LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 16:7 July 2016
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Guilt and Redemption:
A Study of Gloria Naylor's The Men of Brewster Place

A. Suganthi, M.A., Ph.D. Research Scholar


Abstract

Social issues like deprived destitution, racial discrimination, homosexuality, ill treatment of women, parochialism, denial of justice and apathy of a callous society towards the poor and the needy are the recurring themes in the novels of Gloria Naylor. The novelist deals with the traumas of the failing man - women relationship and its irreparable impact on the shaping of the society. Nevertheless, the images, the characters and the incidents culminate in a certain way, to ascertain that self-awareness etches the present and the future of fellow beings to be individually independent in American society. This article throws light mainly on two characters, namely, Basil and Eugene. Gloria Naylor reveals the familial and societal life of the rural Afro-Americans in this novel and shows the complexity of their lives.

Keywords: Guilt, redemption, American society, racial discrimination, self-awareness, destitution

Introduction

Gloria Naylor, the Afro-American novelist presents the experiential dealings of black women of America intensely and interestingly in her novels. The recurring themes in her novels are the social issues of the deprived destitution, racial discrimination, homosexuality, ill treatment of women, parochialism, denial of justice and apathy of the callous society towards the poor and the needy. Gloria Naylor after her fifteen years of success with her debut novel The Women of Brewster Place (1985) revisits the ghetto to speak for the men in the Brewster Place. The novel that adjoins this theme is The Men of Brewster Place which is a sequel to the novel The Women of Brewster Place that has been published fifteen years ago. Though not an entire justification of the men’s attitude toward their woman, the men of Brewster Place are aware of what they are and they come into terms with reality. Through the voices of Ben, Eugene and Basil the patriarchy seeks redemption. Although they do not acquire it fully in the end, the men are complacent over their confessions. In fact, Gloria Naylor lime lights how a woman is necessary for a man and vice-versa. Probably the writer touches the traumas of the failing man- woman relationships and its irreparable impact on the shaping of the society. victims of circumstances and fears

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

A. Suganthi, M.A.
Ph.D. Research Scholar (Full Time)
Department of English
National College (Autonomous),
Tiruchirapalli-62001
Tamilnadu
India
sugan.aca@gmail.com
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