Dangling Man : 도덕적 갈등의 내면적 극화

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Dangling Man dramatizes the inner drama of the hero, Joseph whose agony is the conflict between the two world: his ideals and the reality. His problem is $quot;How should a good man live: what ought he to do?$quot; And this is dramatized through the dialogue with himself.
Joseph is estranged from wife, friends and relatives representing the connection with society. His alienation comes from the impact of the war. In this work, the war makes Joseph question the validity of the western tradition, where freedom and independence is glorified. He, in the center of the most brutal war in history, argues with himself of the war, of action of any sort, and of the heritage of civilized thought which brought western man to their terrible situation.
Under this situation, Joseph tries to find a meaning which can assures the stability of his life. Unlike the traditional heroes, Joseph does not resist against the society directly. His rebellion is directed toward himself. In his moral dilemma, the society is replaced by his other ego which functions as a critic of himself. His outer experiences which are brutal are recalled in his consciousness, and he tries to reconcile the experiences with his ideals through the dialogue with himself. His ideals is to have a life of freedom and independence. In the process of the development of his consciousness, he comes to realize the dark side of human existence from which he can not evade. But he does not try to confront the reality and is paralyzed in a seizure of thought. He lacks the will to change his ideas into action. Rather, he escape from the reality by deciding to volunteer for the army. In spite of his strong passion for morality, he remains as passive and unfinished character.
In this novel, ideas themselves are the most active and interesting characters of the action because the conflicts between ideals and reality is happening only in the consciousness of the protagonist, Joseph. Bellow tries to emphasize the conflict itself rather than to give an answer to the moral problem of human existence. The dramatic tension is sustained by the conflict of ideas itself rather than by real character.