On The Initiation Theme Of South African Woman Aila In My Son's Story

Nadine Gordimer(1923-2014)is a white woman writer in South Africa.In 1991,she won the Nobel Prize in Literature for her "magnificent and epic contribution to mankind".She is the first South Africa writer and the third Africa writer who wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.Her last novel in apartheid,My Son's Story(1990)describes the hardship growth process of a black female which is from a traditional housewife into an anti-racial revolutionary woman after experiencing the great impact of racial oppression,her husband's betrayal,her son's concealing and unreported,as well as her daughter's suicide.The domestic research on this novel has been on the increase since Gordimer won Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991.However,quite few scholars make research on Gordimer and her works from the perspective of Initiation Theme.In 1960,American scholar Mordecai Marcus published his paper What Is an Initiation Story?In this thesis,he mentions that "the initiation story shows that the protagonist changes his original view of the world or his own character or both after experiencing some painful events.This change has enabled him to get rid of himself and becomes a new and completely different person"(Marcus).With the help of three key words innocence,ordeal and epiphany of initiation theme,this article tries to expound the painstaking process of Aila in My Son's Story from a traditional housewife to a female fighter who has her own independent personality-Chapter one expounds Aila's innocence and obedience,which are mainly reflected in two aspects:Aila's satisfaction with her current life and her willingness to become a woman shaped by patriarchy.Chapter two analyzes Aila's ordeal and struggle.On the one hand,the apartheid system has caused her subjectivity to be suppressed for a long time.On the other hand,her husband's"white consciousness" has caused Aila who has always been family-centered to fall into predicament and confusion.Chapter three argues Aila's epiphany and self-realization.After going through a series of shocks,Aila realizes that she had become the vassal of colonialism and patriarchy.As a result,she participates in the anti-racial revolution,and eventually achieves her value of life as well as completes the initiation from a housewife to a revolutionary female fighter in the process of striving for national equality.Through the analysis of the transformation of Aila from housewife to revolutionary female fighter,this paper reveals the revolutionary state of South African Women.The emergence of Aila-like female fighter image indicates that black woman has finally emerged from the historical landscape and changes the fate of patriarchal and colonized women in the Third World and affirms the indispensable role of black women in the anti-racism revolution of South African.