An Analysis Of Marginalized White People's Dilemma In The Secret River From The Perspective Of Power And Discourse

Australia is the multicultural society in the world of today.Multiculturalism is a fundamental aspect of Australian national identity,with the diversity of being recognized as a positive force.However,the recent multiculturalism has resulted from the long progress of colonization involving prejudice and discrimination together with unfair legislation since the European discovery of the continent and the establishment of the country.Kate Grenville's novel The Secret River is a miniature of Australian colonial history,which focuses on the people's lives at that time.Many scholars have discussed The Secret River from the perspectives of culture differences,racial conflicts and gender discrimination.But there is a dearth of research on the novel analysis from the perspective of the power and discourse.This paper will discuss the marginalized white people's dilemma in The Secret River by using Michel Foucault's power and discourse theory.On one hand,through the analysis of the text,this thesis reveals the ignored victims' situation during the colonial period.Compared with the Aboriginals,the marginalized white victims are ignored.As a matter of fact,their conditions are no better than the Aboriginals because they all belong to the speechless group.On the other hand,this thesis sheds light on people's relation with power.With an in-depth study of the marginalized men's dilemma,this thesis exposes that power is just like a net which entangles people,controls their behaviors and influences their thought pattern.Besides the introduction,theoretical part and the conclusion,the thesis is divided into three parts.The first part analyzes poor white men's dilemma under the pressure of discourse,which consists of two sections.The first section mainly discusses William Thornhill's growth experiences in Britain.Because of poor family conditions and low social status,he has no power of discourse in the society.Therefore,he has to face a variety of problems.For example,he is forced to making a living by stealing.Unfortunately,he is caught and exiled to Australia.Therefore,the second part focuses on William's dilemma in Australia.Problems like living crisis,conflicts with the Aboriginals and the strong desire for recognition will be discussed in this section.The second part explores William Thornhill's failure after years of struggle.Though William is a successful businessman,he is alienated from other people,including his families and friends.At the same time,he feels guilty for the Aboriginals.It exposes that he is not a winner under the discourse of power but a loser.The third part discusses William Thornhill's self-discovery.The detailed analysis of his self-discovery reveals that though power permeates every aspect of people's life,it is more concerned about individuals for it values their bodies and souls.Through analyzing the dilemma of the marginalized white people,this thesis is aimed at finding how people survive the discourse of power,how power controls people and the delicate relationship between people and power.Ultimately,people will have a better understanding of power to avoid being lost in the hole of power and achieve self-discovery in the discourse of power.