Ricketts-like Characters and Wise Old Man in Myth
スポンサーリンク
概要
- 論文の詳細を見る
Most critics have thought that a series of unique characters appear in Steinbeck's novels; Jim Casy in TheGrapes of Wrath, Doc in Cannery Row, and so on. The characters' model has been generally believed to beEdward Ricketts, Steinbeck's close friend. Lester Jay Marks called these characters "Steinbeck's heroes." Hemaintained that they are protagonists in Steinbeck's novels, while the other characters not. On the otherhand, many other critics, who have pointed out an archetype of hero-myth in his many novels, havegenerally looked upon the other characters like Tom in The Grapes of Wrath as protagonists. The formerview seems to be in conflict with the latter. The purpose of this study is to try to clear up this disagreementand to explain the origin of the Ricketts-like characters. It is true that, as most critics have believed,Steinbeck projected an image of Ricketts onto the characters. This opinion is only partially true, however,because a similar type of character appears even in his first novel, Cup of Gold, published in 1929 before hemet Ricketts. The similar person is Merlin. He plays an important role as an adviser to Henry Morgan. Thisindicates that there is a prototype of Ricketts-like characters in his works before Ricketts influencedSteinbeck. As a child he liked to read various books: the Bible, Arthurian Legends, myths, and folklore.These gave him an idealistic vision in his literature. What is more, his meeting with Joseph Campbell,mythologist, made it embodied in To a God Unknown, in which `an old man' suggests that Joseph makes aheroic self-sacrifice for saving his land. Mythologically, Merlin and `an old man' are called Wise Old Man, anadviser or helper. It is generally accepted that Ricketts had so much influence on Steinbeck that he describedhis friend in his novels not only as advisers but also instructors, because Ricketts gave him scientific andphilosophical knowledge. To give an example, in The Grapes of Wrath, Casy instructs Tom to understand hisworldview: "Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of." This shows that the archetype of Wise OldMan found in his early novel developed eventually into Ricketts-like characters through Ricketts' influence.In Dubious Battle has a strange pattern of hero-myth. Indeed, Doc Burton is a Ricketts-like character, butJim Nolan doesn't understand his philosophy and dies tragically in the ending. This offers an example that ahero doesn't take his helper's advices and the story has an unhappy ending. The Ricketts-like character is soattractive for Steinbeck that he wrote a novel in which the protagonist is a Ricketts-like character, Doc inCannery Row. Therefore we can see from the above that a series of Ricketts-like characters is derived from the "Wise Old Man" in myth, and the two viewpoints are not in conflict.
- 2011-03-25
著者
関連論文
- Ricketts-like Characters and Wise Old Man in Myth
- Moodleの運用上の問題点と、iPad・MAC OS X Serverによるe-Learningの可能性
- Ricketts-like Characters and Wise Old Man in Myth
- iPad と無線LAN ネットワークによる英語学習環境の構築についての研究