『도가니』는 장애아동의 인권문제를 다룬 사회 비판적 소설이라는 평가를 주로받아왔다. 그러나 이런 평가의 대부분은 이 소설이 다루고 있는 사건-청각 장애학교에서 실제로 일어난 성폭력 사건-에만 초점을 맞춘 것일 뿐, 소설을 구성하는 미학적 장치와 효과에 대한 면밀한 분석은 제외되어 왔다. 그러나 『도가니』는 중심 사건이 실화에서 비롯되었다는 강한 인상만큼이나 1964년 김승옥이 발표한 무진기행 의 흔적을 독자들에게 선명하게 각인시킨다. 본 논의는 공지영이 무진기행 의 주요 소재와 모티프를 차용한 이유에 주목하여 『도가니』를 분석하였다. ``무진``이라는 공간적 배경과 ``안개``라는 상징적 소재의 유사성 외에, 『도가니』가무진기행 에 빚을 진 가장 큰 부분은 주인공이 느끼는 ``부끄러움``이라는 감정이다. 무진기행 의 윤희중이 무진을 떠나면서 심한 부끄러움을 느꼈던 것처럼, 『도가니 『의 주인공 강인호는 장애아동들의 성폭력 사건을 접하면서 ``부끄러움``이라는 감정을 느끼는데, 이 감정은 가해자나 피해자가 아닌 제3자의 입장에서 인권 문제에 접근하여 문제를 해결하는데 중요한 작용을 한다.

Silenced? has been mostly considered the critical novel of society which deals with human rights issues of handicapped children. But great part of the estimation only has zeroed in on the ripple effect of the case which this novel deals with -the case of sexual violence that actually happened at the school for hearing impaired people- and the social concern of it not on the esthetic devices and effects that compose the novel. The shock of the real story which is the central fact of the novel is not the only thing imprinting on readers. The readers naturally recall Kim Seung-Ok `s Travel to Moojin(1964) when they read ?Silenced?, and it certainly comes from thorough intention and plan of the writer. Therefore this paper analyzed ?Silenced? taking note that writer Gong Ji-Yeong borrowed the main material and motif from Travel to Moojin. Beside similarity of the spatial background which is the ``Moojin`` and the symbolic material which is ``fog``, the biggestborrowing thing from Travel to Moojin is the feeling of ``sense of shame`` which the fictional character feels. Like Yun Hui-Jung of Travel to Moojin feels heavy shame when he leaves Moojin, the character Gang In-Ho of ?Silenced? feels ``sense of shame`` when he meets with the case of sexual violence of handicapped children, and this emotion has an important role in that the third people not the assailants or victims approach human rights issues and solve the problem. The feeling of ``sense of shame`` makes the third people not the assailants or victims of human rights empathize with the victims that are unconnected with them and consider human rights issues as their own problems. Like this, the plot of ?Silenced? which resolves the issues by making readers feel shame is the new literary way to approach human rights issues.