The Socio-Cultural Struggles And Identity Quest Of Women In America: An Analysis Of Lynn Austin's All She Ever Wanted
Abstract
Literature has made an unmatched contribution to the preservation and formation of society. Literary fictions are depictions of reality and societal reflections. This work is about the problems that exist between society and family. The main characters in this story attempt to realize their daydream, but their lives are marred by loss, failure, and discontent owing to poverty. In this work, Lynn Austin's characters are dealing with their loss of identity as immigrants. Lynn Austin's novel All She Ever Wanted depicts contemporary Euro-American culture and serves as a sociological mirror. She illustrates the bourgeoisie's dominance over workers by demonstrating that riches, name, and reputation are directed by the superiority complex, but poverty, misery, and failure are guided by the inferiority complex.
The story is about the protagonists' failures throughout their lives. Kathleen is the protagonist and serves as a role model for the other characters. She tells the entire tale and shows the postwar Euro-American socio-economic and socio-political landscape. Lynn Austin powerfully depicts the social environment in which the bourgeoisie imposes hegemony over the proletariat through the use of social machinery, gradually ruling over them. Rich individuals in the United States mistreat low-income people who are chasing the American ideal of becoming richer, wealthier, healthier, more successful, and higher in society. Regardless, every character falls victim to the bourgeoisie's dominance and exploitation. In this study, Fiona is abused by Arthur, a rich banker who married her for the sole purpose of pleasure. Fiona's womanhood is diminished as a result of his fictitious marriage. Her aspirations to be wealthier, fuller, and better fade away with the death of her egotistical husband Arthur. All of the characters that chase after the unreal and rely on fate are in the same boat as Fiona.
References
2. Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Boston: Little Brown, 1931.
3. Althusser, Louis. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus. Ed. Salvoj Zizek. London version, 1999.
4. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80347.All_She_Ever_Wanted
5. https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/bjcn.2015.20.12.580
6. https://elibrary.tucl.edu.np/bitstream/123456789/3075/3/chapter.pdf
7. https://www.librarything.com/work/548887/reviews/36605688
8. http://elibrary.tucl.edu.np/handle/123456789/3075