The Tragedy Of The Other In The Grass Is Singing:A Postcolonial Interpretation

Doris Lessing(1919-2013) is the most outstanding and brilliant female writer after Virginia Woolf in the contemporary British literature. Her works deeply reflect the changes of human thoughts, emotions and cultures, and therefore Lessing has been praised as one of the unique western novelists who embrace sympathetic souls in the 20 th century. In 2007, Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature because of her gigantic literary achievements, being the eleventh winner of this award as a female. Her early works are mostly set in South Africa and have a strong characteristic of autobiography, concerning people’s survival condition. The Grass Is Singing is Lessing’s first full-length novel, which caused a sensation among the critics on its publication. Unfolding itself around an incident that a white mistress was killed by her black houseboy, the novel draws a full picture of the social situation of South Africa in the mid-twentieth century when it was under the Britain colonial rule.The situation of being marginalized by both the colony and the empire gives rise to Lessing’s Other identity, which enables her to create works concerning the living conditions of the Other. This thesis will interpret The Grass Is Singing from the perspective of the Other in the sphere of postcolonialism, trying to explore the tragic fate of the natives and women as the Other in South Africa where racism and patriarchy were prevailing.This thesis consists of three parts. The first part is an introduction, briefly introducing Lessing’s life and her literary works, the Other theory in the sphere of postcolonialism, as well as the domestic and foreign research of the novel. The second part is from Chapter One to Chapter Three and constitutes the main body of the thesis. The first chapter analyzes the oppression of the natives as the racial Other by the whites. The British colonizers settled on the African land, claiming that they had absolute superiority. They fabricated the colonial myth, viewed South Africa as the Other world and carried out the system of racial discrimination by means of legislation and administration. Encouraged by the colonial government, the whites treated the natives ruthlessly and relentlessly, trapping the natives into helpless situation. The second chapter elaborates the oppression of the female as the gender Other by the male, and attention is mainly focused on the white female representative Mary Turner. In the patriarchal society, women were constantly monitored and constrained by the social ethics. Women who had any signs of deviation from the social norms would be marginalized. They were forced to be the accessories and complements of men. Besides, in the married life, women suffered even more gender discrimination. The third chapter interprets the doomed rebellion of the Other against the oppression. Confronted with the oppression, some of them initiated rebellion to show their discontent and strive for equality, but their attempts proved to be failures. The black community attempted to negotiate with the colonizers to weaken their conflict, but their mild revolt cannot topple over the whites’ regime and they finally submitted unconditionally. However, Moses’ powerful rebellion led to his final death and his people’s permanent enslavement. Mary as a female also initiated rebellion. She tried to escape from her husband Dick, but she was trapped into deeper repression. When the native Moses appeared in her life, Mary pursued genuine love at the cost of her life. Her final death was inevitable in a society where patriarchy and colonialism were prevailing. The thesis is ended with a conclusion that re-emphasizes Lessing’s concern of the “Other’s” fate and notes that Lessing’s singing grass is essentially the wailing Other in the colonial Africa.