An Analysis Of Jack’s Ethical Predicaments In Steer Toward Rock By Fae Myenne Ng From The Perspective Of Narratology

Fae Myenne Ng(1956-)is a famous new-generation Chinese American writer.Influenced by her double cultural backgrounds and family history,she created many protagonists in her works who are usually Chinese Americans living in Chinatown in California.Her novels also present the physical and mental trauma of Chinese Americans because of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Chinese Confession Program.Steer Toward Rock is Ng’s second novel published in 2008 and Ng recounts the story mainly from the perspectives of Jack and his daughter Veda Qwan in this novel.This thesis intends to adopt Gerard Genette’s narratology and Nie Zhenzhao’s ethical literary criticism to analyze the protagonist Jack’s ethical predicaments in this novel.It is the center of this thesis that Jack’s ethical predicaments are analyzed through three aspects: ethical environment,ethical identity and ethical selection.The thesis is composed of five parts.Chapter one includes the introduction to the writer Fae Myenne Ng,the plot overview of Steer Toward Rock,a summary of domestic and overseas studies,and the research objectives and significance of this thesis.Chapter two focuses on the theoretical framework which consists of Gerard Genette’s narratology,such as story space,narrative tense and narrative focalization,and Nie Zhenzhao’s ethical literary criticism,such as ethical environment,ethical identity and ethical selection.Chapter three is the main body which has the analysis of three kinds of ethical predicaments: the ethical predicament between subject and object status from the viewpoints of the shift of story space and narrative focalization,the ethical predicament between true and false identities from the perspectives of the change of story space and disordered narrative time,the ethical predicament between right and wrong selections by means of narrative frequency and duration,and multiple internal focalization.Those ethical predicaments Jack faced also reflect Chinese Americans’ tragic fate under racist law.Chapter four discusses the two ways Jack gets rid of ethical predicaments.One is the help and love from his lover Joice,his false wife Ilin and his daughter Veda.The other one is the construction of his own identity by reapplying for American citizenship.Chapter five is the main findings of this thesis.Through a narrative analysis of Jack’s ethical predicaments,this thesis concludes that the Chinese Confession Program made Chinese Americans feel painful and oppressive,meanwhile the Chinese Confession Program strengthened tenacious fighting spirit of Chinese Americans in the tough environment.