Immorality In The Diviners Essay

Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners has over the years caught the attention of the public as being extremely immoral. In fact, in the eighties, the novel was on the verge of being banned from all schools in Ontario for being “degrading, dehumanizing”, according to one parent. It is undeniable that this novel does contain severely immoral acts like adultery, cheating, and un-marital sex – all acts that are diametrically opposed to the teachings of religion. In the eyes of parents, it is therefore unacceptable to expose children to this novel. Though understandable, Laurence uses immorality as a means to convey her themes, identity development being the main one. In this sense, Laurence’s novel uses immoral acts to develop a sense of morality with …show more content…
Early on in the novel, Morag for the first time has sex with Jules – losing her virginity as a sixteen-year-old girl. Laurence uses this immoral act to portray the character of Morag as plainly curios and explorative, and absolutely not immoral, evil, or anything else society can label Morag as. Morag, being an innocent girl, just wants to explore the concept of sexuality – how if feels, what it looks like, even how it sounds. Does this sound like degrading, dehumanizing filth? She is simply too impatient to wait till marriage to have sex. In a sense, being young has chained and restricted her for she can and cannot do.

As a result, this pre-marital sex very much develops Morag’s character. After having experienced this, she now is willing to adapt this into her life as a natural need (and later on this shows to be also detrimental to her). In any case, however, Laurence implies that though a young girl having sex may be immoral, the curiosity and impatience that gave rise to this event develop the identity of Morag. In Morag’s life on, this gives rise to the adulteress, nymphomaniac character that develops as a result of this act, essentially shaping her character, and in turn the