An Analysis Of Contributing Factors To Mustafa Sa’eed’s Tragedy In Season Of Migration To The North From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Tayeb Salih is one of the most prominent realistic writers of Sudan,and his representative work Season of Migrtion to the North perfectly shows a profound theme as well as his excellent writing techniques and unique innovation.The novel is evaluated as "the miracle of Arabic contemporary literary world".In this novel,a comprehensive introduction to Sudan’s local conditions and customs,poetic writings,profound themes and deep humanity concern draw much attention from African literature researchers.However,the number of research works on this novel abroad and at home is small in the whole.Research on Season of Migration to the North abroad starts earlier,most critics analyze this novel from post-colonial theories,some critics interpret this work from psychoanalysis and feminism,and some focus on the writing skills.In addition,there are some research on the protagonist Mustafa Sa’eed and the anonymous narrator of this novel.However,the research on contributing factors to the tragedy of the protagonist from the perspective of ethical literary criticism is few.Through ethical literary criticism,the author of this thesis chooses ethical situation,ethical identity and ethical choice as the perspectives to analyze the contributing factors to the tragedy of the protagonist Mustafa Sa’eed.And it is analyzed through the line of Mustafa’s different life stages,different ethical situation,and the resulting identity shifts and ethical choices.Mustafa in his childhood lives under the shadow of colonization and in a loveless family,which lead to his being a depressed and solitary boy;after entering school,he performs quite well and then is sent to Cairo and London for further studies.However,under the supreme honor is Mustafa’s cold and lonely heart.The experience in childhood becomes the root of his tragic character.After arriving in London,Mustafa turns from an enviable and outstanding person into an outsider in London.Under the influence of defects in his own character and the dross in western culture,he intends to be a conqueror in western society,seducing and cheating several European females in retaliation,finally leading to the death of several females.Then he is sentenced for seven years.After his release,he conceals his identity to settle in a small village at the bank of Nile.In this backward and conservative village,he turns into a dutiful farmer,gets married and has two sons.However,he is bothered by the conflicts of two civilizations in his inner heart.After the exposure of his real identity,he chooses to commit suicide to put his inner entanglement and uneasiness into an end.Moreover,this thesis also probes into Salih’s ethical thoughts and moral principles,and reflects his deep concern about Arab intellectuals in Europe who are wandering between two civilizations and have difficulty in defining themselves.