Narratological Analysis Of The Children's Bach

Like a jewel on the other shore of the ocean, Australian literature has been attracting more and more Chinese scholars with its unique radiance in recent years. Helen Garner is a famous female writer in Australian. Her novel,The Children's Bach , which won the Premier's Literary Award, is regarded as one of the greatest short novels in Australian literature. It exposes the subordinate status of women in a patriarchal society and shows the efforts they've made to fight for their right by telling us the story about the elopement of a housewife. Narratology is an important tool to help readers appreciate narrative texts. This thesis attempts to analyze The Children's Bach based on the theories of narratology, in which the point of view, speech, character and plot of this novel have been studied.Point of view is an important aspect when we analyze a novel and it is also a controversial topic. It decides how a novel is presented and influences the readers'feelings. The Children's Bach mainly employs the third-person omniscient point of view and third-person limited. The former one is useful for accelerating narrative speed and the latter one plays an essential role when it comes to the characterization of Athena. The proper use and switch of these two kinds of points of view contributes a lot to deepen the theme of this work.Speech is a useful tool for character portraying. According to the different degree of the narrator's intervention, speech can be divided into several types: direct speech, free direct speech, indirect speech, free indirect speech and narrative report of speech action. In The Children's Bach, there are a lot of direct speeches, which attract readers a lot. These direct speeches have a strong sound effect and vividly portray each person's characteristics. Dexter's male chauvinist and Athena's tenderness leave a deep impression on us when we read these sentences.Characters and plots are also basic elements in a novel. The success of The Children's Bach also lies in its vivid characters and perfect plots. Men in this novel are male chauvinist when they treat women. However, they are not the so-called villains. They love their children and they are very kind to their friends. Their male chauvinism is a brand of the paternalism culture. Thus, women should challenge the deep footed patriarchy and male-centered culture if they want to get their right. Besides, contrast analysis used in this novel entrusts the characters profound meaning. Although Billy has mental deficiency, he is still good at music. On the contrary, Athena can't sing very well no matter how hard she tried to learn it. This means that music follows man forever. At the same time, in this"non-violence war", Athena's mind develops, so does her characteristics. At the beginning, she was self-abased, and later she became self-conscience, finally she became very confident and independent. This kind of plot is a typical"character-driven plot", which not only tells us the story, but more importantly, but also displays the change of Athena's characteristics. The development of Athena's characteristics and her success symbolize women's success in the"war".