Just as what it says at the end of the novel, “At the very instant the thorn enters there is no awareness in it of the dying to come; it simply sings and sings until there is not the life left to utter another note. But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”[16] Meggie creates her own thorn, never stops to count the cost. All she can do is to suffer the pain, and to tell herself that it is well worth it. However, she does not sense that her voice is not only beautiful but also faint, so do the writer and the readers. Living in the traditional society, dominated by men, Meggie is still unable to persuade the society to attach great importance to her faith, and it is impossible for her to make the society accept her faith. She has challenged God, but she fails, and if she challenges the traditional society, there is no doubt that she will be beaten, too. Because her voice for love is too faint to overstep men’s authority, and too faint to change the custom of the society, as her aunt and her mother, Meggie’s love tragedy is also unavoidable, no matter how much hardship she suffers and how great efforts she makes. Moreover, the more perseveringly she strives for perfection of faith, the more sorrow she will suffer. Meggie’s peak of poetic perfection shakes up many other women a lot, but to arouse the society’s reverence for female’s faith is still beyond her power. Though she does her utmost to raise her voice, it’s still too faint.
3. Men’s faith in The Thorn Birds
Either in reality or in literature, there are always countless tragedies about love between men and women. It’s natural for most women to equate love with their valuable life wholeheartedly, while it seems so difficult for men, who welcome love, but can’t value love as the most important and essential thing in their life. They think that the need of women is a kind of weakness, and they often choose anything but love at a critical moment, which the novel also proves so comprehensively.
3.1 Ralph’s faith
No matter who meet Ralph for the first time, they will never forget his beauty.
“the height and perfect proportions of his body, the fine aristocratic features, the way every physical element had been put together with a degree of care about the appearance of the finished product God lavished on few of His creations. From the loose black curls of his head and the startling blue of his eyes to the small, slender hands and feet, he was perfect. ”[17]
But there is an aloofness about him, which makes him never be enslaved by his beauty, nor ever will be. Besides, he has barded and subtle mind, outstanding political consciousness and remarkable diplomatic talent. He is brought up from his cradle to be a priest, and he is filled with God. He is sure that no earthly things come between him and his state of mind—not love of a woman, nor love of money. He accepts chastity without finding it difficult to maintain. Truly he will make a magnificent cardinal before meeting Meggie.
However, when little Meggie looks up at him with silver-grey eyes of such a lambent purity, like melted jewels, he cannot help falling in love with her at first sight, which becomes to waver in his former determination, vowing to give his life to God. Meggie has moved him unbearably, and he doesn’t really know why. He views her as a perfect female, having the gift of acceptance. He has to admit that Meggie fills an empty space in his life, which his God cannot. Therefore, he becomes to battle with his own thoughts. He starts to be puzzled by the confrontation between his divinity and his humanity; he begins to be afflicted with the dispute between his demand for love and his lust for power. However, he just tries his best to deceive himself that Meggie is only the rose of his life, and only an idea, but not a lover. Finally, he accepts Mary’s will, which relates to the fate of his life and his soul. Between God and Meggie, he chooses the former; between authority and love, he chooses the former. Though he still loves Meggie so much, he chooses to forsake her, selling her for thirteen million pieces of silver. Before saying goodbye, he suggests Meggie search for another man as her husband and love her children, but he is clear that it’s his punishment. The pain of love does not fade, and it seems to grow worse, which makes him unable to be fully pious to God. When he hears that Meggie has married Luke, he is upset, spitting mad. He decides to go to Matlock Island to see her.
There he becomes to realize that he is a man, can never be God, and he is made for Meggie. He breaks his vows. He will miss Meggie as long as he lives, but he still will not leave his Church, for he belongs to the Church all along. He really suffers a lot, because of his conflictive mentality. When Meggie has his son—Dane, she does not tell him the truth. He considers that she gives birth to a great son for Luke, which makes him so envious. As Dane is determined to be a priest, Meggie has to send him to Ralph. In the letter, she says to Ralph, “ ‘I charge you with his well-being, his happiness. What I stole, I give back. It is demanded of me.’ ”[18] But he still doesn’t know Dane is his son until Dane’s accidental death, which wears him down thoroughly.
At last, he comes to realize that he is wrong, “Pride, ambition, a certain unscrupulousness. And love for Meggie flowering among them. But the crowing glory of that love he had never known.”[19] Meggie is the mirror in which he is forced to view his mortality, but he never pays attention to it until he dies. Only in death will he find the peace he cannot find here in this life. He hurts Meggie profoundly and loses his excellent son. He loves Meggie deeply, but he can’t treat love as his faith as Meggie does. He cares God more. So he creates an extreme tragedy for Meggie and himself.
3.2 The other men’s faith in The Thorn Birds
When he falls in love with Fiona, Pakeha has been married already, and he has been an important politician. Though Fiona loves him deeply and so does him, “Divorce was out of the question for him. He was one of the first people of his race to attain political greatness”[20]. He has to choose between his people and Fiona. The same as Ralph, he chooses the former, which really stifles Fiona’s faith and deprives her of her zeal for life.
Meggie has eight brothers, two of whom dies young, but none of the ones left alive seem to have any intention of ever getting married. They treat their mother with a tender, absorbed care no amount of indifference on her part can banish. But they are frightened of the power a woman might have over them. They would rather devote all their silent love to the fertile land—Drogheda. “The land brings them men’s self-confidence and dignity; the land compensate them for the lack of mother’s love; the land gives them rich nourishment of life.”[21] They love the land deeply, which weakens their intention of marriage.
Luke is infatuated with money beyond any other thing, including love, and he thinks he does not need women at all. At heart he loves hard cash far more than what it may eventually buy him. The reason he leaves no stone unturned in his effort to marry Meggie is that he feels like getting her property. As Meggie evaluates him before she leaves,
“ ‘You haven’t any intention of spending it, have you? You want to adore it, like a golden calf. Admit it, Luke, you’re a miser. And what an unforgivable idiot you are into the bargain! To treat your wife and daughter the way you wouldn’t dream of treating a pair of dogs, to ignore their existences, let alone their needs!’ ”[22]
Because of his faith for money, Meggie is only a transient figure in his mind, let alone love.
How can a man resist a chance like that to be noble? Just as Ralph chooses the Church, Pakeha chooses his people. Meggie and her mother think they don’t care. They will take what they can get of the men. They will have their children to love at least. However, if they can’t keep their lovers, how can they keep their sons? That is just what God cannot allow, so both of them lose their sons at last. Generally speaking, to most men, if they have to make a choice between two important things, one of which is love, love usually comes a very bad second, while women always choose love as their faith throughout their life.
3.3 The voice between Meggie and Ralph
Ralph has thought that Meggie would not be a rebel, and all her life she would obey, moving within the boundaries of her female fate. But on the contrary, she would rather be a rebel to shoot for her love, and to be loyal to her faith. And she does so, going forward in spite of its loads, its grieves, its pain. However, she still can’t convince Ralph to marry her; her voice for love still can’t cover Ralph’s voice for religious authority. Ralph really loves Meggie, but living in the environment full of men’s power, love is impossible to be his first choice. In his mind, religious authority is more important than love, though he is unlikely to be happy by giving up love. He can’t forget Meggie and can’t forget his love. He does it even as he knows he does wrong. Not that his awareness of the evil in him stops him for a second; only that he pays for his material advancement in pain and self-torment. No matter how mixed his feeling is, he will never think that to accept Meggie’s love is worth a try. In some way, Meggie faint voice can’t have Ralph awake to the importance of love, let alone the society. Naturally, women’s voice is incapable of surmounting men’s. So love tragedies often come to women, including Meggie, for their faint voice can hardly change anything.
4. Tracing back to Western women’s faith
As many other countries, before the campaign of Women’s right in 1830s, the history of Western countries were always ruled by men, whose concepts and authority absolutely dominated the society and the people of the time, so did the history in the western countries. In English language, great and marvelous works, especially novels, always emerged in an endless stream. However, almost all works were written by men, and they did describe some heroines in their works. But in English female writer Virginia Woolf’s opinion, “most of them virtually knew little about women, creating their heroines just with men’s views and imagination, and few of them paid attention to what the women really needed and wanted.”[23] Then more and more great female writers began to emerge in England during the second half of the 18th century, and most of them chose to write distinguished novels to express women’s true feelings, which meant the independent feminism was emerging on the horizon. They placed all their hopes on their heroines, who were filled with the writers’ senses and desires. “But some gifted women of the 19th century made such contributions to the development of the English novels that they have justifiably won their places in the front ranks of the brilliant realists”[24]. Yet what was more significant was that the women novelists had their heroines call for equal rights with men and men’s respect to women and women’s belief. They made men conscious of women’s existence and changed their former attitudes to women; they made other women overcome the difficulties and hold firmly to their faith. These remarkable women novelists include Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, and George Eliot.
In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth, the key heroine of the novel, is born in a common middle class without plentiful dowry, which is difficult for her to marry a gentleman. However, her easy, unaffected personality and lively talents make the noble gentleman—Darcy fall in love with her soon. But because of Darcy’s pride, her self-esteem cannot allow her to accept his proposal. She senses that “His sense of her inferiority—of its being a degradation—of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.”[25] The lesson she teaches Darcy shows that the true love shall not be profaned by any additional requirements. But once she finds her wishful love, nothing can threaten her to give it up, in spite of the pressure of social decorum, nay and interest. When Darcy’s aunt tries to persuade Elizabeth not to marry him, she does not defer and says,
“ ‘I am only resolved to act in that manner, which will, in my own opinion, constitute my happiness, without reference to you, or to any person so wholly unconnected with me.’ ”[26]
At last, after suffering pain from her love, she gains her own happiness with her wisdom, courage and unswervingly loyal faith.
Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre tells about an orphan girl—Jane Eyre, whose firm and rebellious personality help her bear the difficult and miserable conditions. “Though ordinary-looking and poor she is, she makes light of dignitary, insisted on seeking equal rights with men, and was rich in her mental world, which made Rochester love her crazily.” [27] But no matter how much she loves Rochester, she never gives up her female dignity, in spite of her low economic status. She does not allow her love to be sullied by any immorality or impurity. “When she finds Rochester really has already got a live lawful wife that is mad, she becomes shocked, despondent and sad”[28], saying,
“ ‘Mr. Rochester, I no more assign this fate to you than I grasp at it for myself. We were born to strive and endure—you as well as I: do so. You will forget me before I forget you.’ ”[29]
Her noble principle cannot permit her to be his ladylove, so she would rather choose to part with Rochester despite her unwillingness. She believes that only love can repay love, and she thinks that if a woman really loves a man, she will be ready to sacrifice everything for him, including life. When she hears that Rochester loses his manor, fortune and his sight during the fire accident set by his mad wife who dies a tragic death, she realizes he needs her and she returns to him at his side, becoming his wife. After all, she never changes her will and never gives up her love.
In Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, Catharine has wild, gypsy, blood in her and that side of her personality loves to run through the heather with her prince, Heathcliff. However, “the more civilized half of Catharine desires fine dresses and respectable station in society, all things which only Edgar Linton can provide.”[30] She has said to her maid servant—Nelly about her true feeling as followed,
“ ‘It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.’ ”[31]
She thinks if she marries Heathcliff, they will be beggars, while if she marries Linton, she can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of her brother’s power. Therefore, she chooses to marry Linton, but such a collision of love and desire is ripe territory for the seeds of tragedy. Catharine and Heathcliff destroy each other while remaining deeply in love. It is a measure of Catharine’s stoicism that she refuses to budge even under those conditions, pretending that she actually loves Edgar. However, with emotional wounds such as those, kept forever raw by constant needling, she falls ill and dies young at last. Catharine lives for love, and dies for love. Her tragedy also shows that marriage will be unfortunate and unhappy without love, and a full human life in a capitalist society is impossible of attainment, for the pure love of Catharine and Heathcliff has been crushed by the class prejudice of the bourgeoisie.
George Eliot is a great important spokesman of women in England. In her novel The Mill on the Floss, the heroine, Maggie, whose noble aspirations run counter to the philistine narrow-mindedness of those surrounding her, is lively, clever, kind and full of fantasy. “After the loss of her family’s property, Maggie has to drop out of school, learning to inhibit all her former passions and dreams, which actually tormented her all the time.”[32] With the help of Philip, she can enjoy books and music again, and she makes a deep impression on beautiful world and colorful life. Rather than saying that Philip is her lover, it would be better that he is her teacher and good friend in her poor and miserable situation. But, one day, while visiting her cousin Lucy, Maggie meets Stephen, a young suitor of Lucy, and they are attracted by each other’s beauty. “Stephen offers to marry her, but she turns him down on the ground that she cannot achieve her own happiness by sacrificing others.”[33] She could not ignore the public opinion and abandon the social morality, but she hurts herself deeply. “ ‘I will bear it, and bear it till death….’ ”[34] She forsakes her pursuit for love, so maybe death is her best way out. The tragic doom of Maggie virtually shows the irreconcilability of a gifted and noble-minded personality of women with bourgeois reality, and what’s more, it also shows that women also cannot be allowed to love the persons they love because of outside pressures and social restrictions. Maggie longs for love, but she has to give up love finally.
In the Western society, the female’s voice for equal rights and permanent faith did not only echo in Europe, but also in America, the opposite shore of Pacific at the end of 19th century. The women’s appeal to men for valuing women’s roles in society was more intensive in America. To play an important role in literary field was also one of women’s goals to make their voice regarded. In such kind of environment, in 1936 Margaret Mitchell produced her masterpiece Gone with the Wind, which makes the flag of feminism flutter freer and easier. The heroine Scarlet, a southern belle “is well disciplined by her mother, but her blazing green eyes always betrays her covert capricious self”[35] . Scarlet longs for the noble Ashley’s love, and dreams of marrying him. However, Ashley can’t marry her, though he actually loves her. In the southern America at that time, men always admire the women who are gentle and demure; they think women should be weak and rely on men all the time. So they regard the good wife and loving mother as an angel. On the contrary, men cannot tolerate women’s outstanding thoughts, keen insight and independent economic position. They treat such kind of women as devils. But Scarlet really belongs to the second kind of women whose behaviors always infringe the feudal ethical code. Therefore, it’s impossible for Ashley, filled with the old ethics to marry Scarlet. He would rather marry an angel whom he doesn’t love deeply. Only can Rhett Butler, representing the new northern social customs, accept Scarlet’s bold ambitions. Yet it’s too late for her to realize it. She always keeps abandoning herself to her love for Ashley. So her love is doomed to be a tragedy.
As Western women novelists, they wanted women’s voice for true love known and respected by men. However, because of the limitations of eras and social background, there were still some deficiencies about their heroines. Because women were not able to be independent on economy and social position, their marriages should be based on men’s abundant property, so they would like their love to come with money. What’s more, because of the prejudice against Darcy, Elizabeth once becomes well disposed towards hypocritical Wickham; because of Rochester’s misfortune and abjection, Jane Eyre returns to him and gets her love finally; because of her vanity, Catharine chooses to marry Linton, but not her true lover; because of her strong sense of responsibility, Maggie decides to give up Stephen’s love; because of her ultra personality, Scarlet can’t get her longing love. Those heroines just make their faint voice heard within limited social bounds. Therefore, compared with them, Colleen Mccullough’s heroine Meggie stands head and shoulders above them, as she loves Ralph without the consideration of his economic condition and social culture. Her love is pure and noble, and she is unswervingly loyal to it, though she is hurt most deeply. She has love become distillation of life; she makes her voice resound across the heavens. Her voice is louder and more beautiful. However, no matter whose voice it is, all of them are faint. They just build their ivory tower of love by their own, without attracting public attention, paying great cost but gaining great pain. They all can’t completely change the traditional values and persuade their lovers to accept their faith; they still can’t stop tragedies and make themselves happier in love.
5. Conclusion
Singing her own little song, Meggie convinces it’s the most wonderful song the world has ever heard. She just hopes her faith can bring her a significant and happy life; she just hopes that her voice for love can bring Ralph’s attention and respect. In order to get love, she would rather offer her life as the greatest sacrifice, and her elevated demeanor is matchless for other women. But she still fails, as other western women’s fate.
There is a Greek saying that it’s a sin against the gods to love something beyond all reason. When someone loves so, the gods become jealous, and strike the object down in the very fullness of its flower, and make her suffer all the time. It’s profane to love too much, but women always choose to set their whole mind and heart on love. So they are always injured severely. It’s been God’s punishment to women since Eve ate the forbidden fruit. God not only sent her forth from the Garden of Eden, but also keeps punishing her and her female descendants, having them choose love as their faith and suffer from it in every moment till their death. As long as they live, women can’t stop longing for love, searching for love, fighting for love, and waiting for love. However, it’s easy for men to ignore women’s indefatigable zeal for faith. What’s worse, men don’t have the inclination to understand women. They seem not to know that women are different, needing things they don’t need. Women are just one of men’s ribs, so how can a rib win the whole body? Therefore, women’s attempt is destined to failure, and their voice for love is always so faint that they often feel hopeless and helpless. But they still don’t want to give up their faith. They know they will pay great cost, but they never stop searching for their sharpest and longest thorn. As long as love lies, women will keep suffering. However, women’s faith for love brings them a wonderful and significant life, which will ring in the world forever.
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