《飛氈》出版於1996年，是西西的第六部長篇小說，關於這部小說，目前研究者大多聚焦於其意識形態又或者結構特色，甚少有探討其想像意涵、人物塑造以至思想脈絡等方面。本文打算以葉重生的人物形像作為核心，與西西的其他作品比較，分析其繼承與創新，並從以下三個面向去探討：一、死亡主題；二、姑母的強者形像；三、閣樓裏的瘋女人。在討論完這三個面向之後，再探討一下西西如何為人物安排出路。故事的前半部分藉著蝴蝶的想像預告葉重生和死亡的關係，此外，女強人特有的偏執，被父權社會壓迫以至變得瘋顛等，都成為前半部分的主要脈絡，到了後半部分，西西顛覆了〈藍鬍子〉故事，葉重生沒有像她早期作品的人物那樣離開世間，而是腳踏實地，負起母親的責任。可以說，西西透過葉重生的形像塑造，總結了自己對生命、死亡和自由的想法。

The Flying Carpet, which was published in 1996, was the sixth novel written by Xi Xi. Most previous studies on this novel have focused on its ideology or structural characteristics, yet aspects such as the meaning behind the author’s imaginations, characterization as well as the thread of thoughts found in her works are seldom discussed. This paper intends to configure the characterization of Ye Chongsheng as the core of discussion; by comparing Ye with other characters found in Xi Xi’s works, this study analyzes the inheritance and innovation of the character Ye; it also investigates in three aspects: 1) the theme of death; 2) the powerful image of the aunt; and 3) the mad woman in the attic. After the discussion of these three aspects, the paper further explores how Xi Xi offers the ‘way-outs’ for the characters. The first half of the story captured the imagination of the butterfly as the prediction of the relationship between Ye Chongsheng and death; besides, the peculiar stubbornness of women, and the madness caused by the oppression of the patriarchal society, have become the main thread of thought of the story. In the latter part of the story, Xi Xi subverted the story of The Bluebeard, in which Ye Chongsheng did not die as those characters in Xi Xi’s early works; she was down-to-Earth and took her responsibility of a mother. It can be said, by portraying the character Ye Chongsheng, Xi Xi concluded her thoughts on life, death and freedom.