단편 소설 「또 하나의 허수아비」의 주제와 여성적 글쓰기

Abstract

「Another Scarecrow」is a short story written by Ghāda al-Sammān. This short story is from the collection 『The night of Strangers』 published in 1966. She is a leading female fiction writer and known for her liberal views. The major themes in her literary works are the tension between tradition and modernity, the oppression of women, and the importance of self-realization. She makes frequent use of symbols and fantasy. And she also uses vivid images and repetition of same words or similar words, which tend to be provocative and tensioned emotionally. This short story depicts the role of chance in the life of a barren woman whose culture regards childbearing as the main purpose of marriage and as the most important task of woman in the society. This story includes her literary traits as the above described. This story also describes the severe identity crisis of an Arab woman who cannot fulfill traditional role as a mother owing to her barrenness. Motherhood is the primary purpose of marriage in the patriarchal traditional society. Here, Ghāda al-Sammān is critical of the culture that sanctions childbearing as the key to a woman’s self-realization and social standing. Despite all material affluence, the heroine is unhappy and depressed. She suffers nightmares that are her existential crisis. She seems to be a scarecrow as mute and lifeless in the dead garden. Her husband is silent and cruel to her. In his contempt for her and without children, she who is unable to cope with the stress of her predicament is gradually afflicted with mental illness. and finally trapped in it. The heroine’s inner turmoil is described as a scene of domestic and external chaos. Ghāda al-Sammān relies on the interior monologue technique, rapid shifting time frames, and fantasy. The story also abounds in symbols. In this story, Ghāda al-Sammān dealt with the force of chance in life. which is not acknowledged as a belief in the Fatalism in Islam. In her view, chance is the most cruel arbiter of justice because it offers no logical explanation or justification for her and her husband’s defendants. The decision passed by her husband, a prominent judge is final and irrevocable. This story shows that human beings including her are doomed by an irrational and unexpected force. In conclusion, Ghāda al-Sammān in this story depicts the existential dilemma of a barren woman, and expresses her condemnation of the patriarchal values of Arab society. She also delivers the massage, namely chance rules the world and determines the courses of people's lifes, therefore they suffer the absurdity.