On The Theme Of Victimization And Survival In Surfacing

Margaret Atwood is a famous contemporary Canadian novelist, poet and literarycritic. She has published more than40works and received numerous honors and awards.Atwood is obsessed with the theme of victimization and survival which permeates herwriting career. Moreover, Atwood tends to compare and combine the survival conditionof women and the oppressed situation of nature while writing about the theme of survival.Meanwhile, since women and Canada share the same marginalized status, Atwood woulduse the survival of women as the basis to imply the marginalized condition of Canadiannation. Thus women, nature and nation are independent and interrelated, combining amulti-faced manifestation of Atwood’s thoughts on the basis of survival.Surfacing, the masterpiece of Atwood, is hailed as one of the most important novelsin the20thcentury. Atwood’s recurring theme of survival is fully manifested in this novel.Thus this thesis chooses Surfacing as the study object. Taking victimization and survivalas the basis, this thesis aims to analyze the survival issue of women, nature and Canadiannation with theories of eco-feminism and post-colonialism and tries to provide a newangle so as to enrich the study on the theme of survival of Atwood.This thesis consists of three parts, including introduction, main body andconclusion.The introduction aims to give a brief survey of Margaret Atwood’s achievements,her writing career and a summery of Surfacing. Moreover, current research both at homeand abroad on the theme of this thesis is also covered. Finally, the innovation points andrealistic significance of this thesis are presented in introduction.The second part is the main body which includes three chapters.Chapter one mainly covers the introduction to eco-feminism and post-colonialism.Firstly, this part introduces the origin, representatives and main points of view ofeco-feminism. Secondly, this chapter discusses the origin, representatives and main ideasof post-colonialism from the perspective of its culture theories.Chapter two aims to analyze the victimization and survival of women as well asnature in Surfacing. Women and nature enjoy affinities since they both have naturalattribute of reproduction and occupy the marginalized status in the society. Thus natureand women are closely connected. This chapter is divided into four parts which aim to analyze the victimization and survival of women as well as nature on the basis of theirvictimization, awakening, resistance and fight. The first part displays the victimization ofwomen and nature, which is manifested from two perspectives including women’ssurvival condition in the male-oriented society and the victimization of nature in theanthropocentric society. Women suffer the physical and mental harm under the influenceof patriarchal thinking. Humans, who deem themselves as the master of the world, tendto destroy the environment to satisfy their desires. The second part mainly discusseswomen’s awakening from victimization. First, women in Surfacing begin to recognizethat nature is being victimized. Then through the close connections between nature andwomen, they finally realize that women are oppressed in this society. The third partanalyzes the resistance from women and nature. On one hand, facing humans’ endlessrequests and persecution, nature has warned human beings of the dangers of their brutalbehavior. Humans are now suffering from what they have done to nature. On the otherhand, female characters in Surfacing have developed the sense of resistance afterrecognizing their oppressed situation. Anna is the first one who has the intention to rebel.However, her sense of resistance is far from being mature. Thus her resistance is boundto fail. Compared with Anna, the protagonist develops a profound and mature awarenessof resistance. Hence, she succeeds in protecting women from being victimized in themale-dominated society. The fourth part mainly elaborates Atwood’s idea aboutrebuilding a harmonious relationship between women and men as well as between natureand human beings after the resistance of women and nature. Atwood calls for equalitybetween women and men. Moreover, she asks for a harmonious co-existence betweennature and human beings.Chapter three aims to analyze the victimization and survival of Canadian nation.This chapter consists of three parts, including the victimization of national identity, theawakening of nationhood and the establishment of national identity. The first part mainlycovers the victimization of Canadian national identity. On one hand, the colonial culturestill exerts its influence on Canadians. Thus Canadians hold a vague sense of nationalidentity in the post-colonial context. On the other hand, the economic and culturalpenetration from America threatens Canadian national identity. The second part analyzesCanadians’ awakening of nationhood. With the rapid development of economy and the increasingly international influence of Canada, Canadians have held a stronger sense ofnational pride. They manage to define their unique national identity. However, because ofthe colonial mentality, some of them are not able to develop a mature sense of awakening.Atwood criticizes these people while hoping those with firm resolution to find outCanadian characteristics. The third part mainly discusses Atwood’s idea about theestablishment of Canadian national identity. She argues that the establishment of nationalidentity includes two steps. Firstly, Canada needs to face the colonial history to achievethe integrity of identity. Secondly, on the basis of integrated identity, Canadians couldregain their roots of nation through national culture, enabling Canadian nation to standtowering in the international community.Conclusion gives a summary of this thesis. Margaret Atwood’s eco-feministawareness and her concern for Canadian nation are intertwined and interdependentthrough the motif of survival. With paying close attention to victimization and survival ofwomen, nature and nation, Atwood has achieved the sublimation of her humanistic carewhich is shown through her concern for individuals, women and the whole humanity.Meanwhile, this part also explains the realistic significance of this thesis. It points outthat the establishment of Canadian national identity and the achievement of a harmoniousrelationship between women and men as well as nature and humans are of greatimportance.