Winesburg, Ohio에 나타난 人間疏外의 硏究

Abstract

작가 Sherwood Anderson이 1919년에 발표한 단편집 Winesburg, Ohio는 미국 중서부의 작은 마을 Winesburg를 배경으로 해서 소외된 사람들의 생활을 그린 작품이다. 그는 여기에서 인간소외의 문제를 그 당시의 사회적인 여건과 깊이 연관을 지어 다루었고, 또 Winesburg란 장소도, 그곳에 사는 주민들의 삶을 억누르는 사회적인 압력을 구체화 시킨 가공의 마을이다. 그러므로 이 작품에서 등장하는 인물은 모두 급격한 산업발달로 수반되는 물질만능주의나 Puritan적인 종교관이나 性에 대한 편견과 같은 사회적인 압력으로 내면의 감정적인, 사상적인 혹은 사랑과 같은 욕구를 표현하지 못하고서, 소외된 이즈러진 삶을 살아가는 사람들이다. 이 작품에서, Anderson은 이들 소외된 사람들의 생활을 "Grotesque"란 말로 표현했는데, 중요한 것은 그가 이들에 대해 어떤 입장을 취했나 하는 점이다. "Paper pill"에서 보면, 그는 소외된 사람들을 과수원 수확기 때에 버려지는 못생긴 사과와 비교했다. 즉 버려진 사과인 "twisted appels"는 그 맛이 아주 달콤한데, 그것도 흠이 있는 쪽에 그 맛이 몰려 있다고 했다. 그렇듯이 이들 grotesque들도 비록 사회에선 부적응아로 생각되어지나 그들의 내면적은 인각미는 정상적인 일반 사람들 보다 더 진실되다는 것이다. 그래서 그는, 이들이 소외된 삶을 살게된 내력과 그들의 내면세계를 그림으로써 이들에 대한 일반인들의 이해를 도모하려고 한 것이다. 나아가 그는 인간소외를 벗어날 수 있는 방안도 제시하고 있는데, George Willard라는 청년기자의 성장을 통해서 볼 수 있다. George는 여러 면에서 이 책의 중심인물로서, 22편으로 나누어진 각 단편들을 서로 연결시켜주는 역할을 한다. 또 그의 순수성과 감수성은 마을의 어느 누구에게도 호감을 주며 그의 기자다운 호기심에 의해, grotesque들의 내력이 밝혀지게 되는 것이다. George는 이들과의 친교를 통해서 자신의 앞날을 희망으로 이끌어 줄 진리를 배우게 되는데, 무엇보다 자신의 어머니의 죽음을 통해서 그 깨달음은 급격히 이루어졌다. 즉 그는 수많은 grotesque한 사람들과의 접촉을 통해서, 인간심연에 공존하는 고독감을 체험하며, 동시에 사랑과 이해만이 인간사회에 존재하는 보이지 않는 벽을 허물 수 있다는 사실을 깨달은 것이다. Anderson은 위의 사실을 비록 영원한 해결책은 못된다 하더라도 인간소외(Human Isolation)를 극복할 수 있는 하나의 실마리로써 제시한 것이다. 또 이 작품에는 그의 개성 있는 문체가 두드러져 있는데, 특히 "Hand"의 구성은 주인공 Wing Biddlebaum의 내면세계를 잘 나타내 준다.;Winesburg, Ohio is a collection of unified stories about a group of isolated people living in a small American Midwest town at the turn of the century, which is one of the most significant transitional periods in America history. Human isolation has been one of the most common themes of the literature, especially of the novel. It seems, however, that no literature has been more deeply concerned with the problem of isolation and its resulting effect upon human life than American literature. Also Anderson, in this book, manages in a remarkable way to capture the essence of American existence in transition during that period, exploring the ultimate problem of human isolation as the major theme. What then, is the cause of human isolation suggested in these stories? David D. Anderson says, isolation originates in a narrowness of human vision and in an inability or in some cases, an unwillingness to attempt to understand the complexities of human life and experience. However, there is no evidence throughout the book that those inherent human shortcomings are the only cause Anderson wants to give for the condition of isolated people as David D. Anderson insists. Rather, Anderson seems to conceive of some external social pressure of the time such as rugged materialism of the industrialized society or puritanical idea of religion and sex as the main cause of isolation and those human shortcomings. The cruel force of materialism is well symbolized in the ironic death of Doctor Parcival's brother, who was run over by the car in which he lived. The car is, no debt, a symbol of the industrial age itself. The quixotic defiance of old Windpeter, a victim of the material achievement, slashed at his team and rushed straight for the onrushing locomotive, raving and swearing at it. Another misguided idea of puritanism is to be found in the altitude of the society of Winesburg toward sexual love. For example, in "Nobody knows," as the title implies, George is ashamed of, and even afraid of, sex like other people of the town. The conventional morality of the town, with its background of rigid puritanism, prevents him from realizing that sex is a desirable means of communication. His reponses to the sexual act with Louis Trunion is not the response to the act of love or understanding: it is only shame, fear, and guilt. In this way most of the characters in these short stories were isolated and distorted by some eccentric inner secret in a rapid industrialized society. That is, they are all grotesque. The grotesques are those whose humanity has been outraged and who to survive in Winesburg have had to suppress their wish to love. Anderson's use of the word "grotesque" is quite important in this context. In its usual sence in reference to human beings it connotes disgust or revulsion, but Anderson's use is quite different. To him a grotesque is, as he points out later, like the "twisted apples" that are left behind in the orchards because they are imperfect. These apples, he says, are the sweetest of all, perhaps even because of the imperfections that have caused them to be sweeted. He approaches the people in his stories as he does the apples. Then what is the answer that Anderson gives to the problem of human isolation? He suggests some tentative conclusion by way of the development of some characters. For example, the perfect, though temporary, communication established between Dr. Reefy and Elizabeth is suggestive of Anderson's attitude to the problem. And another his conclusion is best embodied in the development of George Willard. George is, in many ways, the central character of the book, his role being one of the basic unifying factors of the separate stories. He appears in more than two-thirds of the whole stories, and the book ends up with his departure from the town. Most of the characters come to George and take him into their confidences because he Is innocent and unspoiled by the world which has misshaped and isolated them. They feel that they can communicate with him in mutual understanding. With all his innocence and sensitivity, however, he does not really understand them until he comes to realize the secret of human life after his mother's death. What saves him from falling a victim to his isolation and becoming a grotesque is his ability to grow into the state of understanding and communicating with other human beings. Anderson's tentative answer to the problem of human isolation is this: man can brak up the Wall which separates him from other people and regain the tradition of cultural manners only through compassion and empathic understanding which is intuitive rather than rational; it is understanding and love that make life worth living, although they cannot ultimately defeat human isolation.