石黑一雄《別讓我走》中的商品與剝削

Abstract

本論文將石黑一雄《別讓我走》一書置於資本主義的脈絡之下，來解讀當代社會的剝削議題。書中的複製人在資本主義社會裡，可扮演以下三種不同的角色。其一，複製人身為人類器官的備份，可作為具有交換價值的商品被販賣；其二，複製人亦能作為其他商品的消費者，參與各類消費活動；其三，複製人也可擔任勞動生產者，製造各種商品。上述複製人的三種身分(商品－消費者－生產者)皆圍繞著商品的概念，以獲取利潤為前提。但在這些經濟活動中最大的獲利者並非付出心力的複製人，而是操控並壓榨複製人的人類。書中複製人和人類的關係，正是當代社會中工人階級與資本家的縮影。本論文除了就複製人的三種身分來探討不同類型的剝削之外，另一方面亦期藉由深入了解書中複製人的生命歷程，來重建遭受剝削的弱勢階級的生成模式。

This thesis will delve into the issue of exploitation by contextualizing Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go in terms of a capitalist milieu. The clones in the story can play the following three different roles in a capitalist society. First of all, the clones can be sold as commodities with exchange value as backups of human beings. Second, as consumers, the clones are able to purchase commodities in a wide range of consumer activities. Last but not least, as laborers, the clones are capable of producing a variety of commodities. These three roles of the clones—as commodities, consumers, and laborers—all revolve around the concept of commodity, with an eye to generating profits. Nonetheless, it is the humans rather than the clones that receive the majority of profits through these economic activities. The unequal relationship between the capitalists and the working class in the contemporary society is epitomized in the human characters’ absolute superiority over the clones in Never Let Me Go. This thesis, apart from discussing various forms of exploitation by investigating into the three roles mentioned above, also aims to reconstruct the formation of a disadvantaged class via an examination of the life course of the clones.