When women characters or archetypes and water are given significance within a single text, many of their meanings run together. Bodies of water unconsciously mimic the emotions of women, as seen as the storm that kills Fleur’s rapists or the continual drowning of others in Fleur’s place. Water provides a sense of security and community to a woman with children, as they are both life giving beings. When women are bound to household chores and tending the home they use water much more often than the men of the text, through washing and cooking—purification and supplying life. Throughout the works of literature we have studied during this semester, water is also women’s first choice for death, providing another archetype of the “drowned woman.” The drowned woman is in herself an …show more content…
As she feels the stillness of death on page 214, however, Ada makes another choice. This choice is made not just in the presence of water, but surrounded by it. She kicks off her boot and returns to the surface, only to think fondly of her piano and sometimes herself lying at the bottom of the ocean later on in her life. This return to life could be figurative rather than literal, but if Ada does choose to live, the water that “kills” her also becomes a baptismal image of resurrection as she returns to the surface. It also brings the whole story full circle, as after her rebirth, Ada ends the book as she began it, traveling by water to a new life.
Death by water also plays a large part of Louise Erdrich’s short story “Fleur,” in a much more immediate and dramatic way. The story opens with a drowning in the same way that The Piano opens with a journey by water; the drowning, however, is not only
In the opening, she shares her childhood encounters with women in prose with the children’s rhyme “a little girl who had a curl”. This personal anecdote introduces the topic of the portrayal of women in literature, as well as establishes a connection with her audience.
Ron Rash’s novel—Saints at the River—begins with a short prologue, in which, a twelve year old girl drowns. Rash uses lyrical syntax and emotionally-charged imagery to establish a macabre tone.
Tim Winton’s short story, ‘The Water Was Dark and it Went Forever Down’, depicts a nameless, adolescent girl who is battling the voices inside her head along with the powerful punishments at the hands of her inebriated mother. The key concerns of life and death are portrayed through the girl’s viewpoint as she compares her life with her sad, depressed mother. Anonymous as she is, the girl constantly makes an attempt to escape the outbursts, that come as a result to her mother’s drinking, by submerging herself into the water. An extended metaphor is used when expressing the girl as a machine and her will to continue surviving in her sombre life.
The author agrees with the idea of women as victims through the characterisation of women in the short story. The women are portrayed as helpless to the torment inflicted upon them by the boy in the story. This positions readers to feel sympathy for the women but also think of the world outside the text in which women are also seen as inferior to men. “Each season provided him new ways of frightening the little girls who sat in front of him or behind him”. This statement shows that the boy’s primary target were the girls who sat next to him. This supports the tradition idea of women as the victims and compels readers to see that the women in the text are treated more or less the same as the women in the outside world. Characterisation has been used by the author to reinforce the traditional idea of women as the helpless victims.
“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” (Norman Cousins) Death comes to us all, for some it marks the end of a life, for others it reveals the road to a new path in which the soul travels. However it leaves behind a trail of darkness regardless for those who have experienced the loss. Through enduring the death and tragedies of those around us, we are tested by our emotions. The character Amabelle experiences the trauma of death and tragedy many times through water in her journey and Danticat shows us how it affects her in the novel. In a time where there was much death and tragedy, Danticat’s depictions gives us insight into just how horrific the events were that took place during
Initially Mai holds a negative perspective in “Mai closed her eyes and tried to recall her father's stories— but they rang shallow against the dense roaring slabs of water she'd just seen.” The hydrographia personifies the natural elements creating a pathetic fallacy, which reflects Mai’s initially pessimistic attitude as her hope is crushed by the harsh reality of her experiences on the boat. However, this provocative experience catalyses a transformed perception, as upon reaching the shore she thinks: “The boat would land - they would all land.” The epistrophe of “land” and high modality of “would” shows her renewed hopeful perspective, which would not have been possible without physically experiencing the harshness of being on the boat. Thus, the ability for discoveries to be far-reaching and transformative is seen through these provocative and confronting external experiences that transform individual perceptions.
For this essay, I am going to be discussing the short story “Swimming” found on the New Yorker, and written by T. Cooper. I have chosen this story for many reasons, and among those reasons is the personal sadness I felt when I first read the story, almost as if the universe was placing a certain theme in my life, that only the main character could possibly understand. I am talking about running, the god given instinct felt by all men, inherent in the nature of fear, and brought out in all who feel sadness in its full intensity. Though in my short life I can not compare the sadness I have felt with that of losing a child at my own hand, but if I had been placed in that situation, if fate had tempted my soul with such a sequence of events, I would like to think I could find the strength to endure and the courage to not abandon all I had previously known. Yet I am able to reconcile the themes of grief, the mode of recovery, and the longing to escape such a terrible tale. I think in this piece, as I will discuss in later parts, the author was able to put into words a transformation we rarely get to observe in closeness, the kind of transformation that turns a kind man into a “just man” the kind of death that turns this world from a beautiful and happy place into a world that is closing in on our main character, that is forcing him to surface temporarily and gasp for air, much like he does when he finds peace in the water, wading breath after air, after sea. I firmly believe that
In analyzing portrayals of women, it is appropriate to begin with the character of Margarita. For, within the text, she embodies the traditionally masculine traits of bravery, resilience, and violence as a means of liberating herself from an existence of abuse and victimhood. Even more, the woman plays upon stereotypes of femininity in order to mask her true nature. The reader witnesses this clever deception in a scene where the character endures a “wholesome thrashing” from her huge, violent, and grizzly bear-like husband, Guerra (81). Although Margarita “[submits] to the infliction with great apparent humility,” her husband is found “stone-dead” the next morning (81). Here, diction such as “submits” and “humility” relate to the traits of weakness, subservience and inferiority that are so commonly expected of women, especially in their relationships with men. Yet, when one
Beowulf and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are both narratives in which gender acts as an important theme within their individual communities; yet they use different tools to define the roles of men and women within a good community. Or, in other words, both stories paint a vivid picture of the role of women, by suggesting that one gender had more power over the other. However, these two narratives vary in their expression of such views; Beowulf conveys its message through what is missing, while “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” incorporates satire and uses explicit narrative when relaying the experience of a woman that is highly different from that of other women of her time. Furthermore, another difference that is apparent to the reader is that men become the heroes in Beowulf, while “the wife” becomes
The structure of a novel enables it to embody, integrate and communicate its content by revealing its role in the creation and perception of it. A complex structure such as that of Robert Drewe’s work The Drowner, published in 1996, refers to the interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity1. Drewe’s novel is a multi-faceted epic love story presenting a fable of European ambitions in an alien landscape, and a magnificently sustained metaphor of water as the life and death force2. The main concerns of the novel include concerns about love, life, death and human frailty. These concerns are explored through the complex structure of the novel. That is, through its symbolic title, prologues, and division into sections. The
In the late nineteenth century, women were expected to be inferior to the male gender, but Fiela Komoetie was the exception in this story, demonstrating her strong character by leading her family with power and wisdom. In the text it states, “The power of women was different, he decided: sly, fearless, changeable as the moods of the sea, but he knew instinctively that was the power against which his own would be measured” (Mathee 349). Due to her husband’s inability to lead the family, Fiela Komoetie was pushed to expand her horizons and think in an objective way to benefit her family’s needs despite facing the challenge of being a woman. In addition, the setting illustrates Fiela as a strong and independent woman who
The Awakening by Kate Chopin ends with the death of the main character, Edna Pontellier. Stripping off her clothes, she swims out to sea until her arms can no longer support her, and she drowns. It was not necessarily a suicide, neither was it necessarily the best option for escaping her problems.
In the time period of the 14th century, many woman faced inequality. Women were not viewed to uphold the same quota as men. Most females were viewed as passive to males and were not able to make many demands in their relationships or make any contributions to their own survival or life. In the “Wife of Bath Tale”, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer gives an insight into the struggles of a woman. Chaucer gives a voice for women who cannot speak for themselves. He creates a tale for the Wife of Bath that includes and questions the societal views of women. Written in the words of a woman, Chaucer undermines what it means to be a female in the fourteenth century who desires independence and
After beginning many of his poems by establishing the heavenly nature of women, Swift presents a progression that removes ethereal qualities and exposes the true human form of women. In “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” the reveal of Caelia’s dressing room dismantles her image as a goddess. Caelia’s dressing room functions as the source of her divinity — it is here that “The goddess from her chamber issues.” (“The Lady’s Dressing Room” 3) When Strephon enters this space, he hopes to see the arena that holds the goddess and, in a way, take in the beauty that shines through the nymph. Instead, the room reveals the tools and methods Caelia uses to disguise her humanity. Strephon is repulsed to find disgusting items such as “Combs for various uses,/ Filled up with dirt” and “Sweat, dandruff, powder, lead and hair.” (“The Lady’s Dressing Room” 19-20, 24) Swift’s catalogue of the dressing room continues to elicit disgust in the reader culminating in a humorous revelation that utterly horrifies Strephon. In the recesses of the dressing room, Strephon discovers a chamber pot, which betrays Caelia’s bodily functions. His realization that “Caelia, Caelia, Caelia, shits” (“The Lady’s Dressing Room” 118) forces him to confront the reality that she is actually human and — perhaps worst of all — that she has the same needs as men. Here, Swift is destabilizing notions of benevolent sexism that contribute to the unfair standards thrust upon 18th century women.
Much as these are both related to water, they differ greatly in their impact on societies - while one brings hope and life to weary travelers, the other brings struggle accompanied by death. Throughout most of literary history, writers have explored this idea of poly-indicative-identity, whether that be with the vast depths of water or some other symbol, and William Faulkner’s novel As I Lay Dying is no exception to this idea. From rivers to the fish that inhabit them, As I Lay Dying is composed with a symphony of different symbols, however, one of the more persistent ones is that of the river. By incorporating certain aspects of the Yoknapatawpha River, Faulkner is able to allow the work to flow more smoothly, more easily incorporate ideas about the themes of death and barriers, as well as enhance the characterization of certain figures.