the farm She hears the veld as hostile The grass sings but for her it is not music It is a warning The Title Echoes Death and Mary s Murder From the first page death is present Mary s life ends tragically when Moses the servant kills her The land and the grass seem to know that this will happen The story even starts with Mary Turner wife of Richard Turner was found murdered on the front veranda This tells us that death is a big part of the story Sergeant Denham sees Mary s stiff body Moses her servant has killed her Tony watches the scene The cicadas scream in the background Lessing writes A steady insistent screaming from every bush and tree Nature becomes a funeral chorus The grass sings of death The sound is not peaceful It is terror It is the voice of doom The Title Mirrors Social Silence and Race Tension The grass sings but no one listens This is like the silence between races Moses works quietly He suffers insults Mary whips him Later she fears him Yet she also depends on him Their relationship breaks the colour bar Sergeant and Charlie Slatter hide this truth Tony sees it but keeps silent The grass sings but white society refuses to hear This silence ends in tragedy The Title Shows the Failure of Dreams Dick dreams of farming success He dreams of a big thatched house But he fails He cannot pay his debts Mary dreams of comfort She wants ceilings fine clothes and order But she fails too Moses dreams of dignity But he ends up in prison Even Tony young and idealistic gives up Charlie Slatter survives but only by cruelty The grass sings over all these failures It mocks human hopes The Title Suggests Nature s Endless Cycle Grass grows dries burns and grows again Human lives come and go Mary dies Dick loses his mind Moses waits for hanging But the veld remains Lessing writes The veld was dim Everything was on the verge of colour Nature does not care for individuals The grass sings its eternal song It shows the cycle of life and death Humans are temporary The veld is forever The title The Grass is Singing carries many meanings It shows Mary s fear of the land It sings of her death at Moses s hand It mirrors the silence of racial oppression It sings over the failure of Dick Mary and others It represents the eternal song of nature Lessing s choice of title is perfect It makes the novel both tragic and symbolic