The Narrative Strategies and Family Ethics Dilemma in Gurnah’s Gravel Heart
Yin Yuyue

China University of Mining and Technology，Xuzhou Jiangsu，221000；

Abstract: Gurnah’s Gravel Heart explores family ethical dilemmas amid African colonial and civil unrest. The narrative reconstructs Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, particularly illuminating the moral quandary faced by Salim’s mother as she grapples with the choice between preserving her brother’s life and maintaining her own chastity; Gurnah’s innovative use of the epistolary narrative delineates Salim’s subjective reality and psychological state as he navigates the complexities of ethical identity amidst his dislocation in a foreign land; besides, the shifting narrative perspectives serve to elucidate the roots of such ethical dilemmas. In Gravel Heart, Gurnah adeptly weaves a familial ethical narrative within the historical framework of political turmoil in Zanzibar, thereby offering a critique of British colonialism and post-colonial strife through familial ethics, exposing post-colonial Africa’s darker aspects and reflecting Gurnah’s ethical concern for Africans facing dual predicaments.

Keywords: Gravel Heart; Gurnah; narrative strategies; family ethics

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