Doris Lessing "The Grass is Singing"
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Doris Lessing
Mary marries Dick Turner, a poor white South African farmer. The farm is miles away from anyone. Mary is bored, lonely and unhappy. The story shows her feelings change from disappointment to madness to violence.
In southern Africa in the 1940s, the whites are in control. They control through fear - and they must stay in control. So when a white woman is murdered by her black servant all the whites agree: the law must take its course. The case must be simple and quick - without too many questions. But there are questions, and people are asking them. How did Mary Turner lose control? Why did the servant murder her? How could a servant even think of it? The answers are not simple. They are as difficult and painful as Mary Turner's life itself - a life in a place where she was never meant to be...
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Text Analysis: Unique words: about 2,300. Total words: about 17,170
Hard words: assistant, bee, beehives, bush, candles, desire, earrings, frost, houseboy, hut, kaffir, knowledge, malaria, missus, Nigger, sergeant, tobacco, treated, turkeys, vest, weapon
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