Old Age, A Gift Of Life

Doris Lessing (1919-2013) is one of the most brilliant and outstanding writers in England. She is a prolific writer and has a wide range of topics, including racial issues, sexual relations, politic, environment and war. It is very hard to use a simple standard to describe her, and she is also not the "ism". However, whatever the subject is, we can perceive the attention she pays to the society and the sense of moral responsibility she has in her works.The dilemma of the aged has been a social problem. With the development of society and economy and the improvement of health-care standard, the proportion of the senior is increasing in many countries. Therefore the dilemma of the aged becomes increasingly obvious. More and more writers pay attention to the old. Doris Lessing is one of them; her novel The Diaries of Jane Somers (1984) is a taboo-breaking novel which talks about woman’s process of being old. The Diaries of Jane Somers consists of The Diary of a Good Neighbor (1983) and If the Old Could (1984), which centers on Jane Somers, a successful office lady, the changes of her emotional life and career after she meets an old woman accidentally.This thesis combines feminism and ageism to analyze the heroine Jane’s changes at the threshold of becoming one of the old. It is made up with five chapters. The first chapter introduces Doris Lessing and her work The Diaries of Jane Somers briefly and the literary review both at home and abroad. The methodology, the purpose and the significance the research are given. The second chapter analyzes Jane’s acceptance of motherhood, which explores from Jane’s relationship with her mother and her attitude towards her mother’s dying as well as her new value about children. Jane’s acceptance of motherhood reflects in her change from longing for DINK family to being the surrogate mother of her sister’s daughter. The third chapter explores Jane’s growth in affection, which can be seen from her isolated relationship with her husband to her true love with her lover. She comes to understand that love is a responsibility rather than "being together". Chapter Four mainly explores Jane’s reconsideration of work and old age, which we can perceive from the changes of Jane’s view of life. She stops being a workaholic who lives for work and learns to work for a better life. She is no more afraid of getting old and comes to understand old age is a good gift from life. The Last chapter is the conclusion.