Ginny’s Awakening

There are many famous writers in American literature, and Jane Smiley is one of them.She has written many novels and her masterpiece A Thousand Acres is awarded the PulitzerPrize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Since its publication, there have been manycritical essays on it. Most of the critical essays are from the perspective of its ecocriticism, theintertextual study of the A Thousand Acres and others are from the perspective ofecofeminism consciousness. Yet few novels are from the perspective of the narrative space.As a representative modernist writer, Smiley overthrows the traditional linear narrative patternin A Thousand Acres, and forms a new system of time and space.This thesis is divided into five chapters. Part one is the introduction of this thesis,including the author and her works, the studies at home and abroad, and the significance ofthis thesis. Part two is about the study of the topographical space. The three different countries:Zebulon Country, Mason City and Perkins, which has different meanings to Ginny. Part threeis about the textual space, which is about the Juxtaposition and embodied in images of thenovel. Part four is from the perspective of the shaping of the characters, from the perspectiveof the female space to shape the character. Part five is about the conclusion of the thesis. Inconclusion, it is emphasized again that narrative space provides a new approach todeciphering the novel. That is significant in understanding the novel and the influence of thecontent. This will deepen in understanding the change of the protagonist and understandingthe awakening of her too.