『파라다이스』에서의 모리슨의 종교적 지향- 율법에서 사랑으로

Abstract

Paradise which stands in a long tradition of American Jeremiad deals with human beings' love of God. The men of the all-black town named Ruby intends to build up a Paradise. As a Christian, Morrison questions why a Paradise necessitates exclusion. She focuses on Ruby's blood rules which cause conflicts in the town and tries to reveal Ruby's inherent defects. She blames people of Ruby for creating significant meaning to the oven that turns into a shrine, for changing the stories of Christmas pageantry into ancestral idolization, and for making a myth of Ruby's immortality. Morrison proposes the Convent as an alternative for Ruby. In contrast to the calculated moves of the men in Ruby, the Convent women who carries no ideals of family or society in their wanderings are portrayed as intuitive, receptive and mystical. They care for themselves and others, and create a place of bliss by transferring their individual stories of trauma, experiencing other people's pain and soul-searching. With the disappearance of the Convent women, Morrison holds out the hope for Ruby's redemption through Misner who decides to stay in Ruby and through Deacon who repents for the cruel and mean behaviors of the men in Ruby. Morrison's paradise is not a peaceful utopian place of eternal sameness. It is a complex, dynamic, and challenging process which gives an insight for human actions and responsibilities. Through her novel, Morrison prefers the love symbolized in the New Testament rather than the rigid laws of the Old Testament.