mingle into the British mainstream society as a “newcomer”. He would like to be the man who could be admitted by the British society. This also reflects that he did not regard himself a real British man from the bottom of his heart but the one who wanted to step into British society. At the very beginning， he set the barriers and obstacles between him and Britain. The life in Britain did not make him feel at home for he never stopped seeking for the sense of recognition in British society. He felt tired to be a British by observing and imitating other “real” British men. Hence， he often thought of the happy time in China. Even though Chinese culture did not have huge impact on him， Shanghai did offer him the earliest and original happiness.

With these contradictory thoughts and emotion， it is an extremely tough process for Christopher to be a pure British man or a pure Chinese man mentally. He lived in a foreign enclave， which was separated from the native lands. And he was cut off from their native countries socially and culturally.In other words， he became the cultural and social orphan. Because he did not belong to either culture entirely.

3. Conclusion

Christopher is merely a miniature of many migrants. From them， we can see many trails of several cultures， but none is pure and complete. Maybe they have migrated to a place for many years， but they still could not raise the sense of belongingness and recognition. Vague social identity caused by different cultures would lead to miserable outcomes for these migrants. They are still separated from the core culture and local society. They are the outsiders. They feel unrest and uncomfortable in the society， which makes it harder to find true happiness. There is enough space for their bodies to settle down. Nonetheless， there is no place for their spirits to rest. They lost their spiritual and cultural home. And as far as I am concerned， this group of people is exactly what the title would like to refer to. I suppose that Kazuo Ishiguro expressed his great concern for those people through this wonderful book.

References：

[1]Kazuo Ishiguro.When We Were Orphans[M].New York：Vintage International，2000.

[2]胡碧蓉.石黑一雄《上海孤兒》的创伤主题研究[D].湖南师范大学，2016.

[3]蔡艳姣.追寻失落的精神家园[D].上海外国语大学，2012.

[4]方宸.石黑一雄《上海孤儿》中身份的建构与解构[J].外国语文， 2012（2）：27-30.