Doris Lessing’in Beşinci Çocuk Başlıklı Eserinde Gotik Ögeler ve Aile Parçalanması

Abstract

Doris Lessing’in ilk kez 1988’de yayımlanan Beşinci Çocuk adlı eseri, ana konusu 1960’lar ve 1970’ler İngiltere’sinde geçen bir noveladır. Roman, Lovatts ailesinin beşinci çocukları Ben’in doğumuyla birlikte daha önceki mutlu ve uyumlu aile yaşamlarının bozulmasını konu alır. Ben’in anormal ve tedirgin edici doğası, ev ortamına Gotik bir “ötekilik” duygusu taşır. Bir zamanlar mükemmel bir aile olarak görülen Lovatt ailesi, Ben’in “tekinsiz” ve korkunç varlığının baskısı altında dağılmaya başlar. Romanda okuyucunun dikkatini çeken yalnızca konusu değil, aynı zamanda Lessing’in modern toplumun sorunlarını ortaya koymak amacıyla kullandığı Gotik unsurları modern bir biçimde uyarlayışıdır. Lessing, hem Harriet’in içindeki canavarımsı fetüs hem de oğlunun alışılmadık, korkunç ve canavarımsı yönleri ve davranışları aracılığıyla korku temasını işleyerek modern bir bağlamda aileyi kuşatan dehşet ve şiddet durumlarını ortaya koyar. Bu Gotik unsurlar aracılığıyla, aile ilişkilerinin bozulmasını, ev içi mutluluk ve huzurun yıkımını ve nihayetinde ailenin çöküşünü gözler önüne serer. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Beşinci Çocuk’da Gotik ve korku unsurlarını saptayarak, eserin aile parçalanması temasını, görünüşte düzenli bir evdeki istikrarın çöküşünü ve özellikle çocuklar olmak üzere aile bireylerinin refahı açısından birlik ve huzurun önemini nasıl yansıttığını ortaya koymaktır.

Keywords

• Beşinci Çocuk
• Gotik
• aile parçalanması
• aile saadetinin altüst olması

Gothic Elements and Family Disintegration in Doris Lessing's The Fifth Child

Abstract

First appeared in 1988, Doris Lessing’s The Fifth Child is a short novelwhose main action takes place in the1960s and 1970s England. The novel portrays the disruption of the Lovatts’ previously happy and harmonious family life following the birth of their fifth child, Ben, whose abnormal and unsettling nature introduces a Gothic sense of otherness into the domestic sphere. Once seen as a perfect family, the Lovatts begin to disintegrate under the pressure of Ben’s ‘‘uncanny’’ and monstrous presence. What captures the reader’s attention in the novel is not only its subject matter but also Lessing’s modern adaptation of Gothic elements, which she employs to expose the problems of modern society. By employing the horror theme through both the monstrous foetus inside Harriet and the depiction of her son with his unfamiliar, frightening, and monstrous traits and behaviour, Lessing presents, in a modern setting, the horrors and violent situations surrounding the family. Through these Gothic elements, she reveals the deterioration of familial relationships, the destruction of domestic happiness and contentment, and ultimately the collapse of the family. The aim of this study is to identify the Gothic and horror elements in The Fifth Child to reveal how the novel reflects the theme of family disintegration, and the collapse of stability within a seemingly settled household, and the significance of unity and peace for the well-being of family members, particularly the children.

Keywords

• The Fifth Child
• Gothic
• family disintegration
• destruction of family bliss

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