A Feminist Study Of "the Mother" In Pearl S Buck’s The Mother

Pearl S. Buck was famous for her vivid description of Chinese farmers in her works. She mainly chose the images of Chinese farmers in the1930s, narrating their real life condition:their deep dependence on the earth, strong will of living in the turbulent days, their numb mental condition and especially the female’s miserable fates in the patriarchal society. Although Pearl Buck was not an acrimonious feminist, no matter in her novels or other works, she was always paying attention to women’s fates and status, among which Chinese women’s fates were always her favorites focus. This is partly due to her living environment, where she witnessed the heavy burden added by the patriarchal society to the female, especially those talented females, and she really felt sorry for these women’s fates. Thanks to her life experience in China and her careful observation, Pearl Buck had a distinctive view on Chinese women’s fates and their status in the family and society.The Mother is one of Pearl Buck’s master works, in which she created a nameless Chinese mother who was strong, unyielding and brave enough to fight with the fate. There was a kind of stirring power in this stubborn, brave and energetic heroine. As a famer’s wife, she worked hard in the farmland with her husband day in day out, and when she came back home, it was also her duty to do the housework, take care of her husband, children and the old mother-in-law. It was not hard for readers to find the traditional Chinese women’s virtues on her, obedient, industrious, kind-hearted and the ability of bearing children for this family. Meanwhile, the Chinese mother’s sacrifice for her children was just what every mother would like to do, so this nameless mother can be seen as a representative of all mothers in the world. On the other hand, as a typical Chinese woman in the author’s works, the mother, with a little self-consciousness, was awakening to some extent; but on the whole, her miserable fate was just an epitome of Chinese women’s fates in the patriarchal society. In a way, this mother was not only a Chinese mother, but also a symbol of those poor and great mothers in the world. This thesis tries to analyze the image of the mother from the feminism perspective.The thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter one analyzes the traditional virtues on the mother, this traditional Chinese woman, pointing out that those virtues are imposed on women by the patriarchal society; Chapter two is to discuss the mother’s namelessness which is the sign of her lower social status, comparing to most mother’s life conditions in that age; Chapter three probes into the mother’s awakening of self-consciousness, talking over the features of new women reflected in her behavior; Chapter four is the conclusion, as a representative image of the mothers in the world, the mother in this novel was awakening to some degree, but on the whole she was still a traditional Chinese woman oppressed by the patriarchal society.