THE PORTRAYAL OF MARY TURNER AS A RACIST IN DORIS LESSINGS THE GRASS IS SINGING

Abstract

 Doris Lessing’s first novel ‘The Grass is Singing ‘is a clear depiction of hatred, frustration, revenge and humiliation.  The author tries to bring about the setting in Africa under the White rule.  It is an enthralling chronicle of human disintegration and a beautifully understated critique of the relationship between Black and Whites in the society. Doris Lessing’s brings out the caricature of the society through the characters of Mary Turner, who is a wife of white landlord and Moses who is a ‘houseboy’ of Black community. Through these characters the author depicts the racial discrimination prevailing in Southern Rhodesia under the colonial power of the British rule. The portrayal of Mary Turner as a psychological disintegrated wife of Dick Turner, an incompetent husband, and owner of an ill-fated land in South African is more convincing. This article probes into the character of Mary as strong racist and her attitude towards the blacks who she treats as mere slaves in the beginning of the novel but later falls prey to her own black servant Moses.