The Grass Is Singing – Doris Lessing

Complete Study Material for Literature Students

Introduction

The Grass Is Singing is the first novel of Doris Lessing, published in 1950. Set in colonial Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the novel explores racism, colonialism, gender inequality, marriage, loneliness, class conflict and psychological breakdown.

The novel centres on Mary Turner, a white farmer's wife whose troubled relationship with her husband, Dick Turner, and her African servant, Moses, leads to a tragic ending.

Lessing uses the personal tragedy of Mary to expose the destructive psychological and social effects of the colonial system.

About Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing (1919–2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist and one of the major writers of the twentieth century.

She spent much of her early life in Southern Rhodesia and drew extensively on her African experiences in her writing.

Her major concerns include:

Colonialism
Racism
Feminism and women's identity
Political ideology
Psychological conflict
Social inequality
Human relationships

She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007.

Title: The Grass Is Singing

The title comes from T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," specifically the idea of the earth and natural world possessing a strange, almost haunting life beneath human civilization.

The title can be interpreted symbolically as representing:

The African landscape
Nature's indifference to human suffering
Hidden violence beneath apparently peaceful life
Psychological tension
The relationship between human beings and their environment

The beautiful African landscape contrasts sharply with the violence, fear and racial conflict experienced by the characters.

Setting

The novel is set in Southern Rhodesia, during the period of British colonial rule.

The African farm is particularly important. It becomes a confined space where racial, economic and psychological tensions develop.

The setting reflects the colonial hierarchy:

White settlers → African workers

The Turner farm appears to be a place of agricultural productivity, but beneath its surface are poverty, exploitation, loneliness and racial hostility.

Plot Summary

The novel opens with the murder of Mary Turner.

Mary, a white woman living on a farm in Southern Rhodesia, has been murdered by Moses, her African servant.

The novel then moves backward to explain how this tragedy occurred.

Mary Turner grows up in a poor but socially respectable white family. As a young woman, she enjoys an independent life in town and is not particularly interested in marriage.

However, after hearing her friends discuss marriage and fearing social judgment, she eventually marries Dick Turner, a struggling farmer.

Marriage changes Mary's life dramatically.

She moves to Dick's isolated farm, where she finds herself trapped in a difficult existence. Dick is financially unsuccessful and unable to provide the comfortable life she had imagined.

Mary becomes increasingly frustrated with:

Rural isolation
Poverty
Domestic responsibilities
Her unhappy marriage
The African workers
Her loss of independence

Dick also struggles with the farm. His repeated agricultural failures create financial pressure and increase tension within the marriage.

Mary becomes increasingly unstable.

At the same time, the relationship between Mary and the African servant Moses becomes psychologically complicated. Initially, Mary treats him with racial contempt and fear. She later becomes dependent upon him.

Their relationship violates the racial boundaries imposed by colonial society.

Mary's psychological condition deteriorates, and Moses becomes increasingly important in her life.

Eventually, Moses murders Mary.

The novel's opening murder is therefore transformed into a study of the social, racial and psychological circumstances that produced the tragedy.

Major Characters

1. Mary Turner

Mary is the central character.

She is a white colonial woman who initially appears independent and confident. However, marriage and isolation gradually destroy her sense of identity.

Her tragedy reflects the pressures placed upon women within both patriarchal marriage and colonial society.

Mary represents:

Loneliness
Frustration
Fear
Psychological instability
Colonial prejudice
Loss of identity

Mary is not simply presented as a victim. She is also a participant in the racist colonial system.

2. Dick Turner

Dick is Mary's husband and a struggling farmer.

He is hardworking but economically unsuccessful. His inability to make the farm profitable contributes to Mary's frustration.

Dick represents the failed colonial settler who attempts to control African land but cannot master either the environment or his own circumstances.

His marriage with Mary demonstrates the emotional limitations of patriarchal relationships.

3. Moses

Moses is Mary's African servant.

He initially appears as a servant within the colonial hierarchy, but his relationship with Mary becomes increasingly complex.

Moses represents:

The oppressed African population
Colonial resistance
Racial tension
Suppressed anger
Power beneath apparent submission

His murder of Mary is the climax of the novel.

4. Charlie Slatter

Charlie Slatter is a successful white farmer.

Unlike Dick, he understands how to operate within the colonial economic system.

He represents white colonial power, economic success and practical exploitation.

5. Tony Marston

Tony Marston is the government official who investigates Mary's murder.

His presence in the opening section provides a relatively detached perspective on the crime.

He is also important because he gradually becomes aware that the murder cannot be understood simply as an isolated criminal act.

Major Themes

1. Racism and Colonialism

This is the most important theme of the novel.

The white settlers occupy a position of social and economic privilege, while African workers are treated as inferior.

Lessing exposes the contradictions of colonial society:

White settlers depend upon African labour while simultaneously despising and fearing Africans.

Mary's relationship with Moses demonstrates how unstable this racial hierarchy actually is.

2. Colonial Exploitation

The Turner farm depends upon African labour.

The economic system therefore rests upon unequal relationships between white landowners and black workers.

Lessing shows that colonialism damages both:

The oppressed
The oppressor

The African workers suffer exploitation, while the settlers become psychologically dependent upon the system they have created.

3. Gender and Patriarchy

Mary's tragedy is also connected with her position as a woman.

Marriage restricts her independence.

She is expected to become:

A wife
A homemaker
A farmer's companion

Her individual ambitions and identity gradually disappear.

The novel therefore can be read as a criticism of patriarchal marriage and the limited choices available to women.

4. Loneliness and Isolation

Mary's isolation is both physical and psychological.

The remote farm separates her from the social life she enjoyed in town.

Her loneliness contributes to her psychological deterioration.

The farm therefore becomes almost a prison.

5. Marriage

The marriage between Mary and Dick is far from romantic.

Their relationship is characterised by:

Frustration
Financial problems
Emotional distance
Mutual disappointment
Dependence

Lessing challenges the idea that marriage automatically provides security and happiness.

6. Class Conflict

Class differences exist within both white and African communities.

Mary comes from a relatively modest background and is concerned about social respectability.

Dick struggles economically despite being a white landowner.

The novel therefore demonstrates that colonial society is divided by both race and class.

7. Psychological Breakdown

Mary's mental deterioration is central to the novel.

Her breakdown results from the interaction of several pressures:

Isolation + unhappy marriage + poverty + racial anxiety + loss of identity

Lessing is interested in how external social conditions can produce internal psychological suffering.

Important Symbols

The Farm

The farm symbolizes:

Colonial possession
Isolation
Economic failure
Marriage
Entrapment

It is supposedly a place of independence, but for Mary it becomes a prison.

The African Landscape

Nature is powerful and indifferent.

The landscape contrasts with the settlers' attempt to control Africa.

The failure of Dick's farm suggests that colonial attempts to dominate the land are fragile.

The Heat

The oppressive heat contributes to the atmosphere of tension and discomfort.

It can also be interpreted psychologically as reflecting Mary's increasing mental pressure.

The Grass

The grass in the title connects human life with the natural environment.

It also suggests that nature continues its existence despite human violence and tragedy.

Colonialism and Psychology

One of the most important features of the novel is the connection between social oppression and psychological suffering.

Mary's mental deterioration cannot be explained only by personal weakness.

Her circumstances matter:

Colonial society
↓
Racial prejudice
↓
Gender restrictions
↓
Isolation
↓
Marital frustration
↓
Psychological breakdown
↓
Tragedy

This makes the novel more than a murder story. It becomes a criticism of the social structure that produces violence.

Mary and Moses: The Central Relationship

The relationship between Mary and Moses is deliberately uncomfortable and complex.

Mary initially sees Moses through the racial prejudices of colonial society. Yet she gradually becomes dependent upon him.

This reverses the expected colonial power relationship.

The white mistress appears powerful, but psychologically she becomes increasingly dependent upon the African servant.

The relationship therefore exposes the contradiction between colonial ideology and human reality.

The Novel as a Colonial Novel

The Grass Is Singing is an important postcolonial and colonial-era novel because it examines the effects of European colonial rule from inside the colonial society.

Lessing does not romanticize Africa.

Instead, she presents:

Racial segregation
White privilege
African exploitation
Economic inequality
Fear of racial mixing
Colonial violence

The novel demonstrates that colonialism creates an artificial hierarchy that produces fear and conflict.

The Novel as a Feminist Novel

The novel can also be interpreted through a feminist perspective.

Mary's life illustrates how a woman can lose her independence through marriage and social expectations.

Her movement is:

Independent woman → wife → isolated farmer's wife → psychologically trapped woman

However, Mary is not portrayed as an uncomplicated feminist heroine because she herself participates in racial oppression.

This complexity makes her character particularly significant.

Narrative Structure

The novel begins in medias res, with Mary's murder.

The narrative then moves backward to explain the events leading to the murder.

This structure creates:

Suspense
Psychological curiosity
A sense of inevitability
A deeper understanding of the characters

The reader knows the ending but gradually discovers why it happened.

Important Critical Points

The Grass Is Singing can be studied as:

A colonial novel
A psychological novel
A feminist novel
A social criticism
A tragedy
A novel of racial conflict

Its power comes from combining these perspectives rather than presenting the murder as an isolated event.

Exam-Oriented Questions

Short Questions

Who wrote The Grass Is Singing?
When was the novel published?
Where is the novel set?
Who is Mary Turner?
Who is Dick Turner?
Who is Moses?
Who murders Mary Turner?
What is the significance of the title?
How does the farm affect Mary?
What role does colonialism play in the novel?

Essay Questions

Discuss The Grass Is Singing as a critique of colonialism.
Analyse Mary Turner's character.
Discuss the theme of racism in the novel.
Examine the relationship between Mary and Moses.
Discuss The Grass Is Singing as a feminist novel.
Analyse the significance of the title.
Discuss the theme of psychological breakdown.
Examine the role of the African landscape.
Discuss the novel as a study of loneliness and isolation.
How does Doris Lessing expose the contradictions of colonial society?
Discuss the failure of Mary and Dick's marriage.
Examine the relationship between colonialism and gender oppression.

Quick Revision Box

Element	Details
Author	Doris Lessing
Published	1950
Genre	Psychological, colonial, social novel
Setting	Southern Rhodesia
Protagonist	Mary Turner
Husband	Dick Turner
Servant	Moses
Central Event	Murder of Mary Turner
Major Themes	Racism, colonialism, gender, marriage, isolation, class
Major Symbol	Farm / grass / African landscape
Narrative Method	Murder first, backstory afterward
Central Idea	Social oppression and personal psychological suffering are deeply connected

Conclusion

The Grass Is Singing is a powerful examination of colonialism, racism, patriarchy and psychological isolation. Doris Lessing shows that Mary's death is not merely the result of an individual's actions; it emerges from a society structured by racial inequality, gender restrictions, fear and exploitation. Mary is simultaneously a victim of her circumstances and a participant in the oppressive colonial system. Through this complexity, Lessing transforms a murder story into a profound critique of colonial society.

One-Line Exam Answer

Doris Lessing's The Grass Is Singing is a tragic psychological novel that exposes the destructive effects of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, isolation and social inequality in colonial Southern Rhodesia.