An Interpretation Of The Known World From The Perspective Of Role Theory

The Known World (2003) is the masterpiece of an African American writer Edward Jones(1950-). By describing the story of black slave owners in the antebellum American south, thewriter portrays the complexity of slavery in an astounding manner, unfolding the mostsensitive part of African American history. Instead of laying much emphasis on the binaryopposition of the white and the black, or how the black fight for freedom and dignity, thisremarkable novel focuses more on the complexity of slavery and human nature. The novelwon the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in2004and the International IMPAC Dublin LiteraryAward in2005.In view that the novel involves abundant roles, the thesis intends to explore impacts ofsociety on roles and the social control mechanism by analyzing the role phenomena from thefollowing aspects: role expectation, role perception and role conflict.This thesis is composed of three parts: introduction, body chapters and conclusion.Introduction makes a general introduction to Edward P. Jones and his works, the currentresearch status of The Known World and the significance of the thesis.Chapter One makes a detailed introduction to role theory, including the origin,development and schools of role theory. Some important concepts applied in the thesis willalso be introduced. Role expectation provides considerable motivation to role players.Individuals in the society produce a series of behaviors according to role perceptions. In theprocess of role-playing, role players will encounter varied role conflicts.Chapter Two analyzes role expectation, including outsiders’ expectations and selfexpectations of the role players. Outsiders’ expectations can be reflected on two levels: sociallevel and individual level. In The Known World, the society attempts to keep the superiority ofthe white through social norms and penality measures. During the process of interaction, thewhite and the black owner in the dominant positions will express distinct expectations todifferent people in a specific situation. The society and the individual work together to defendfor the slavery. In addition, the white, the black slave owners and the black slaves all hold self expectations. Self expectations manifest their different pursuits and reveal the contradictionsand conflicts of the slavery society.Chapter Three explores three types of role perception: positive role perception,submissive role perception and resistant role perception. The black man Henry and the whiteman Robbins positively learn how to be an eligible slave owner. Their positive perception ofslave owner deepens the persecution of slavery on people. The liberated black man Augustusand the sheriff Skiffington are extremely submissive to social norms and expectations.Nevertheless, neither of them escapes from their tragic destinies. The black slave Alice andthe overseer Moses decline to perceive their role of slave as expected, which disturbs thesocial order in the slavery society.Chapter Four analyzes three types of role conflicts. For the sake of different roleexpectations and role perceptions, individuals will encounter conflicts in the process ofrole-playing. The contradictory expectations make Henry and Caldonia run into inter-senderconflict. Their choice of being slave owners signifies the assimilation of slavery on blackpeople. Robbins and Augustus play two roles whose expectations are colliding with each other.According to the inter-role conflicts they suffer, the conflicts and contradictions in humannature are exactly and fully manifested. Person-role conflicts are embodied on Moses andSkiffington. The abnormal slavery compels them to play roles that are colliding with theirown values and expectations. The white slave owner, the sheriff, the liberated black people,the black slave owners and the black slaves are all confronted with role conflict.Consequently, in the slavery society, conflict is omnipresent.Conclusion summarizes the whole thesis. The Known World not only explores how ablack man develops into a part of slavery oppressing other people of his race, but also probesinto the complexity of slavery and the contradiction in human nature. Slavery attempts to takecontrol of people essentially, but brings misfortunes to everyone, the white and the black.