白いアメリカを求めて : The House of the Seven Gables論
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Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables was published in 1851, when American society was more troubled with the issue of slavery due to the fact that "the Fugitive Slave Act" was made law the previous year. Since Hawthorne does not deal directly with the issue of slavery, scholars have so far paid little attention to the racial aspect of his work. Reading the text of The House of the Seven Gables carefully, however, Hawthorne from time to time refers to black people and slavery inconspicuously, but intentionally enough. In this article, I would like to explore how this writer saw black people by analyzing how they are metaphorically described in this novel. Hawthorne depicts at least three threats to the middle-class WASPs through the metaphor of black people. Actually they are "market-economy," "Jaffrey Pyncheon," and "Holgrave." The threat of the "market-economy" of the former half of the 19th century is embodied by the gingerbread Jim Crow which is sold in the cent-shop managed by the former aristocrat Hepzibah Pyncheon. This old lady, who lost her class privilege with the advent of the market-economy, has no choice but to open a cent-shop for her own living. Considering she is described as an "enslaved spirit" in the shop, we may say that she embodies a 'commodified object' in the marketplace. After all, she escapes from it as a result of getting Jaffrey Pyncheon's inheritance. "Jaffrey Pyncheon," who once accused Clifford of killing the uncle falsely so as to keep the uncle's inheritance to himself, poses a threat to Hepzibah and Phoebe. This "dark"-faced man, whom the narrator calls a "great beast" with strong sexual and economic desires, is clearly an "Africanist" in Toni Morrison's word. At the end of the story, Jaffrey dies of hereditary diseases. Holgrave, like Jaffrey, appears as a character who has some "Africanist" elements, but finally he proves his own virtue which is considered indispensible for the middle-class male by controlling his desire to conquer Phoebe's soul. In this way, Hawthorne gets rid of the 'black' threats from the middle-class people by realizing 'white America.' However, taking into consideration that Hawthorne makes a black man named Dixey appear at the happy ending of the story and lets him complain about the condition of Hepzibah who no longer has to work, we can safely say that Hawthorne could not believe in the realization of 'white America' at heart, though longing for it.
- 2006-03-31
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