An Analysis Of Struggle Of American Black People In Alice Walker's The Third Life Of Grange Copeland From Perspective Of New Historicism

The Third Life of Grange Copeland is the American famous Black woman writer and Pulitzer Prize for fiction winner Alice Walker's first novel. This novel mainly describes the American Black people who were discriminated and oppressed, their fighting against oppression, and this novel implies a more sufficient way to fight against oppression.This thesis tries to analyze American Black men's fighting against discrimination and oppression from perspective of New Historicism. Veeser thinks that New Historicism"brackets together literature, ethnography, anthropology, art history, and other disciplines and sciences"(Veeser 11). And this thesis begins from perspective of New Historicism, connects the text with politics, economy and ideology to seek a more sufficient way to deal with Black people's situation of being oppressed.This thesis includes these parts: introduction, three chapters and conclusion. The second and third chapters are the focus of this paper. In introduction, Alice Walker's and The Third Life of Grange Copeland's literary position, New Historicism and main plot of the novel are briefly introduced. Chapter One analyzes Black women's physical and spiritual great suffering under White people spiritual and economic oppression and under their family members Black men's discrimination and ill-treatment, and the Black women's struggle and their fighting against oppression from the perspective of connection between text and economy of the New Historicism. This thesis points out that economic independence is very important for success in fighting against the oppression according to different fighting results of the Black women characters.Chapter Two analyzes white people's discrimination against and oppression on American Black men, the bad effects caused by the discrimination and oppression and Black men's actions fighting against the oppression from the perspective of connection between literature and politics of New Historicism. All the oppressed people should unite together to fight against white people's oppression from Black men's failure in fighting against oppression.Chapter Three based on connection between text and ideology of New Historicism, analyzes the phenomenon of the Black children being subjected to the American White people's oppression and their family members'indifference, and inheriting their forefathers'ignorant ideology. Mental slavery hampers the whole Black people's way to succeed in fighting against discrimination and oppression. Grange's education of his granddaughter Ruth's independent ideology implies that the existing ideology should be dismissed and the adverse spiritual and cultural factors which leads to new generation's the same kind of ideological system as their forefathers should be abolished in order to succeed in fighting against oppression.Conclusion tries to find a more sufficient way implied by Alice Walker in this novel to deal with racial discrimination and oppression the Black men, women and children suffered, and their fighting against oppression. The way of fighting against oppression is political union of all the oppressed people, getting economic independence and changing the existing ideology. Uniting the text with politics, economy and culture to analyze The Third Life of Grange Copeland is an interpretation from the perspective of New Historicism. From this, the writer's political writing goal and implied way of dealing with the problems American Black people encountered in politics and economy.