On The Identity Of The Marginalized Characters In Ship Of Fools From The Perspective Of Space Theory

Katherine Anne Porter(1890-1980)is one of the greatest American Southern female writers,and her Ship of Fools(1962)which depicts a ship of fools onboard Vera sailing from Mexico to Germany is regarded as a microcosm of the society before World War II.Consequently,the novel has received a great deal of compliments from various critics.Despite the fact that many a scholar has already discussed about the thematic concerns in Ship of Fools,the issue of the marginalized characters’ identity still need to be explored further.Based on Henri Lefebvre’s space theory,this thesis attempts to analyze the identity of the marginalized characters in Ship of Fools,including the underclass,female,represented by Mrs.Treadwell,and the racial minorities,represented by Wilhelm Freytag,in different spaces on Vera.Accordingly,the body of this thesis is divided into three chapters.Chapter One unveils the identity loss of the marginalized characters by focusing on physical space and the images in it.Through the transference of space,the images in the steerage have formed a striking contrast to those of the first class,under which the underclass fall into taciturnity and become “subalterns”.Due to male’s intrusion into female’s private space,Mrs.Treadwell’s independence undergoes serious damage,hence the perplexity of her gender identity.In the separated spaces on Vera triggered by the racism,Wilhelm Freytag is excluded by the both racial parties and suffers from the identity split.In exploring the identity pursuit of these marginalized characters,Chapter Two analyzes their spatial practices in social space.By mimicking the carnival of the first class and even sacrificing themselves,the underclass seek for a dignified class identity.Under the catalysis of alcohol,Mrs.Treadwell,moreover,resists against the patriarchal values with violence and longs for an independent gender identity.And Wilhelm Freytag,through the eulogy of his Jewish wife,and via the confrontations with other passengers,quests for a new racial identity.Chapter Three,then,from the lens of mental space,probes into the attempted identity reconstruction of people in the periphery: the underclass reconstruct their identities as the ones with freedom in the fantasy of home;Mrs.Treadwell redefines herself as the one with independence through introspection in peace and calm;Wilhelm Freytag re-endows himself an identity as a “Jewish German” in the reconciliations with life.Throughout the analysis above,this thesis concludes that the identity loss of the marginalized in physical space unfolds a panorama of the discriminated society before World War II.Yet,these marginalized characters are not as silent as they are defined.Instead,they endeavor in social space to erase the stereotypical identities imposed on them.Nonetheless,the marginalized characters,though reconstruct their identities in mental space,could hardly change their fate in a world of bias and injustice.Therefore,the present research on the identity of the marginalized characters in Ship of Fools,might,on the one hand,better our comprehension of the eerie ideologies,the vague behaviors,as well as the intricate social system of the western world during the war time,and,on the other hand,help us find a way to achieve the “community of a shared future for mankind” advocated currently.