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Breaking Night is Liz Murray’s autobiography. Readers are shocked and incredibly painful. The novel describes the protagonist’s unimaginable journey of triumph, where at 15 she is eating from garbage cans as a homeless teenager, and at 19 attending what is widely known as the best university in the world. She lifts herself from her painful situation, over and over again, until her dreams become her destiny. Furthermore, the author’s big heart is reflected in the love she has for her mother, despite her mother’s drug addiction, and the fact that her mother sells everything in the house to get a hit. The book teaches a lesson in gratitude, especially in the things that we take for granted. There are millions in the world who don’t have access to these things, and while we see pictures of stricken people and are always reminded to be grateful, it is when we go through a person’s life journey that these things stand out in a new way altogether.
Since its publication, Breaking Night has aroused literary attention and review. After the publication of Breaking Night, Liz Murray was observed as a writer who has shown us the worst, and the very best, of America and “staying up through the night, until the sun rises.” (Net.1) The experts of American literature says “Breaking Night reads more like an adventure story than an addiction-morality tale and itself is full of heart, without a sliver of ice, and deeply moving.” (Net.2) This book is presented in misery memoir tradition: a little girl lost on its cover, its author’s name in gold and a title that boasts Breaking Night: “The Astonishing True Story of Courage, Survival and Overcoming All the Odds.” (Net.2) Even before reading it, looks likely to stand head and shoulders above the rest, because Liz Murray is remarkable—a special case. She went to Harvard when she was homeless and so this will, at the very least, be a thinking woman’s misery memoir.
The New York Times Book Review comments, “From runaway to Harvard student, Murray tells an engaging, powerfully motivational story about turning her life around. In this incredible story of true grit, Murray went from feeling like the world was filled with people who were repulsed by me to learning to receive the bountiful generosity of strangers who truly cared.” (New York Times, 2011: homepage) Haven Kimmel, author of A Girl Named Zippy and She Got Up Off the Couch observes “Liz Murray shows us that the human spirit has infinite ability to grow and can never be limited by circumstance. Breaking Night is a beautifully written, heartfelt memoir that will change the way you look at your community, the obstacles in your own life, and the American Dream.” (Haven, 2011: Blog) Kirkus reviews “Education was the miracle that saved Murray’s life. Her story is inspirational, and her description of her high school, and its role in her life, should be read by everyone concerned about education.” (Kirkus, 2011: article) All American people praised and admired her story after she succeeded, but along the different stages in her life, her deeply inner activity when she faced many accidents, difficulties and even tragedies remain a new area to be investigated. No one will pity her and the whole world seems to have betrayed her.
However, studies of the theme of the novel remain a few. Besides, such aspects as the character of the protagonist, her belief from the many details in story when she was raised and her efforts to make a winner in the competitive society have aroused my great interest in scratching this unexplored area. This thesis analyzes the suffering and survival of the protagonist from the approach of female bildungsroman. By so doing this paper intends to dig out the theme of the novel; that is, whoever you are, with hard work, diligence and perseverance, success is always in your hands. According to the development of the poly, the protagonist is always the underling research object from physical to mental development in changing environment. The result and implication release that the protagonist fights against her fate, endures heavy pressure from family and social background and finally matures into a woman of great achievements. Hopefully, my exploration will make the study of this novel a bit richer.