도리스 레싱의 ‘그로테스크’ - 『 다섯째 아이』 와 『세상 속의 벤』을 중심으로
The Grotesque in Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child and Ben, in the World
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The most grotesque character we can find in Doris Lessing’s complete works is Ben Lovatt in The Fifth Child and its sequel, Ben, in the World. This paper examines him in depth and looks at the grotesque presented in two works, while trying to grasp Lessing’s artistic intention, its effect on readers, and its functions. In The Fifth Child, a married couple had four beautiful children and then gave birth to an ugly monster, Ben. His monstrous and grotesque existence threatens other children and prevents relatives from visiting them. He is ruining their family’s life, that is, their objective in life. Harriet, his mother, arranges for outcasts on the streets to take care of him. A conservative middle class couple who would otherwise distance themselves from the noisy social atmosphere made their fifth son join the underworld. Ben is the transgressive Other repressed within them. Ben, in the World, which was published 12 years after The Fifth Child, shows an adolescent Ben in a society. He, who stood between the normal and the abnormal in his house, is treated here as an uncanny being, one between a human and an animal. In contrast with Ben’s grotesque image evoking fear and horror in The Fifth Child, here his image is rather that of an outsider, more specifically, an alienated and dislocated victim in a modern society. Ben finally finds his tribes pictured on a rock face in Paraguay. He is identified as a throwback. Realizing that he came from the distant past, Ben falls from a cliff to return to his real home. Ironically he proves himself to be a human by committing suicide. Here, his grotesque image represents the Other excluded and rejected in the society. Lessing used grotesque images to make modern people see themselves and the present society in a more objective and detached manner. In her works the grotesque functions as a satire criticizing the modern world and its life.
Abstract
The most grotesque character we can find in Doris Lessing’s complete works is Ben Lovatt in The Fifth Child and its sequel, Ben, in the World. This paper examines him in depth and looks at the grotesque presented in two works, while trying to grasp Lessing’s artistic intention, its effect on readers, and its functions. In The Fifth Child, a married couple had four beautiful children and then gave birth to an ugly monster, Ben. His monstrous and grotesque existence threatens other children and prevents relatives from visiting them. He is ruining their family’s life, that is, their objective in life. Harriet, his mother, arranges for outcasts on the streets to take care of him. A conservative middle class couple who would otherwise distance themselves from the noisy social atmosphere made their fifth son join the underworld. Ben is the transgressive Other repressed within them. Ben, in the World, which was published 12 years after The Fifth Child, shows an adolescent Ben in a society. He, who stood between the normal and the abnormal in his house, is treated here as an uncanny being, one between a human and an animal. In contrast with Ben’s grotesque image evoking fear and horror in The Fifth Child, here his image is rather that of an outsider, more specifically, an alienated and dislocated victim in a modern society. Ben finally finds his tribes pictured on a rock face in Paraguay. He is identified as a throwback. Realizing that he came from the distant past, Ben falls from a cliff to return to his real home. Ironically he proves himself to be a human by committing suicide. Here, his grotesque image represents the Other excluded and rejected in the society. Lessing used grotesque images to make modern people see themselves and the present society in a more objective and detached manner. In her works the grotesque functions as a satire criticizing the modern world and its life.
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