毕业论文关键词：《野草在歌唱》     多丽丝·莱辛     困境     反抗

Contents 

Abstract i

摘  要 iii

Contents iv

Introduction 1

Chapter One Reasons for Rebellion 4

1.1 Oppressed by Patriarchal System 4

1.2 Trapped in Racial Discrimination 8

Chapter Two  Acts of Rebellion 11

2.1 Rebellion as a Woman 11

2.2 Rebellion as a White 13

Chapter Three Result of Rebellion 17

3.1 Failure of Rebellion 17

3.2 Causes of Failure 19

3.3 Significance of Rebellion 21

Conclusion 24

Works Cited 26

Acknowledgements 27

Analysis on Mary Turner’s Rebellion in The Grass Is Singing

Introduction  Doris Lessing is one of the most productive and influential writers in the modern society. Throughout her life, Lessing has written near 70 novels, 16 short story collections as well as many essays and articles. Also, Doris Lessing is a socially concerned writer. “She insists that an artist should have a social responsibility” (Green 11). Her winning of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007 has been the best recognition of the writing skills and humanity she has shown through her works.   

The Grass Is Singing is Doris Lessing’s first novel which is based on her early experiences in the Rhodesian [today Zimbabwe] veld in South Africa. The novel begins with a shocking news report about a murder : Mary Turner, the wife of a landowner, is murdered by her black servant. Then, the story flashbacks to Mary’s whole life experience, including her unfortunate childhood, her comfortable life in town, her miserable marriage with the poor farmer Dick Turner, her human relationship with Moses, and her final mental breakdown and death.

Since its publication, the novel has drawn many critics’ attention. And the studies

on it have been fruitful. The studies abroad mainly analyze the novel from following perspectives. First, the post-colonial perspective. And the representative work is Sexual-Political Colonialism and Failure of Inpiduation in Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing written by Sima Aghazadeh. Second, the gender, race, class perspective. The representative work is Lynne Hanley’s Writing Across the Color Bar: Apartheid and Desire. 

Beginning in the 1980s, domestic studies on the novel lags a little behind the studies abroad. And the perspectives of these studies includes feminism, colonialism, 

psychological analysis and so on. The corresponding representative works are Lu Ling’s “The Female Image in Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing”, Xia Qiong’s “The Distortion of Human Nature and the Colonial Tragedies—A Review of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing” and Tao Ruixuan’s “The Divided Self and Being at Risk : A Laingian Interpretation of Doris Lessing’s The Grass Is Singing”.      

In the novel, Doris Lessing “questions the entire values of Rhodesian white colonial society”(Whitteaker 28). Through the description of the whole life of Mary Turner, Lessing shows her disapproval of the patriarchal system, racial discrimination as well as her sympathy for the poor whites. However, the irrational social systems and the poor whites’ tough life are not the only focuses of Lessing. More importantly, in the novel, the poor white Mary Turner embodies the courage and braveness to rebel against the unshakable social rules as well as her own poor living conditions, just like the grass, though trampled by others, still singing the song of life. Based on the previous studies, this paper focuses on the rebellion of Mary Turner as well as its result and significance. It it is made up of three parts. The first part mainly describes the causes of Mary Turner’s rebellion, including her low social position as a woman, her fear and inner struggle coming from her crossing the color bar. The second part is about the acts of Mary’s rebellion. By displaying her competence and efficiency, she tries to get rid of the control of men. By having a human relationship with Moses, her true love, she bravely crosses the strict color bar. In the third part, we draw a conclusion that Mary fails in her rebellion, and further analyze the causes of her failure, which are the unshakable, though deformed, social systems and her own submission to the irrational social rules. Although Mary’s rebellion fails in the end, it still has its personal and social significance. And I hope the analysis on Mary’s rebellion and its significance can inspire more women to revolt and specify the direction for them.