「熊」のアイクに見る現代アメリカ人の成長と挫折
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概要
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The central figure in "The Old People, " "The Bear, " and "Delta Autumn"-three of the seven stories that comprise William Faulkner's novel Go Down, Moses-is Ike McCaslin, who symbolizes an important part of American history in the 1870s. In this there exists a gap between the rich and the poor caused by land ownership, the ruin of the wilderness, and racial discrimination heightened by miscegenation and incest. The first three chapters of "The Bear, " and the fifth chapter, are about a bear hunt. The fourth chapter, however, tells how and why Ike relinquishes ownership of his plantation. Through each of these stories run the themes of human rights and the importance of preserving nature. Ike McCaslin, it should be noted, was educated by a man named Sam Fathers, who taught him to obey the order of nature, and to have endurance. In the bear-hunt story, a bear named Old Ben symbolizes the wilderness, which is gradually conquered by humans. The animal is eventually killed by a wild dog, named Lion, and former slave named Boon, who has Indian blood. Ike, meanwhile, who learned to behave bravely in the wilderness, and to obey the order of nature with humility-and this is the main topic of the fourth chapter of "The Bear"-decides to give his plantation to his cousin, Cas. He dose this because he wants to escape from the curse of his family's history as southern landowners. Ike's grandfather, a white Christian who seduces a negro slave woman, later impregnates his half-cast daughter, too. Ike's decision to give up his plantation causes another family tragedy, however. The grandson of Cas, the new owner, subsequently seduces a descendant of Ike McCaslin's grandfather, another young half-cast woman, and she bears him a son.
- 湘南工科大学の論文
- 1995-03-25