3.1.4 Piquette’s Irrational Imitation 7

3.2 Implicit Factors that Contributed to Piquette’s Attitudes 7

3.2.1 The Protection of Self-esteem 8

3.2.2 The Pursuit of a Sense of Belonging 8

4. Culture Connotations Reflected in The Loons 9

4.1 Post-colonial Theories Reflected in the Mixed Feelings 9

4.1.1 Ambivalence 9

4.1.2 Loss of Identity 10

4.2 The Vicious Circle Reflected in the Novel 11

5. Conclusion 13

Bibliography 14

1. Introduction 

1.1 Background Information 

Multiculturalism is a fundamental characteristic of Canadian society which has always been pluralist and perse and is bound to become more so.（吴斐，2011: 328-329）Since 1960s, there was a boom in literary works of minority and feminine psychology in Canadian, accompanied with a surge of distinguished writers. Margaret Laurence, as a much-admired Canadian author, was one of the representatives.（绳立平，2009: 50）Her novels feature tough women and their struggles for self-understanding and acceptance. She was known for her support of peace, woman’s rights, and other progressive causes.（李正林and 张名高, 2009）The Loons is a typical literary work that reveals the awkward situation of marginalized races in Canadian society. It was collected in A Bird in the House, a short story sequence written by Margaret Laurence which was first published in 1970 and noted by Laurence to be "semi-autobiographical". The series showed the growing up of a young writer, Vanessa MacLeod. From the perspective of Vanessa, the daughter of a white doctor, The Loons manifests the miserable experience of Piquette, a half-bred girl who was trapped in an unfathomable abyss of searching for the acceptance of the dominant culture. 

1.2 Researches both at Home and Abroad

The scholars both at home and abroad have gained various insights into this novel. Generally, they mainly discourse upon the theme of this novel, the writing techniques used in the story, the cultural backdrop reflected by the plot, and specific analysis of the main character. Those studies highlight the following subjects: the symbolism of the loons, the exposure of racism, the destruction of ecological environment, the narrative art of the whole story, the psychological analysis on the tragedy of Piquette, as well as the analysis on the marginalized culture in Canada, etc. 

Undoubtedly, the tragedy of those marginalized people described in The Loons is only the tip of the iceberg. Instead of feeling absolute hostility, the marginalized race and the dominant actually hold paradoxical attitudes towards each other. A vicious circle, as a result of ambivalence which is the typical situation reflected in post-colonial theories, puts the possibility of solving current social condition into an impasse.  

With the process of globalization in the post-colonial period, multiculturalism is an inevitable trend around the world, so does the conflicts between the mainstream culture and the marginalized culture. Never stopping the pursuit of harmonious relationship should be the consensus of the whole society. 

1.3 Literature Review

As the title of this thesis indicates, the discussion will start from analyzing the paradoxical attitudes of two main characters. In this part, professional theories for the plot, the psychological and linguistic descriptions of character are inevitable, especially from the perspective of Piquette, the round character in this novel. Therefore, my thesis will cite supportive theories in The Aspects of Novel. ( Forster, 2009: 174-176) In the third chapter, the thesis will analyze implicit factors that led to those two main characters’ mixed feelings. In accordance with The Lament of Canadian-Indian（张燕，2012: 143-144）, Vanessa also had a sense of superiority, which provides a disparate point of view of understanding the novel. In Struggle and Cultural Loss among Marginalized Races--Text Analysis of The Loons（于爱莲，2006: 93-95）, the article analyzes the distinct changes in Piquette’s characters in different stages of her life. In the forth part, the concepts of ambivalence and identity in post-colonial theories will be given according to A Study of Homi K. Bhabha’s Post-colonial Theories.（生安峰，2011）After the discussion of ambivalence and loss of identity reflected in the paradoxical attitudes of main characters, the thesis will analyze the vicious circle may take shape under the influences of the ambivalent situation. New Horizon of Canadian Multicultural Studies（李桂山and 朱珂冰，2012: 318-319）supply a succinct historical background of marginalized race in the author’s writing backgrounds.  《潜鸟》中体现的文化内涵主要人物的矛盾态度(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_50187.html