『긴 계곡』에 나타난 존 스타인벡의 자각과정

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The Self-Conscious Process Depicted by John Steinbeck in The Long Valley

Rhee Sam-tai Faculty Advisor : Prof. Choe Han-yong, Ph.D. Dept. of English Language and Literature Graduate School of Chosun University

The purpose of this study is to discuss the "self-conscious process" depicted by John Steinbeck in The Long Valley. Steinbeck is a Nobel laureate and a superb writer of short fiction. In his short stories, Steinbeck focused on the problems of individual human beings of his era. As widely acclaimed, a common theme in his short fiction is the frustration stemming from loneliness, isolation, communication gaps, or sexual repression, which occasionally leads to violence. In this study, chapter Ⅱ presents John Steinbeck's research ideas depicted in The Long Valley. In chapter ⅡA 1, "The Gift," the protagonist Jody's contemplation of death marks an important step in his journey toward maturity. In chapter Ⅱ 2, "The Mountains," the theme of death continues to be deliberated. Jody contemplates the approaching demise of the venerable Indian Gitano and of Tiflin's decrepit horse Easter. Suggesting the unproductivity of old age, Steinbeck draws a parallel between Easter and Gitano. In this story, both the characters, Gitano and Easter, and the background, mountains, seem to point toward the inevitability of death. As he contemplates the lesson he learned from the mysterious old man, Jody matures as a person. The cycle of life and death is debated in chapter ⅡA 3, "The Promise." In the story, a healthy colt is born at the cost of the mare's life. Steinbeck dwells on the interrelatedness of two principles—death and life—with the black cypress and the green tub. Jody becomes aware that life and death are inseparable. In addition, Jody begins to recognize sex as a foundation of life. Chapter Ⅱ 4, "Flight," depicts the tragic regression of a boy, Pepe, into an animal. In the story, Pepe is portrayed as both a child and an adult. However, his transformation from a boy to adulthood is unclear. At the start of his flight, Pepe is healthy and alert; however, toward the end, he becomes feeble and unconscious. In the course of the story, Pepe loses all his possessions and, finally, departs this world essentially empty-handed. The theme of chapter Ⅱ is irrational challenge to rational sexual point of view. In chapter ⅡB 2, "The Chrysanthemums" and "The Snake,"sexual love is depicted to have broken the wall of the rational. Another physiologically penetrating view of an unsatisfactory marriage is offered in chapter ⅡB 3, "The White Quail." In this story, her garden and the white quail that visits it become too obviously identified with Mary Teller, the protagonist. Mary orders her husband, Harry Teller, to kill the gray cat that threatens the quail. He accidentally shoots the quail instead of the cat. Although Harry is very shy, he destroys a rare bird because it represents his aloof and untouchable wife. Chapter ⅡB 4, "The Harness,"studies yet another marriage in which one spouse dominates the other. Peter Randall, the protagonist, resembles Mary Teller’s repressed and frustrated husband, Harry Teller. "The Harness" features a unique double-surprise plot: the first surprise is presented early in the story, and the second is provided at the end. The story "Breakfast" (chapter Ⅱ 1) has been variously called a "warm-up" exercise, an "episode," a set of "working notes," and a "fragment." It was derived by Steinbeck from a contemporary event, similar to "The Vigilante." "Breakfast" probably emerged out of Steinbeck's preparation for In Dubious Battle.Among Steinbeck’s short stories, only "The Raid" (chapter ⅡC 2) depicts contemporary troubles. It clearly portrays the troubled depression years. At the time when Steinbeck was composing this story, a completely new social context was taking shape around him. In chapter ⅡC 3, "The Vigilante," the plot is based on an actual lynching that occurred in San Jose. "The Raid" and "The Vigilante" reveal the author’s interest in the phenomenon of group violence, and both portray vigilantes behaving according to Steinbeck's "group man," or "phalanx," theory. In chapter ⅡC 4, "The Leader of the People," Jody's initiation to manhood, clearly the dominant theme in all the previous "Red Pony" tales, must vie with the new element introduced by his grandfather: stories of an immense phalanx of humanity moving westward, or, in the words of Jody’s grandfather, westering. Westering was the crucial part of experience. His grandfather's stories about the crossing comprise another lesson in Jody's continuing initiation, exposing the boy to his ancestor's heroic tradition. Steinbeck frequently based his short fiction on real places and people, for which "Johnny Bear" (chapter Ⅱ 1) is an example. In this unusual tale, Steinbeck portrays the coastal town of Castroville, California, and its bizarre denizen. In chapter ⅡD 2, "The Murder,"Jim Moore, befuddled by his Yugoslav wife, can barely resist calling her a "damn foreigner."On his wedding day, Moore ignores the following advice of his new father-in-law: "Jelka is Slav girl. He's not like American girl." Jelka, Moore’s spouse, is a dutiful wife. One Saturday evening, when riding toMonterey, Moore learns from George that thieves have killed one of his calves. Moore beats his wife bloody with a bullwhip. Remarkably, Jelka smiles; fries eggs for her husband; and becomes, in general, more personable. Chapter "Saint Katy the Virgin," is a "burlesque hagiography" set outside the long valley and in the twentieth century. The backdrop for this unique combination of fable and a saint’s life seems to be medieval Europe. "in the year 13-- --." In "Saint Katy the Virgin," a "bad man" named Roark tithes his vicious pig, Katy, to two brothers from the Monastery of M-- --. In their attempts to capture Katy, Brother Paul slips a rope through the sow's nose ring, following which she bites Brother Colin's leg. Brother Paul kicks Katy in the snout, and she chases them up a thorn tree. Finally, the brothers lead her back to the monastery, where Father Benedict reprimands them, since Katy—who is now a Christian—cannot be slaughtered. Nevertheless, through her good deeds, Katy proves herself worthy of canonization as a virgin, and her bones are preserved as holy relics that can "cure female troubles and ring worm."