THE THEME OF FEMALE SELF-DISCOVERY IN THE NOVELS OF JUDITH ROSSNER, GAIL GODWIN, ALICE WALKER, AND TONI MORRISON

Of the many women writing novels based on theme of self-discovery, four contemporary writers--Judith Rossner, Gail Godwin, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison--have developed this theme with consistency, art, variety, and increasing maturity. Their novels, dealing with female characters in search of role and meaning, explore how cultural pressures, marriage myths, movies, literature, guilt, irresponsibility, and fear often impede growth and self-knowledge.; The most traditional of the four writers in her narrative technique and thematic treatment, Judith Rossner often depicts her heroines discovering themselves in relation to their husbands and children, though she acknowledges the tenuous nature of family relationships. Her perspective, however, is representative of many American women novelists who propose a domestic solution to the problem of female identity.; Gail Godwin's heroines, unlike Rossner's, resist or abandon marital ties to search for self-knowledge alone. In their quest for identity, Godwin's heroines must recognize the familial or literary myths that have controlled their lives and rely on internal, not external, resources to sustain them.; While Alice Walker's protagonists seek their identity alone, they also return to communal and political responsibilities to share their knowledge and freedom with others. Walker's characters discover themselves in the fullest sense--by going into their personal and racial past and projecting into a future without racial divisions.; Toni Morrison depicts the integral relationship between self and community, for she is ultimately writing about black as well as female identity. Her novels paradoxically portray emerging self-awareness despite and because of community (and national) dereliction since Morrison's protagonists must recognize the need for a nurturing and responsible community as they discover their roles in life. Morrison's novels also reveal female figures who are increasingly self-aware, culminating in Pilate Dead of Song of Solomon, a prototypical female figure for other novels employing the self-discovery theme.