개별성의 억압과 그 해방의 가능성: 윌리엄 포크너의 『야생 종려나무』

Abstract

The Wild Palms shows the conflicts between the individual and the society which confines the individual within its unitary system like a prison. Charlotte Rittenmeyer in “The Wild Palms” tries to resist and transgress the compulsory marriage institute by eloping with Harry Wilbourne, leaving her husband Francis Rittenmeyer and two daughters. Her transgression against the traditional gender role and the bourgeois standard of respectability leads to the participation in the field of artistry from which females have been traditionally prohibited and her transgression arrives at the highest pitch when she decides to have an abortion. “Old Man” related with “The Wild Palms” contrapuntally reveals the violence of judiciary institution which confines and erases the individuality with the help of systems such as prison and discourse. The anonymous tall convict can rediscover his individuality, discarding the older obedient self prescribed under the principle of order and regularity in prison, when he has his share in both childbirth and work without isolation. He attempts to heal his individuality by way of telling his story to his colleague against the judiciary institution which attempts to restrict him as an other within a false discourse system in tandem with official knowledge and power. Faulkner’s world which abounds in the others who are trying to restore their distorted and obscured individuality and subjectivity against the coercive system of an established society shows the fact that what we have valued is a construct, not a given as universal and invincible. The subject is viewed as a process and becoming instead of a coherent and autonomous one. In addition, discourse as an instrument and an effort of power to solidify the dominant culture is not constant but variable in the context of history. Faulkner's reverence for the various experiments and individuality rather than a fixed entity and unity encourages readers to problematize the traditional norms and restore the others and their history that are ignored or taken for granted.