Conflict between Humanity and Animality: on the Animal Narrative in <i>Of</i> <i>Mice</i> <i>and</i> <i>Men</i>

约翰·斯坦贝克的小说《人鼠之间》通过刻画人类与动物之间的关系，揭示了人性与兽性如何被建构并适用于种族、阶级和性别压迫。小说中包括残疾人、遭种族歧视者和女性在内的“弱者”被贴上“兽性”的标签，与发臭的狗及被随意杀害的毛茸茸动物联系在一起。农场中强壮的白人男性肆意杀害动物和虐待弱者以显示对“兽性”的疏远，以此构建“人性”。然而，在社会的压迫机制下，所谓的“人性”实际上背离了理性，与暴力和“兽性”密切相关，“人性”与“兽性”之间实则再无区分。John Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men” reveals how humanity and animality are constructed and utilized to serve racial, class, and gender oppression. The “weak” characters in the novel, including the disabled, victims of racial discrimination, and women, are labeled as “animality” and associated with the stinking dog and furry animals killed at random. The strong white men on the farm engage in the wanton killing of animals and the abuse of the weak to demonstrate their distancing from “animality”, thereby constructing “humanity”. However, under the oppressive mechanisms of society, the so-called “humanity” actually diverges from reason and is closely related to violence and savagery, blurring the distinction between “humanity” and “animality”.