Although Eveline has to be the central life and care taker of her family’s home, she is stuck dwelling on the past and fearing her life ahead of her. Eveline is seen as the woman in charge of the household. The narrator states, “Of course she had to work hard, both in the house and at business,” implying that she not only worked hard around the home, but also had some kind of job where she earned her own money (Joyce). Eveline is the one to take care of the home and has to keep it clean and together. Also, Eveline had been “treated as her mother had been” (Joyce). This could suggest that she is just like her mother, so people treat her the same way that her mother had been. Her mother was the home maker, and now Eveline has had to take over that role. Eveline has “to rush out as quickly as she [can] and do her marketing” and then “[returns] home late under her load of provisions” (Joyce). She has to use her shillings to get food for her family with little to no help from her father. She has to go out in the night time just to provide the next nights meal because her dad is too busy doing other things. Also, the narrator says, “She had hard work to keep the house together” (Joyce). Eveline has to work day in and day out just to keep the house together. She is the one that cleans, gets groceries, and has taken care of her siblings ever since her mother died. This is what she has known all her life, which could possibly indicate that she is also fearful of what is to come.
Jeannette is very insecure about her past life of poverty, and although she has now dug herself out of the rut of destitution, her parents’ continued homelessness is always a reminder of
She came to live with the Fromes after her father died. Women at this time stay at home and take care of the house.
Think back to your own childhood. Could you imagine being a child, and not having a care in the world, but then, as quick as the snap of a finger, that all changes because of a thoughtless mistake made by your parents? In The Glass Castle it is revealed that as Jeannette grew up, she endured hardships inflicted upon her by her own parents. However, if Jeannette had not gone through these things, she never would have gained the characteristics that she values present day. Although Jeannette Walls faced hardships and endured suffering during her childhood, these obstacles formed her into a self-reliant woman who proves that just because you do not have as much money as other families, you can still achieve success in your life.
She is being raised in a world where women are expected to suffer silently and to be at the mercy of their men. However, men were not expected to return this slave-like behavior for the women. This setting of the novel allows the reader to see exactly how treacherous life can be. This suffering is so present in Estrella’s family’s lives, yet she somehow is able to bring the family along no matter how difficult the situation may be. She is still trapped in between two very different worlds: "She tried to remember which side she was on and which side of the wire mesh she was safe in" (59). Her mother may be taken over by a world of suffering, but she is not so beaten that she cannot pass some of her fighting
During this hours, everyone can see what is going on, so the narrator barely creeps, just like it was seen as taboo to be seen supporting women’s rights. “ [...] He said what I felt was a drought, and shut the window” (Gilman ). The windows in the story are a path to freedom, but when they are barred, it represents the opportunities for independence and freedom being taken away, and the narrator hold back from reaching for them. “She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession”(Gilman 650). Jennie was John’s sister, and she represented the “ideal” woman role expected by society, just like Mary. They are everything the narrator’s husband wants her to be, the stereotypical housewife, who does what she is told to do; the exact opposite from the narrator. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friend and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency- what is one to do? My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing” (Gilman 648).The physicians are symbolic to high rank in society
At the beginning of this same line, the girl tells what she does not like, "It seemed to me that work in the house was endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing." She sees her mother's life and the work that she does and simply does not want to be a part of it. She also outright says, "I hated the hot dark kitchen in summer; the green blinds and the flypapers, the same old oil table and wavy mirror and bumpy linoleum" (113). The girl is showing her opposition to her assigned gender role. She does not like working in the house or preparing comparing and contrasting of the father's world versus the mother's world. The father's world is composed of outdoor work, fox farming, has no emotion, expresses freedom and identified by light. The father's world is all about the death of animals. So, there is no time for emotions. This lack of emotions is also carried into the relationship between the girl and her father. The girl says, My father did not talk to me unless it was about the job we were doing. Whatever thoughts and stories my father had were private, and I was shy of him and would never ask him questions" (112). The girl accepted this and considered it part of the attitude you have to have for this job. The girl prefers her father's type of emotion rather than her mother's. The girl describes her mother's emotions:
The narrator is totally crushed by the gender discrimination. She longed to be seen by her mother and her grandma. The narrator is heartbroken that her mother loved her brother more than her and failed to notice her. “When she went into Nonso’s room to say good night, she always came out laughing that laugh. Most times, you pressed your palms to your ears to keep the sound out, and kept your palms pressed to your ears, even when she came into your room to say Good night, darling, sleep well. She never left your room with that laugh” (190). Her agony can be easily seen by the way of her narrating. She does not get the affection that she deserves. She really needs the affection from her own mother, but she is not getting it. She compares the love which her mother shows to his brother and herself. This is gender discrimination can be seen with her grandmother too. She hated her grandma as she would always support her brother and find fault with her. Even though what the brother did, no matter what crime. Her mother and grandmother always supported her brother and never supported or showed interest towards
Jeannette and her siblings had to help her mother get through the day because life was so stressful for them all. “At times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her―the promise I’d made to her when I held her on the way home from the hospital after she’d been born. I couldn’t get her what she needed most―hot baths, a warm bed, a steaming bowl of Cream of Wheat before school in the morning―but I tried to do little things” (Walls 206). This is showing how as times get more tough, and the family is treated worse by society, the family members are unable to take care of each other the way they would want to. This shows how social injustice gets in
In spite of the fact that Jeannette begins by stating, “we had no money at all,” the undeniable reality tone and absence of disappointment suggests the negligible criticalness of her family's financial issues as it easily dominates by the importance of the moment. In any case, rather than embracing a negative and unforgiving tone that communicates merited appall with her folks, Walls settles on the complex decision to just tell the experience like it happened and let the readers sympathize with her. For instance, in the Welch chapter, Walls recounts a discussion she had with her mom: “‘You can’t quit your job,’ I said. ‘We need the money.’ ‘Why do I always have to be the one who earns the money?’
As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist. Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be. She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170). However, in a time
Trapped in a world where mental anguish imprisons her, Eveline is another of James Joyce's paralyzed souls. Her life is full of ups and downs. Every day she struggles with burdens that she should not have to bear and when the opportunity comes for her to get away from this retched life, she denies herself the chance. The reasons why I feel Eveline did not leave for Buenos Aires with Frank is because she was obligated to her family, she was afraid of the unknown and she did not know how to receive love.
change in her life by moving with her boyfriend Frank from her homeland of Ireland and making a life with him in Buenos Ayres. Joyce illustrates that one of our most inherent qualities as humans and one that Eveline displays is that we are resistant to change. Through Eveline's relationships with her father, Frank and various peripheral relationships, Joyce demonstrates to us how Eveline has come to have certain beliefs about change.
Marianne’s display of responsibility is not consistent, and is very different than her sister’s; unlike Elinor, Marianne lives a
Eveline was a female that was brought up in a poor area of Dublin, Ireland. As with all underprivileged areas around the world things were harder. There was a higher importance placed on morals and values. Eveline’s job was to care for her father and the house after her mother passed. A promise she made to her mother on her deathbed, and promises are to be kept. She also had two children that she oversaw caring for. Her responsibilities were routine, comfortable, and safe. There is nothing that the human race likes more than routine. There is a comfort that comes with knowing how things are going to go and
During the postcolonial times the presence of the Roman Catholic Church dominated the Republic of Ireland making Irish Christianity the largest religion. It is through marriage that Eveline is able to fulfill the personal desire enculturated within her through society. O’Brien identifies in Study: An Irish Quarterly Review that Eveline believes that by becoming Frank’s wife, she can “completely valorise her female identity” (207). By becoming a married woman she would gain ‘respect’, as Joyce explains, “then she would be married – she, Eveline. People would treat her with respect then. She would not be treated as her mother had been” (73). It is through Frank that Eveline can find her