오에 겐자부로(大江健三郎) 『싹 뽑기, 어린 짐승 사냥(芽むしり仔撃ち)』에서의 ‘전염병’

Abstract

"Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids" (1958) is the first full-length novel by Kenzaburo Oe, which deals with the incident of 15 boys in reformatory who were sent and abandoned in a mountain village after an epidemic outbreak during the war. So far, this novel has been studied from various perspectives, such as image depiction, a confrontation between adults and children, and discrimination. However, in this study, it was meaningful to examine the writer's ultimate intention by reviewing the role and symbolic meaning of the epidemic in the story. After the villagers fled, the narrator and the leader of the 15 boys in the reformatory, joins forces with the Korean boy named Lee and the fugitive soldier, who remained in the village, and confronts the fear of the epidemic. And he experiences courtesy for the dead and dedication to saving lives through the two people. He is in a situation where he is controlled again by people who have returned to the village, but he is left alone due to fears that he is a threat, like an epidemic, trying to resist and let the world know the villager’s atrocities. Ultimately, it can be seen that the author intends to talk about human dignity by dramatically describing human fears of infection and blockade through the subject of the epidemic, while simultaneously showing individual will and solidarity that contradicts the selfishness of the community.