The Grass is Singing is a wonderful novel by Doris Lessing. The impact of racism is highlighted in this novel. The story is set in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) around 1940. Read The Grass is Singing summary here.
Key Information
- Title: The Grass is Singing
- Writer: Doris Lessing
- Published: 1950
- Genre: Post-colonial novel
Characters
- Mary Turner: Protagonist of the novel. Mary is married to Dick. But they’re not happy as they have a financial crisis. Mary strongly hates Black people. As a result, she is murdered by a black man.
- Dick Turner: Husband of Mary Turner. He is a very unlucky farmer who never makes any profit from his farm.
- Moses: Servant of Dick’s farm. He murders Mary to take revenge.
- Charlie Slatter: A neighbor of Dick. He is a very shrewd man.
- Tony Martson: Assistant to Charlie Slatter. He witnesses the illicit affair between Mary and Moses.
Theme: Intimacy vs Hatred; Brutality vs Civilization; Independence, Isolation, and Exile; Femininity, Sexuality, and Maternity.
English Summary
In the first chapter of the novel, the self-confident Mary Turner is murdered by her house servant Moses. Moses himself admitted his crime. Charlie Slatter calls the police after seeing Mary’s body. Sergeant Denham sent six policemen and arrested Moses. Inside the house, Charlie’s assistant Tony Martson describes how he found Mary’s body on the veranda. Sergeant Denham arrives and questions Tony and leaves. Tony wonders if he should tell the police the truth about Mary’s murder. Thinking about this, Tony left that district and moved to another place. Meanwhile, the judge ruled that Moses was intoxicated when he killed Mary.
The second chapter begins with a description of shops in Southern Africa. These shops usually sell food, clothes, and necessities. Liquor is also sold there. Mary’s father also spent their family’s little income on drugs. Due to this Mary’s parents often quarreled. Mary’s older brother and sister died of dysentery when she was young. Mary was sent to boarding school. At 16 Mary thought of running away from home. Both of Mary’s parents died between the ages of about 20-25. She started staying in a club and worked as a secretary in an office.
A few years later Mary’s friends all got married. Mary was single, happy, and carefree. But her friends make some bad comments about her marriage which hurts Mary. She then gets engaged to a 55-year-old man whose wife has died. But when the man wants to have sex with her, she breaks up with him.
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Then Dick meets Mary soon after. Dick is a poor farmer. His neighbors call him “Jonah” for his bad luck. He refuses to marry because of her poverty. Meanwhile, he can’t forget about Mary. He then proposed to Mary after a few months of hard work and Mary agreed. Two weeks later they got married. Mary is quite embarrassed when she arrives at Dick’s house. Dick introduces Mary to Samson, his negro servant. But Mary doesn’t like Samson.
Mary buys home decor items with her savings. She spends her time sewing or decorating the house. One day she realizes that Samson has stolen her raisins which she kept to make pudding. As a result of this incident, she fires Samson. Dick’s neighbor Charlie Slatter gives Dick the idea of tobacco farming. But Dick doesn’t listen to him. Dick tries to farm a lot, but cannot make enough profit. Dick then thinks of opening a kaffir shop and inspires Mary to run it. At first, Mary refused but later agreed. One day while running the store, Mary saw an ad from her old office. They need a typist in their office. The day after seeing this, Mary packed her bags and left for the city. He goes to the old club where he used to live. But they said they don’t keep any married women in the club. After that, the post of typist in the office is no longer vacant. Meanwhile, Dick comes to town and takes Mary home with a request.
One day Dick became very ill. When Charlie brings the doctor, the doctor tells Mary to wire their house to keep mosquitoes away. Mary takes care of the farm while Dick is ill. Mary kept a whip with her. One day when a worker forced Moses to drink water, Mary hit Moses in the face with the whip. This injury enrages Moses and he vows to take revenge. Mary is burdened by those who come late to work. Mary dislikes black servants. Back home, Mary advises Dick to grow tobacco. Dick thought and started growing tobacco. But the tobacco plant dies in drought. Dick becomes penniless and takes out some loans. Mary grows weak toward Moses. She stares at him back and carefully observes his work.
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A few months later, Moses announced he would no longer be working. Mary is distressed to hear this and urges him to stay. Moses asks her to give him a glass of water and tells Mary to go to bed. Then Moses covers Mary with his coat. He no longer talks about leaving work. Meanwhile, there is a lot of feeling between Moses and Mary. Moses now speaks to Mary quite casually. Mary is under the pressure of Moses.
One day Charlie approached Dick and asked him to sell his farm. Charlie then notices the love affair between Mary and Moses. Seeing this, Charlie advises Dick to sell the farm and move away. Meanwhile, the love story of the two spread among the neighbors. Tony thinks Mary might be crazy and should consult a doctor. One day Tony finds Moses helping Mary to get dressed. Seeing this, Tony decides that he will tell Dick to fire Moses. But that evening Moses left, never to return.
Two days before leaving the farm, Mary suddenly woke up. She walks around the house and thinks about Moses. Mary thinks Moses might be near their shop. Thinking this, Mary runs towards the shop. But Tony stops him. Mary does not eat dinner that night. Dick tells him that he is sick. Then Mary says that she is always mentally ill. Mary wakes up when Dick falls asleep and thinks Moses has arrived. He goes to the veranda and sees Moses standing there. Moses comes to her, puts his hand over Mary’s mouth, and stabs her with a knife. Mary dies. Moses sits there all night.
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