나와 다른 이를 포용하지 못하는 미국 사회의 상징: 메릴린 로빈슨의 『집』

Marilynne Robinson’s Home is the second book of the so-called Gildead trilogy, but its theme is quite different from the other two. The issue of race is more seriously portrayed here through the book’s supposed main character Jack (John Ames Boughton). After twenty years’ of absence from home and of disconnection from family members, Jack’s returning home casts a fundamental question of what home and homecoming mean not only to himself but also to those around him. To answer this question, it is inevitable to discuss the background of Jack’s growing up in family and his relationship with other family members, since it explains the reason of his abnormal behavior and of his leaving home. Despite its role as a place for parental and familial affection and protection, Jack’s home is now seen as a place with full of past memories and legacies, hence no sign of future or change. Giving no clue to Jack’s aberrational behavior, the text portrays the Boughton members’ inability to communicate with and understand Jack and his behavior. This lack of communication further suggests the ignorant attitudes of those in mainstream society toward the marginalized of various kinds. Returning home, Jack finds his hometowm and his fathers unable to change especially when it comes to race issue. Disappointed at his fathers’ stance toward race and finding out that he cannot provide home to his loving wife and son, Jack leaves home this time quite desperately. His leaving home also means his leaving away from his own family. This family breakup tells of the long way American society would have to go in terms of racial integrity.