Tension Between Politics And Gender

Lauren Gilfillan was a well-known American woman writer in the1930s for her only book IWent to Pit College. The United States broke out an unprecedented and severe economic crisisin the early1930s. Gilfillan had graduated from Smith College at that time and then she went toa coal-mining town named Avella in Pennsylvania alone. She participated in the miners’ strikemovement to collect writing material. Her book I Went to Pit College fully shows the miners’situation during this period, so it has historical value. Besides, it highlights the characteristics ofthe left-wing intellectual women. This thesis mainly analyzes and summarizes thecharacteristics of the novel’s content and form, and by text explanation, to present the uniqueaesthetic mind of Gilfillan as a left-wing female writer and point out the significance of herbook in American left-wing literary history.This thesis has four parts. Firstly, this paper briefly introduces Gilfillan’s growing upexperiences and literary works, explains the important value of her book and its status in thehistory of American literature. Secondly, sort out the content of this novel to show its realisticspirit and uniqueness and highlight the characteristics of the left-wing intellectual women’creations. Thirdly, explicate the narrative characteristics of this novel by feminist narratology,and thoroughly discuss how Gilfillan constructed her narrative authority and subjectconsciousness. Finally, fully elucidate the content of this novel and discuss the gender issue ofthe proletariat reflected in it to reveal the differences and class limitation of the feministmovement and show the gender imbalance in the proletariat.