The Hard Journey Of Women's Growth-A Feminist Interpretation Of Colleen Mccullough's The Thorn Birds

The Thorn Birds, published in the year of 1977, is the masterpiece of contemporary Australian writer Colleen McCullough. Since its first publication, it has caused great stir in the world, and is reputed as the"Gone with the Wind of Australia", and one of the ten modern classics. The Thorn Birds is a magnificent saga novel, telling the life experiences and emotional courses of three generations in Cleary family. It is a plangent love story with the theme of love and fate. The different experiences and fates of the four female characters in the novel become a true reflection of Australian women's liberation and growth. Women's difficult journey from silence to awakening then to maturation is worth attention and study. This thesis aims to analyze this hard journey reflected in the novel on the basis of feminist theories. It consists of five parts, with three chapters coming between the introduction and the conclusion.The introduction provides the basic information about the author Colleen McCullough, and makes a review of the criticisms and research on this novel. Former studies have analyzed The Thorn Birds from different perspectives, including the study of its theme, symbolism, images, and female characters, etc.Chapter One makes a brief survey on the development of feminist movement in Australia and the related theories of feminist criticism. For centuries, marginalized women in Australia have tried hard to fight for their equal rights and opportunities, and have made some achievements. Feminists have analyzed women's innate images under patriarchy and their identity as the other. They demand to change women's subordinate position and pursue women's independence in rights, personality and economic issues, so as to violate the traditional gender dichotomy and achieve women's liberation and the harmony between genders.Chapter Two makes an analysis on women's oppression and awakening. It explores the images of Fiona Cleary and Mary Carson who live in the same age, and reveals the awakening of the female consciousness and the limitations of women's struggles in the early stage of feminist movement. Fiona's obedience to her father and husband and her hard work for the family show us an image of an oppressed other. However, her pursuit of love in the early years shows her budding female consciousness. Mary Carson is totally different. She has been fighting actively in her whole life for the equal power and position with men, but has paid heavy prices. In this process, she has unconsciously gone to extremes and distorted her personality. She is not able to help other women to get rid of social oppressions, nor is she able to build a harmonious relationship between genders.Chapter Three makes a study on women's rebellion and growth. It analyzes the images of Meggie and Justine, and reveals women's transformation and growth in hardships. As an obedient woman, Meggie suffers a lot from society, religion and marriage, but is always unable to get the happiness she wants. After a series of hardships, her female consciousness is gradually awakened. Finally, she manages to get rid of the marital bonds, and courageously begins her pursuit of true love. The image of Justine embodies greater significance in the development of feminism. She owns independent thoughts and personality, and has got a place in society through her own efforts. What's more, she has achieved real equality and harmony with her lover Rainer. Their relationship reflects the equality and harmony between genders, which is also the ideal goal of feminism.The thesis ends with a conclusion drawn from the preceding studies: The Thorn Birds shows us the true experiences of women's pursuit of equality and liberation. The rise and fall in those four women's life make up an epitome of the social transformation and women's growth in Australia. In order to achieve liberation, women have to fight bravely against male oppression. But we should see that the final goal of women's fighting is to realize the equality and harmony between genders. And only when the harmonious relationship has been realized can women grow healthily in the future.