Theme of Survival in Margaret Laurence's A Jest of God.

Margaret Laurence is a prolific and distinguished novelist hailing from Canada; she focuses on the predicaments of women and tries to give an identity to the Canadian women. The theme of survival occupies a pivotal place in the novels of Margaret Laurence who hails from Scots-Irish background of stern values and hard work and Puritanism. The theme of survival came up during the drought and depression of the 1930s and then the war. Dedication to social reform is the prime quality of Laurence. A Jest of God is one of the Manawaka novels. In A Jest of God, survival and freedom are predominant themes. Laurence portrays the horrible conditions of women in the process of struggle for survival in the mid-20th century in Canada. Akin to the theme of other Manawaka novels of Laurence, the same theme of survival continues to be central in A Jest of God which attempts to present the person's determination to survive with some dignity that everyone carries until the end of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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