An Analysis Of Characters In Gordimer's Female Bildungsroman The Pickup

Nadine Gordimer is the only African female writer who has been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.Most of her works are the subjects of the racial conflict in the South African Apartheid,but The Pickup is exceptional.The Pickup tells a story about a young white South African woman Julie breaks through a variety of barriers to grow up and constructs her self-identity in a foreign country.In terms of structure,The Pickup has followed the traditional narrative mode of female Bildungsroman.However,many innovations have been made in the novel,especially in characterization.On the one hand,the way of the heroine Julie growing up is very different from that of other heroines in other female Bildungsromans.Julie comes gradually into maturity in the marriage while other heroines usually escape their marriages or rebel against their families to achieve their personal growth.On the other hand,The Pickup is also distinct from other female Bildungsromans,which focus completely on heroines.Instead,mentors and anti-growth character are created successfully by Nadine Gordimer in the novel.Through a comparative analysis of growth character and anti-growth character,a further understanding of growth will be gained.The way of combining text analysis with literary theories is used to analyze three different kinds of characters—growth heroine,mentors and anti-growth hero in the thesis.Meanwhile,by the careful examination of the heroine Julie's growth process,the thesis explores how Nadine Gordimer goes beyond the traditional mode of female Bildungsroman and her own creative limitation,to endow female growth with new significance.