From Passivity To Activity:Representation Of Mexican-Americans’ Life In So Far From God

Ana Castillo,one of the most prolific Chicana writers,is a poet,novelist,editor and playwright,who is interested in gender,race,religion and political issues concerning Mexican immigrants in America.So Far From God,the most important representative of Castillo’s works,has been widely read and highly appraised by scholars and critics since its publication.In the novel,Castillo has exposed various problems faced by Mexican-Americans living in the United States as outsiders,and recorded their struggles and fights against oppression.There have been many researched about this work in literary circle.It has been studied from the feminist perspective,and its complex writing style has drawn a lot of critical attention.Regionality is another issue examined by critics who are interested in the novel because of the special geographical position-border between America and Mexico—of the place that constitutes the setting of the story.Religion has also been discussed,for it is an important part of Mexican culture.However,there are still some inadequacies in the existing researches.Because Castillo is a female writer and the major characters in this novel are mostly women,researches seem to have focused on their female identity too much to notice their other identities.Though previous researches are touched upon the issues of race,gender and religion,often the issues are considered separately.The present author thinks that the issues of race,gender and religion presented in this novel are interrelated to each other and that the life situation of the characters is not the result of problems in one aspect,but problems in these aspects working together.Moreover,the present author has detected two patterns in the novel.The first is various kinds of "abandonment" the characters suffer;the other is the characters’transformation from passive existence to active struggle.Therefore,this thesis is to first explain the phenomenon of "abandonment",then prove that abandonment concerned with gender,race and religion has led to Mexican-Americans’ passive existence,and finally reveal the active struggle of Mexican-Americans to improve their lives.This thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter briefly introduces the author and the work under discussion,gives a general survey of Castillo studies both at home and abroad,and explains the main contents of this thesis.Chapters Two to Four constitute the body part of this thesis.Chapter Two analyzes the internal problems that have caused Mexican-Americans’ passive existence,including gender oppression and Mexican-Americans’ abandonment of their homelands.Chapter Three discusses the external abandonment by American government and Christian religion.Mexicans are welcomed in the United States as an important source of labour force,but the government does not take any measures to deal with their problems,so they are marginalized not only in occupational structure,but also in culture.They cannot find comfort in religion,either.Religious faith is an important part of Mexican culture and usually provides great solace for them.However,the Mexicans in America find that the Christian God is so far away from them though the church is nearby.Although their passive existence has brought Mexican-Americans into a hopeless abyss,they finally launch the fight.Chapter Four of this thesis is devoted to the revelation of Mexican-Americans’ efforts to change their lives from passivity to activity.The last chapter is the conclusion,which summarizes the previous discussions.It is hoped that this study will further foregrounds the realistic significance of the novel.