영어로 읽는 고전 _ 메러디스 니콜슨의 사회장벽 깨기
"Broken Barriers"는 20세기 초(1922년)에 쓰인 Meredith Nicholson의 소설입니다.
이 작품은 활기차고 자립심이 강한 젊은 여성 Grace Durland를 중심으로 전개됩니다. 그녀는 가족의 재정적 어려움으로 인해 대학을 그만두고 집으로 돌아와야 하는 상황에 직면합니다. 그녀가 새로운 환경에 적응해 나가는 과정에서, 이야기는 급변하는 세상 속 사회 변화, 성역할, 개인의 야망이라는 주제들을 깊이 있게 다룹니다.
소설은 Grace가 기차 여행 중에 가족의 재정 위기로 인해 대학을 떠나야 하는 실망감을 되새기면서도, 앞으로 펼쳐질 일들에 대한 모험심을 느끼는 장면으로 시작됩니다. 집에 도착한 그녀는 가족과 재회하며, 아버지가 자신이 일구어낸 사업에서 쫓겨나 겪고 있는 최근의 어려움을 알게 됩니다.
등장인물들의 대화는 Durland 가족 내의 긴장감, 특히 Grace와 그녀의 언니 Ethel 사이의 갈등을 드러내며, 사회적 기대와 여성의 직장 생활에 대한 그들의 상반된 시각을 부각시킵니다. Grace가 백화점에서 일자리를 찾으려는 결심은 가족의 압박 속에서도 독립을 추구하는 그녀의 의지를 보여주며, 이는 사회적 장벽에 맞서는 자아 발견과 회복력의 여정을 예고합니다.
Classics Read in English _ Broken Barriers by Meredith Nicholson
"Broken Barriers" by Meredith Nicholson is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story centers around Grace Durland, a spirited and self-reliant young woman who faces family financial struggles that force her to leave college and return home. As she navigates her new circumstances, the narrative delves into themes of societal change, gender roles, and personal ambition in a rapidly evolving world. At the start of the book, Grace is depicted on a train journey, reflecting on her disappointment at having to leave the university due to her family’s financial crisis, while also feeling a sense of adventure about what lies ahead. Upon arriving home, she reconnects with her family and learns about her father’s recent struggles after being ousted from a business he helped create. The dialogue reveals tensions within the Durland family, especially between Grace and her older sister Ethel, highlighting their differing views on societal expectations and the role of women in the workforce. Grace’s determination to find work in a department store demonstrates her desire for independence amidst familial pressures, setting the stage for her journey of self-discovery and resilience against societal barriers.
Among the contents
As the train sped through the night Grace Durland decided that after all it didn’t matter so much!
She had parted tearfully from the girls at the sorority house and equally poignant had been the goodbyes to her friends among the faculty; but now that it was all over she was surprised and a little mystified that she had so quickly recovered from her disappointment. Bitterness had welled in her heart at the first reading of her mother’s letter calling her home. Her brother Roy, always the favored one, was to remain at the University to finish the law course, for which he had shown neither aptitude nor zeal, and this hurt a little. And they might have warned her of the impending crisis in the family fortunes before she left home to begin the fall term, only a month earlier.
But her resentment had passed. The spirit of adventure beat in her breast with strong insistent wing. With the fatalism of imaginative youth she was already assuring herself that some force beyond her control had caught her up and was bearing her on irresistibly.
