The Haunting Ideology

Doris Lessing, one of the British female writers in the 20 th century, enjoys great popularity in the world. She won Nobel Prize in literature in 2007. Her maiden work, The Grass Is Singing, gains a high reputation abroad and in China. It has been a controversial work and its criticism varies from critic to critic. The novel depicts Southern Africa under the rule of British colonialism during the 1950 s. Lessing exposes the hardships and helplessness of Afrikaners, especially one of the white women, Mary Turner, and the natives.The thesis aims to interpret the novel from the perspective of Althusserian ideological state apparatuses, coupled with patriarchy and colonial discourse. Althusserian ideological state apparatuses include religion, education, family, law, politics, the trade-union, the communications and culture ISA. In the novel, the white colonialists, the white woman and the natives are born into ideology and believe in the notion the ideology brings. And at the same time these people think they are free and will act according to this notion. Certainly, if not, they go against the ruling ideology and they will be a victim of society. Charlie conforms to the dominating ideology so that he can survive. Dick and Tony resist against it at the beginning and are reduced to yielding to it. Moses and Mary are in the same boat. Both behave well based on the predetermined role, but end up in tragedy due to maladjustment.The thesis is composed of introduction, literature review, theoretical framework, discussion and conclusion. They are as follows:Chapter One is Introduction, which is divided into two parts. The first part tells us Doris Lessing’s life, achievement and her major works. The second part states the plots and creative inspiration of The Grass Is Singing.Chapter Two is Literature Review, consisting of domestic and foreign studies. By making a full survey of literature, I propose my thesis statement.Chapter Three is Theoretical Framework. It will introduce the origin, development of the theory of ideology and the major concepts of Althusserian theory of ideology, such as ideological state apparatuses, and relevant terms: colonial discourse and patriarchy.Chapter Four is an analysis and discussion of the novel. The ideology haunts us and nobody can escape it and each has to conform to it. This chapter is made up of three parts. The first part states that the whites are driven by imperialism and colonialism to come to South Africa for economic exploitation and expansion. It not only meets the needs of economic expansion of imperialism, but also satisfies the desire of the colonialists. However, not everyone is subjected to the ruling ideology. Dick lives in his own way, which breaks the ruling ideology, and will be despised and abandoned sooner or later. The second part describes Moses and the like. Ideology interpellates individuals as subjects. Moses and the natives are willing to subject to the ruling ideology. However, interpellation not only brings some pleasure to the natives, but also works through some pain. The natives’ personal rights, rights of speech, freedom and love have been normalized. If they violate it, they will not be accepted by society, just like Moses, whose abnormal relationship with Mary results in his death. The third part depicts the protagonist Mary. Double identity, a colonialist and a woman, traps her in a state of inescapable plight. The patriarchy from her father, Moses and the people around her, the colonialism from the white compatriots, and the increasing acrid feminism acquired from her mother in her childhood force her to enter the abyss of death.Chapter Five is Conclusion. I will reemphasize the ubiquity and innateness of ideology. Although most critics think that The Grass Is Singing aims to criticize racial oppression and colonialism, some propound that it contains invisible writing of colonialism after close reading. Doris Lessing writes most novels about South Africa, but she stresses her identity as an Englishwoman with strong Englishness. It can be seen that the writer has also been influenced by ideology and her works are no exception. Ideology affects how a person behaves as a discourse and is an indispensable part of society. Therefore, we can’t change the ruling ideology; we should adapt ourselves to society so that we can survive, at the same time, we can try to take our initiatives to shape our life and future.