초록 열기/닫기 버튼
Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage is a monumental work that establishes the western tradition in American literature. Yet, this work differs from works following it, for it deals with the issues of marriage, religion, and family which are not quite in line of western literary tradition. Rather, this work should be read from the perspective of clash between two cultural forces and of the process of founding one order system over the other. Grey tries to describe and critique American society and its dependence on violence. In doing so, the author uses Mormon church and its process of settlement as a metaphor of American society’s long and violent process of settling down and expanding westward. In that clash between Mormon church and Lassiter, a famous gun-man and Mormon-hater, there occurs clashes between two opposing values, which result in Mormon church’s supposedly being assimilated into the mainstream American society and its values. Yet, the ending raises another question as to the future of American society after conquering what is thought to defy its values and resist assimilation. Grey argues that there is no such thing as hope for America in the future, since America will not accept diverse factors to formulate one great nation.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Grey, western, cultural clash, violence, American tradition, Mormon, civilization
