芥川竜之介｢羅生門｣論

A Study on Rashoumon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa - Examining its Paradoxical World -

本論文では、｢羅生門｣の、無政府同然の状況において、飢死か盗人か という瀬戸際に立たされてしまった孤立同然の一人ぼっちの下人が、同じ 境遇の老婆の自己弁護のための生存の論理に勇気づけられ、迷い続けてい た法破りを冒してしまう過程において外なる世界といかに拘っていくのか を、芥川竜之介の他の作品をも視野にいれながら探ってみた。ためらい続 け、揺れ動く下人に比べると、老婆は、遥かに健気で逞しく生きている人 物である。法や秩序などが不在し、意味が持てない世界において、老婆の 自己弁護が悪の循環論理を再生産する詭弁にすぎないとは言えまい。迷い から決断へ、死路から活路へ自分を導き出してくれた老婆を相手として、 法破りを実行する下人の背理は、まさに逆説的な反転と言えよう。逆説的 な場面と状況はここだけではない。例えば、孤立無援の一人ぼっちの下人 が、死者が棄てられている空間を｢一晩楽にねられさうな所｣として求めな ければならない状況がある。また、一時的ではあるが、腕力で｢支配されて ゐる｣者に、逆に自己弁護の言説で動かされる関係性も取り上げられる。また、死者の身体から抜いた髪の毛で生き延びるしかない生者と、その生者か ら活路へ導き出される逆説的ないきさつが挙げられる。作品末尾で、下人に 活路への知恵と勇気を提供しながら、その知恵と勇気の犠牲者にもなった老 婆が｢白髪を倒にして｣下人が立ち去った｢門の下を覗きこ｣む場面は、逆説と 不可知の世界を相対化する象徴として読み取ることも出来るであろう。

In Rashoumon, a lonely law-rank person, the main character who finds himself in a situation where he cannot do anything but to starve to death or to become a thief in the anarchy-like situation, is encouraged by the logic of existence for self-justification by an old lady suffering from the same situation. In this article, through comparison with other literary works by Akutagawa, we explore the process whereby the main character breaks the law and the way in which he is involved in the external world. Compared with the unstable law-rank person, the old lady is much more courageous and brave. In the meaningless world where no law or order exists, the self-justification of the old lady cannot be simply regarded as a sophism which re-creates the cyclic logic of evil. The anti-logic of the law-rank person who faces the old lady (who leads him to a “decision” and a “way-out”) and breaks the law can be viewed as the paradoxical reversal. There are also other paradoxical scenes and situations. A case in point is the situation where the law-rank person, who is isolated and receives no support from anyone, must seek for a place where the dead bodies are abandoned as a “place where he can comfortably sleep for a night.” Another notable situation is where he is affected by the person “who is governed by brute force” through his self-justificatory statement. Also, relevant to the current point is the paradoxical relation between a person who lives by plucking hair from the dead body and another person who is encouraged by the person. While the old lady gives wisdom to the law-rank person and encouraged him, she is at the same time a victim of the wisdom and courage. At the end of the story, “with her gray fringe,” the old lady looks through the bottom of the gate which the law-rank person left; this scene can be treated as a symbol which relativizes the world of paradoxes and mysteries.