임철우 소설 『이별하는 골짜기』에 나타난 죽음의식

Abstract

This draft is to analyze the meaning of death in “A Parting Valley” by Chul Woo Lim. “A Parting Valley” shows the process of human resistance against trauma and the process of consolation to the hurt. Especially the historical wounds and pains experienced by the characters are expressed as various types of death whereas “death” is an extreme form of pain. Types of death in the story are mainly suicide. A ginger girl’s death in “Fall - Byeoleogok Poet”, a wife’s death in “Summer - A Parting Valley”, death of Dakeko and Sadako in “Winter - A Way Home”, and a deserter’s death in “Spring - Finger” are all suicides. The death in “Fall - Byeoleogok Poet” and the death in “Winter - A Way Home” began from the escape from the bizarre reality. The death of girls who were cornered to die was in fact a gesture of salvation. However, on the other hand, the death in “Summer - A Parting Valley” and the death in “Spring - Finger” are deaths originated from sense of guilty and outrage against themselves. They chose death as of an extreme violence against themselves and a self-murder. The deaths they chose are self-destructing because it destroys their physical body which leads to give up their lives. The author presents different types of tragic deaths but at the same time, he recovers the wounds of pain that each character carries. Various “butterflies” appear throughout the stories, and they call the dead, and console the souls for their grief. The butterflies represent the figure that transcend the actuality and denial, and that heal the grudge and resentment of human beings. On top of these features, it is also the basis of lofty artistic sublimation. Through the analysis, this article verifies that the author recognizes death as the nullification of the norm and violence whereas the death is “an escape from the life that is worse than death”, “a struggle for self-salvation”, and “self-destruction”. The author also shakes out the unhealed wounds of the living and the dead, and consoles them for their pain simultaneously. This is philanthropic reflection and projection of the author throughout the fiction.