『모두 왕의 사람들』에 나타난 미국정신의 이원적 현상

Divided American Spirit in All the King's Men

This thesis examines the interconnectedness of American thought of the times with individual consciousness of the characters in Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men (1946). As many historians have noted, American consciousness has been divided into two streams since the foundation of the nation. The confrontations between the two ideas, which have been reflected in ‘the spirit of the times,’ resulted in discord among individuals. As Fritz Pappenheim noted, individuals may discover the hitherto hidden aspects of their inner selves or/and become divided in their own selves by becoming a stranger to themselves. The study explores the double consciousness of the characters in relation to history and relates their conflicts and confrontations to the development process of American spirit. As Max Weber earlier noted, Puritanism was often blamed for accelerating American capitalism and, thereby, facilitating secularization of individuals. Warren also criticizes some aspects of American pragmatism, a derivative of Puritanism. Focusing on these aspects, this paper studies how the dual aspects of American consciousness have exerted influence on the characters in the 20th-century novel.