On The Values Of The Marginalized And Vulnerable Characters In Penelope Fitzgerald’s Novels

The British writer, Penelope Fitzgerald began her writing career late in life. Her novels are based on her life experiences, ideological concepts, and insights of the socio-culture condition in postwar Britain. In a cool and objective style and an unconventional grace, she sketched the inner experience of the marginalized and vulnerable people who feel either uncomfortable or comfortable in a specific time and space, as well as their interactions and conflicts with the external prejudices, conventions and institutions. Fitzgerald is a liberal humanist who has a nostalgic tendency. Meanwhile, she sharply observed and reflected upon the cultural symptoms in contemporary society. So, Fitzgerald’s writings embody her compassion for humanity which is against alienation and hegemony. In the post-modernist context where the emotional and spiritual values, the integrity and independence of humanity are on the brink of depreciation and fragmentation, the writer’s serious thinking shows its value of appreciation.In Chapter One, from two respects, the paper discusses the reasons why Fitzgerald paid so much attention on the values and living circumstances of the marginalized and vulnerable characters. One reason lies in the social reality of Britain after World War Ⅱ. In postwar Britain, there was a tendency towards the ruptures of culture traditions, community relationships and affectional bonds. Besides, with the rise of consumer society and more subtle differences among social groups, different values came into collision drastically. In the new situation, the inter-individual differences as well as the individuals’alienation from family and society became more obvious. Thus, in the context, there were intense contradictions between "central" and "marginal" individuals, and between "strong" and "vulnerable" individuals. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald’s personal experiences also internally determine her concerns about marginalized and vulnerable characters. Due to her family background, elite education and hard experiences earning a living, she had the sense of social responsibility and the humanitarian ideal as a traditional intellectual, as well as the personal experience of hardships for lower classes in postwar Britain.In Chapter Two, the paper analyzes the pursuits and frustrations of values of the marginalized and vulnerable characters in Fitzgerald’s novels. Focused on Offshore and Bookshop which are set in contemporary British cities and countries respectively, the chapter researches the predicaments and appeals of the characters’values. In Offshore, Fitzgerald created a group of homeless people involved in the process of urbanization. Through an analysis of the living conditions of the eccentrics who live on riverboats, the chapter points out the identity status of the vulnerable characters. Through analyzing the frustrations of the old country gentleman and the.heroine who runs a bookshop in Bookshop, this chapter explores the decline of the spiritual and moral tradition symbolized by the lonely and desolated old country gentleman, then illustrates the power order founded by the conspiratorial relationship between city and country. The authorities considered the heroine as their opposite. Further, the discussion reveals the factors of the context where the country bookshop representing an "emergent culture" was rejected. Under the integrated effects of the cultural rupture caused by rural social changes and the narrow-minded myopia ideology, the two characters’values both failed resulting from the rejection of power discourse.The third chapter explores the approach to construct the ideal homeland for the marginalized and vulnerable characters. Fitzgerald placed her imagination of community on her later works such as The Beginning of Spring and The Gate of Angels set in foreign countries or with historical settings, which is also a response to the problems raised in her earlier works. Fitzgerald aimed to reveal the effects and mechanism of instrumental rationality, materialism and other power discourses, based on her humanitarian anti-alienation thinking. She looked forward to liberating the values of the marginalized and vulnerable characters from the framework of rejection and domination, then pursuing for a tolerant organic community where the people can reconstruct their subjective values.The fourth chapter discusses the ideological significance of the description of the marginalized and vulnerable characters in Fitzgerald’s novels. The chapter probes into the insights and inspirations shown by Fitzgerald’s works in the realistic context. Thus it can be said that Fitzgerald sensitively and deeply observed the characteristics of the marginalized and vulnerable groups in the urban and rural areas in postwar Britain. Her writings reflect the "structure of feelings" formed in the context where the social cultures were transforming and the multicultural society came into being. Because of her nostalgic consciousness and humanitarian concerns, her ideal cultural and social formation tends to be a new "organic community"which tolerates heterogeneity, continues traditions and integrates the urban and rural values. Furthermore, she questioned the binary oppositions of central/marginal, success/failure, progress/backwardness and ordered/disordered in the discourse system of modernity. Meanwhile, through analyzing Fitzgerald’s works, people can further consider the contemporary conformation and significance of the humanitarian discourse today. Fitzgerald’s revelation of the inner contradictions in the processes of modernization and urbanization, plus her critical consciousness and humanist thoughts contained in her writings, can be a valuable inspiration for modern people with rapidly changing ideologies and lifestyles nowadays.