For Them The Bell Tolls: A Socialist Feminist Critique Of Everything I Never Told You

Celeste Ng (1981-) is a rising star among the contemporary ethnic American writers. Being a woman, Ng shows great concern over female living conditions and exhibits a unique insight into women's issues. Her debut Everything I Never Told You has not only explored some issues like race and ethnicity in the mainstream, but also discussed in detail family problems in a sweet disguise, women's state quo, friendship and love among the beloved ones, relatives and friends, for which she has spent much ink and showed great concern. All of these demonstrate Ng's serious contemplation of women's fate.Reading Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You from the perspective of socialist feminism, the thesis aims to explore how women in the novel are oppressed in the patriarchal society. Deborah Madsen asserts that the core concepts of socialist feminism include "power relationships" and "collectivity of oppression". "Power relationships" mainly exist in two aspects:gender roles and sexual division of labor. Gender roles in domestic sphere serve as a means of oppression for men over women in the capitalist society, whereas sexual division of labor dims women's value in economy. Furthermore, relatives and friends unconsciously participate in the collectivity of oppression of women by identifying with the gender roles and sexual division. Taking socialist feminist theories as its framework, the thesis investigates the living conditions of female characters in the novel from three aspects. First and foremost, by focusing on two kinds of women:rebels and subordinates, the author studies in detail the diverse life experiences of Mrs. Walker, Marilyn and Dr. Woolf, revealing the traditional patriarchal prejudice against women, and the oppression from men. Secondly, by examining Mrs. Walker's profession and the event of Marilyn's escape from home, the author argues that sexual division of labor in some sense cements women's social subordinate position. Finally, with a discussion of the characters' involvement in collectivity of oppression and an analysis of the reasons that lead to the death of Lydia, the thesis points out the harm that collectivity of oppression has done on women.Based on the aforementioned analysis, this thesis concludes that Everything I Never Told You reveals three primary reasons for women's oppression in the patriarchal society: gender roles, sexual division of labor and collectivity of oppression. In the novel, inborn gender roles make women under constant control of men, while traditional sexual division of labor reinforces women's subordinate position. Meanwhile, the invisible oppression from friends and family participates in the collectivity of oppression of female characters. Thus, under the effect of many factors, women in Ng's novel, have fallen victim to the patriarchal society.