6 Conclusion
Lessing illustrates about the tragic fates of women represented by Mary,poor whitesrepresented by Dick and natives represented by Moses.The oppressed and enslaved characters livein such a cruel society characterized by white domination and man domination,however,theycannot get rid of their tragic fates and gradually walk towards death.This paper uses spatialcriticism theory to interpret physical space,social space and psychological space in The Grass IsSinging.
First,physical space,as characters’activity space and living space,is an indispensablebackground for novel narration.Lessing borrows different physical space to present the survivalplight that Mary faces in the novel.Whether the private space represented by Mary’s house in herchildhood and the tin-roofed house after marriage or the public space represented by the town andstore reveal the survival plight that Mary faces in different space.Second,the social relations ofcharacters promote the emergence of social space,while the social space reproduces the socialrelations of characters.South African society can be perceived as the space of white culture andmale domination.Therefore,faced with such a powerful and suffocating social space,women,poorwhites and natives are gradually marginalized as others and sufferers.Finally,psychological space,to some extent,is the product or projection of physical space and social space.Lessing not onlyreveals the survival plight that main characters represented by Mary,Dick and Moses encounter inthe psychological space,but also presents two love plights:the loveless marriage plight betweenMary and Dick and the interracial love plight between Mary and Moses.
In The Grass Is Singing,whether it is the psychological space of the characters,or theconstantly changing physical space exerting great impacts on the fates of characters,or the socialspace filled with oppression and resistance,they all interprets Lessing’s creative theme:colonialsystem characterized by white domination and patriarchal domination are the source of evil andsuffering in South Africa.The Grass Is Singing undoubtedly becomes Lessing’s passionate andpowerful spatial writing about her hometown Southern Rhodesia.Lessing not only establishes thephysical space represented by private space and public space in the creation of The Grass IsSinging,but also deeply analyzes the social space with its broad meaning and the psychologicalspace of the main characters.It should be mentioned that it is Lessing’s construction of thedifferent space and the interrelations among space that enhance the tragic color of characters andreveal the tragic fate of characters.As a consequence,Lessing expresses her condemnation ofcolonial system characterized by gender discrimination,class discrimination and racialdiscrimination in South Africa.
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