원문정보
Search for Expiation and Reconciliation in “The Bear”
초록
영어
William Faulkner exposes a tragic reality by race division in Light in August and Absalom, Absalom!, but doesn’t present a certain solution. In Go Down, Moses, he shows his own views of the black people and the race problem in the South. Among seven stories in Go Down, Moses, “The Old People”, “The Bear”, “Delta Autumn” deal with white southerner Ike and are connected with the black-white relationship. Especially “The Bear” is the central story where Faulkner’s subject clearly showed. In section IV of the “The Bear”, Ike reads the family ledger and realizes his grandfather’s sin of miscegenation and incest. He finds out the history of his grandfather is that of sin and shame. He recognizes that the McCaslin chronicle was “a whole land in miniature, which multiplied and compounded was the entire South.” He thinks his grandfather’s sin was originated by greed to possess the land. He relinquishes the land to expiate his grandfather’s sins against black people. That means he repudiates all negative inheritance that his grandfather represents. With Ike’s relinquishment, Faulkner demands the change of white consciousness to be free from the curse of the South. He recognizes the fact that whites are responsible for the race problem and stresses that their change of consciousness is expedient. Although Ike’s change of consciousness and relinquishment do not lead to a responsible action and expand to the community, Faulkner anticipates Charles Mallison in Intruder in the Dust.
목차
II
III
IV
References
ABSTRACT
