랜포드 윌슨의 Redwood Curtain에 나타난 문학적 성과와 한계 고찰

초록

This paper aims at revealing the literary achievements and the limitations of Lanford Wilson’s Redwood Curtain. One of its literary achievements is that it has a counterpoint structure in which three independent but interrelated themes are dramatized by three characters. The theme centering on Lyman is that the Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD have not reintegrated into American society many years after the Vietnam War. The theme concerning Geri is that Amerasian children try to find their biological fathers for the purpose of finding themselves many years after the Vietnam War. The theme regarding Geneva is that the redwood forest is in great danger because of extremely profit-seeking conglomerates. In addition, each character plays important roles to develop the themes regarding the others. Another literary achievement of the play is that the playwright induces readers/audiences to consider that each theme can be interrelated to other American historical events. The theme regarding Lyman can be interrelated to the Second World War, the Persian Gulf War, and other wars America has intervened. The theme regarding Geri can be interconnected to Americans’ finding themselves in the 1960s and finding their fathers even in 1990. The theme regarding Geneva based on the hostile takeover of Pacific Lumber Company by Maxxam, Inc. in 1986 can be interrelated to the largest oil spill in Alaska in 1989 and other environmental disruptions in America. On the other hand, the play has two limitations. One is that the Vietnamese and their society mentioned by Geri reveals the playwright’s orientalism. The other is that the playwright’s remark that Gymnopédies represents all cultures is unconvincing. Notwithstanding, Redwood Curtain deserves critical attention because it deals with three issues of the American society from the 1970s to 1990 which are interrelated to other American historical events.

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