Plague and Human Value in Memuchiri Kouchi

Abstract

Sickness and disease have long been presented in literature. In addition to academic documents and other historical evidence, we can learn about illnesses, sicknesses, diseases and pandemics in the past through literature. The storytelling of diseases through literature not only provides readers with the opportunity to imagine the state of society at the time of the disease, it also reflects the author's view on other social issues that existed at the time. As well as the Japanese contemporary novel , Memuchiri Kouchi 『芽 む し り 仔 撃 ち 』 that was created by Oe Kenzaburo in 1958  , the author used "plague" （疫病 ） with a cholera-like symptoms as a key element of the novel in presenting various problems in Japanese society after World War II. In this article, the researcher aims to study how “plague” is used as a key element in the novel and how “plague” as a key element of the story reflects the problems of Japanese postwar society. Also, how it reflects the concept of human beings in contemporary society at that time.  From the study, it was found that the author used the key element "plague" in creating the process of depriving human value of the characters and convey the concept of human values ​​such as social inequality, the problem of oppression of power in Japanese society during that time which is a negative reflection of human beings. But at the same time, "plague" is a key element of the story in presenting positive human values, such as human independence, human friendship which reinforces the concept of the duality (両義性) of things that Oe Kenzaburo adheres