아이리스 머독의 『그물을 헤치고』와 『잘려진 머리』에 나타난 타자성의 인식

Abstract

Iris Murdoch's fictional world in Under the Net and A Severed Head is about the unique experiences of modern men living in the uncertain world of the middle and late twentieth century. In the two novels she weaves a dense net of human relationships in which people as social beings are inescapably related to one another. In so doing she explores mainly how we can get out of our own preoccupations that prevent us from seeing others as they really are and how we can still cherish others for their otherness. To be more specific, Murdoch portrays in two novels the protagonists constantly trying to construct their own theory or hypothesis regarding their messy universe in an attempt to give an order to it. Yet while in Under the Net Jake does not achieve any moral understanding of either himself or his relationships but remains a drifting character, in A Severed Head Martin finally admits the painful reality and comes to fully accept the otherness of other people. By comparing two novels, this essay ultimately tries to highlight how Murdoch develops from a philosopher-writer to a professional writer who finally succeeds in melting her initial philosophical insights and themes on human nature and human relationships organically into an artistic form of novel.