earticle

영어

The first two novels by Chang-rae Lee, Native Speaker and A Gesture Life, deal with the issue of identity as experienced by minority immigrants in America. They explore how Korean Americans react to notions of ethnicity and race as they are encountered in traditions and the family in the United States. Chang-rae Lee shows how minority immigrants waken to a sense of identity through the process of self-reflection. Their realization of who they are begins with the understanding of the relation between self and society. “Double Consciousness,” as defined by W. E. B Du Bois, refers to the fragmentation of consciousness among blacks when forced to look at themselves through the eyes of others. The characters in both novels experience this in a very similar way. Henry Park and Franklin Hata undergo a crisis of identity because of the double consciousness they experience as the Other in the dominant white society. Their lives, however, change when their sense of non-being is replaced with a sense of being through the process of self-reflection. This paper explores the process in which their sense of non-being is transformed into a sense of being. In his struggle to assimilate to American society, Henry develops a sense of self that embraces the heritage of his parents and their lives as Koreans. He comes to embrace a sense of ‘us’ and becomes a new person. Hata hides behind a mask and the gestures of daily life in his attempt to maintain his reputation in the community and fit into white society. Yet, his disguised life is not authentic and he comes to realize that it is only a gesture. After the reconciliation with his adopted daughter, Sunny, he transforms into a responsible and loving person and finally experiences what it is like to be truly alive.