Critical Essay on Marguerite Dura's "The Lover"

Introduction

As an astonishing great artwork, "The lover," Marguerite Duras, persuasively and strongly depicts shocking harmonization and clattering dissention of love, sexuality, and resentment, reminiscence and forgetfulness, the passion of contentment and gloom and certainty of being admired. To adequately examine the main ideas, themes, and concerns of this novel, it is essential to explore the personality of Duras to help in the understanding the style and primary purposes of the story. Autobiographies of Marguerite Duras, as a change of the babyhood in Indochina, extremely streamed out heartedly, creatively described into here writing and indistinguishable, constrained and disheveled with the audience (Annan, 1985). The story of the narrative begins by ferry crossing Mekong River and also ends with ocean passing back to Paris, France. Perhaps, within the novel, similar to the traversal crossing over the water, the boundaries are crossed over frequently by re-narrating the story and repeating the memoirs, Duras passes over her borders repeatedly. In most texts of Duras, there is a repetition of events and situations, and they are there to emphasize change and unsteady aspect of reminiscence and language. These make the reader doubt his memory and seek to find out the dynamics of forgetting. According to the author, remembering damages memory and influence new mind which substitutes the former only transiently and without substance.........a repudiation of an agreement, as a way of unifying ones thought and opinion (Annan, 1985). Through refreshing memories, Duras crosses her borders or territories and also lives and develops a romantic love that cannot be forgotten in various settings where she acts as an insider and outsider. Memorable and renunciation love of the young white girl with a man from China indicates crossing multiple aspects such as race, ethnicity, geographical regions, and even sexual borders.

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The novel portrays a very young naive girl who is not capable of having an affair with any man with pure sexual relations without profoundly falling in love. At the same time, the novel reveals the young girl as a person with mature personality, emotionally older than her physical age although it is impossible to understand whether the young girl is wise or not or a person who can engage in sexual intercourses because of curiosity.

From the introduction of the book, it is essential to be very keen on her appearance. The girl has plaits and funny man's hat, but she could also be regarded as a great prostitute because of the transparent dresses and shoes she puts on. There is also a contrast of what people see in her because she is not very beautiful, but when any man passes next to her, he must notice her unpleasant beauty. Although she is dressed like this, she is being identified by a wealthy Chinese man who is different from her regarding clothes, appearance, financial status and even behaviors (Annan, 1985). The Chinese guy has the opportunity to get another girl who matches his qualities, but he is not able to overcome his sexual desires towards her. The Chinese guy begins inappropriately talking to her although the girl accepts in a childish easiness. By the time she agrees to be taken to Saigon, it is unclear if it is true of the girl wants to check her charm and her potential to appeal to various men. It is also tough to know the intention of a Chinese man on one side towards the girl. Sometimes one would say that he was attracted by her image, tenderness, feelings, and youthfulness because he has no idea of getting married to her even though he was willing to be with her. In the process of interaction, the girl falls in love which she is not expecting although she only wants to be loved first. She, therefore, offered her body and soul to a Chinese man who eventually became her lover.

For the first time, the young white girl was making love with the Chinese man; there were pain and pleasure which caused the young girl to lose her virginity which signifies valuable border between a blameless young girl and a woman." And, crying while making love. In the beginning, pain and finally changed into pleasure and finally clasped to it." The young girl crossed over from being a girl to a woman once she has made love with Chinese Lover and she also became sensible of her yearning for love (Annan, 1985). 'He smells pleasantly of English cigarettes, very costly perfume, honey, his skin has silk scent, the scent of gold making her very desirable.' The boundaries of desire consciousness and unconsciousness were also dissolved through having sex with the Chinese man at an early age. She enriched her sexual desires by making love with the Chinese man (Annan, 1985). Conscious desires ended immediately they had sex.

Before everything becomes under the control of the girl; the man has received his desire he had for her. The girl commanded her to pay for what he has done as if she is a prostitute. After sex, the Chinese man becomes obsessed with her and complains that he does not want to marry her. The girl says that she is with him for money but not for marriage. The reader acknowledges that the girl is not in deep love with the man, but she is attracted in him but is not easy to say as compared to asking for money. The girl may have chosen him for another important purpose than just bein a husband or a wife. She may have determined him to be a person who can help her to change from her current personal condition into a new life.

Conclusion

Towards the end of the story, it seems that there will be no happiness at the end and it seems the young girl and the Chinese man will not be together, and they are likely to separate soon although they still love one another. Although it appears that these people still love one another, their love is very far from a classical feeling which usually being described by various poems and melodramas. Even though they have the courage and strength to separate from each other, it does not imply that they do not love each other profoundly and again it does not mean that they will not have love in their life in future. Furthermore, it does not expect the lover will not occur in the presence of another writer in the future. In general, love is very emotional, sensitive and powerful. The novel is between the love of a young girl and a Chinese man. The book is sometimes referring to a feminist story because it underlines the power of a very young girl who has little information about the relationship between a man and a woman and she can attract and control feelings of a man of a higher class, age, and personal status.

References

Annan, Gabriele. "Saigon Mon Amour." New York Review of Books, June 27, 1985, 11-12. Concisely restates many of the significant critical arguments both for and against the novel.