Identity Predicaments In Bastard Out Of Carolina

Bastard out of Carolina, a semi-autobiography written by Dorothy Allison,won the National Book nomination in1992. It is Allison’s honest description ofsome dark and brutal social phenomena that catches critics’ attention. With thesupport of identity theories, this research aims to explore what factors lead to whitetrash group members’ marginalized identity predicament, Glen’s identity plightbetween two classes and the female characters’ subordinate identity plight, and whatnegative influences they will result in.Through the research, it can be concluded that it is the co-occurrence ofingroup expelling and outgroup discrimination that leads to identity predicament.Some Boatwright family members, such as Anney and Raylene attempt to get rid ofthe white trash identity through changing their behaviors and lifestyles. However, thestereotype image of the white trash collective makes it impossible for outgroups toembrace them. Meanwhile, as females, they are economically and emotionallysubordinate in the patriarchal society. Although some female characters try to castoff this subordinate identity, they suffer disapproval and discrimination from bothmales and females. In their identity plights, they try to reject the ingroup on theirown initiative, but their attempts receive no favorable response from outgroups. Onthe contrary, in Glen’s case, he serves as the bearer of ingroup expelling and theagent of outgroup discrimination. On the one hand, his ideal identity of being a whitemiddle class member is denied by the ingroup members, due to his failure on careerand poor living condition. On the other hand, although he marries Anney, a memberof the white trash family, he views himself superior to them and despites them. Hisidentity predicament directly results in violence and negative emotions, such asself-contempt and anger. Bone’s tragic growing-up experience of being abused byher stepfather and being abandoned by her mother is indeed the consequences of theadults’ identity predicaments. Therefore, one requisite for breaking through identitypredicament is to eliminate inter-group discrimination or to establish multipleidentities to avoid being trapped in a certain identity predicament.