Titel Ideologies in David Lodge’s Nice Work

Författare Daniel Obed

Årtal 2006

Antal sidor 17

Ämne Engelska

Abstract

Nice Work is a campus novel which is comic and ironic in its nature. David Lodge uses irony and comic to point out the dichotomies which are Patriarchy vs. Feminism and Capitalism vs. Marxism. In Nice Work, characters from different backgrounds and with different perception of society are forced to meet which enables them to see their own ideologies in contrast to the opposite ones. In this essay I will examine how the main characters relate to these ideologies, and if their interaction with each other has an impact on their ideological convictions. My focus is on the two main characters Robyn Penrose, a Marxist feminist, lecturer in women's writing and Vic Wilcox, MD at a big company, but I also look at the ideologies of other characters in the novel. By taking a closer look at the interaction between the characters, one is able to discover the ideological changes some of the characters go through. I have found that the characters benefit from interacting with each other and that interaction between people from different backgrounds is described as the key to a grater understanding of society as a whole. By being scrutinized by people of another conviction, the characters see the limitations in having one unbending ideology. Most characters are not true to their ideologies and they show signs of double standards. In conclusion, Nice Work helps the reader understand that there is not one single truth in life, and that life and society is more complex than one ideology can grasp. It also shows the reader the difficulties in combining one’s ideology with one’s life.