Rape Fantasies by Margaret Atwood Essay

FJ believes that he has mistrusted Ellinor, because he believes that it is not possible for her to leave him. Instead of allowing Ellinor her own feelings, FJ decides them for her because he has transformed her into the object of his fantasy. And as an object for his taking, FJ does not allow Ellinor to deny him, which leads him to rape her when she attempts to deny him sex. When FJ meets with Ellinor and tells her of his inner thoughts, concerning his worry of “the change of her vowed affections” and telling her exactly “with whom, of whom, by whom, and to whom she bent her better liking,” the narrator describes FJ as “one not master of himself” (61). As he goes to inform Ellinor of her wrongdoings in the case of their affair, he does not maintain control over his own affections and when Ellinor falls “into flat defiance with FJ,” he does not let her disagree with him and he does this by forcing her to submit to him (61). By raping Ellinor, FJ forces her into a momentary perfect version of herself, in his mind. Ellinor’s first purpose for FJ is to be ready for him sexually at all times, and when she refuses to have sex with him, he terms her as his “new-professed enemy” and then rapes her so that he gains what he wants from her (61). Ellinor refuses to function as FJ’s perfect object, so he rapes her into submission; however, Ellinor does not force him to leave but continues to allow him to function as a patriarchal figure. And, in an effort to show

Instead of leaving him, she exposes all of the

“Before the rape I felt good. My life was in order. I was getting ready to get married. Afterward everything changed. I kind of lost who I was as a person…

But where the story began to take a turn was when Marla, the woman that he met in the support groups, called and stated she was in the process of committing suicide. He pretty much blew her off when Tyler took the initiative to go to her apartment where he becomes her coping mechanism by using sex. But while the narrator (Edward) thinks that he is having some sort of nightmare not understanding it is actual reality. Then noticing the tension between the two the narrator states that they Marla and Tyler remind him of his parent because he never sees them in the same place at once. The only time that they spent in the same room was during sexual intercourse. He narrator was jealous because of the way he felt for Marla, but just too afraid to express it because she was already sleeping with Tyler. This is why the tension was so high.

Psychologists usually agree that the teenage years are among the most difficult periods in one’s life. Most teens are trying to figure out who they are, what they believe, and how they fit into the world around them. Beginning in the late 1970’s, a whole genre of fiction, referred to as coming-of-age literature, emerged and serves, at least for many teens, as believable presentations of young people learning to navigate the difficulties of their lives, often fraught with feelings of rejection, seemingly unresolvable personal turmoil, social problems, school and family issues, etc. Indeed one value of reading is to see and better understand some aspect of ourselves through studying others. The reading of SPEAK, a somewhat controversial book

Rape is a grotesque topic, but in The RoundHouse by Louise Erdrich the subject is a necessity for Joe to comprehend what happened to his mom. Joe is a 13 year old boy that has to grow up faster than he expected. With the attack of his mother and his father's inability to rehabilitate her, Joe steps up and begins to take an active role in trying to find her attacker. Normally a 13 year old would remain oblivious to the turmoil surrounding his family. Joe does not. He takes the attack of his mom personally and becomes more serious. As a reader there are not many scenarios where he is portrayed doing child like things. This is why I believe Erdrich includes the scene with Grandma Thunder. She is the comedic relief and the readers opportunity to

Estella symbolizes isolation and manipulates men to break their hearts. Her name means “star” and she is bright and beautiful like a star, however she is distant and cold like one too. Like a start, men love to gaze upon her, but can not touch her. In the story Estella tells pip that she has no heart, no sympathy, and no sentiment. (chapter 29) Estella

Her third encounter is with a man with whom she wrote an act for one of his plays. He complains about his financial situation and shows her the new rug he bought. She then starts thinking of her "empty purse" and how he owes her fifty dollars for the act she wrote for him. He downplays her writing and says her "stuff was no better than mine," and she says, "let it go." Later we see that she is used to letting things go.

It not only threatens, but also breaks through. Betrayed by love once in her life, she nevertheless seeks it in the effort to fill the lonely void; thus, her promiscuity. But to adhere to her tradition and her sense of herself as a lady, she cannot face this sensual part of herself. She associates it with the animalism of Stanley's lovemaking and terms it “brutal desire”. She feels guilt and a sense of sin when she does surrender to it, and yet she does, out of intense loneliness. By viewing sensuality as brutal desire she is able to disassociate it from what she feels is her true self, but only at the price of an intense inner conflict. Since she cannot integrate these conflicting elements of desire and gentility, she tries to reject the one, desire, and live solely by the other. Desperately seeking a haven she looks increasingly to fantasy. Taking refuge in tinsel, fine clothes, and rhinestones, and the illusion that a beau is available whenever she wants him, she seeks tenderness and beauty in a world of her own making.

Eveline's internal struggle illustrates clearly how one struggles between the past and the future, leading to the failure to escape. While weighing her options as to whether or not leave Dublin, Eveline remembers her mother's wishes: "Her promise to her mother, her promise to keep the home together as long as she could" (Joyce 40). Even though Eveline's home contains an abusive father, absence of family members, and the struggles of domestic work, she is unable to let go. Awaiting her a promised adventurous and free spirited life with her respectful and kind lover, Frank. He has the ability to rescue Eveline from a troubling past and allow her to enter a new phase in her life, liberated from the ugliness of Dublin. However,

The character Estella is imprisoned within herself because of her inability to love. Ever since Estella was a child when it came to a boy, Miss Havisham taught her to "break his heart" (54). Being taught to break boys' hearts imprisons Estella within herself for she is confined and excluded from others because it is extremely difficult for her to care for or form bonds with people. Estella finally realizes what Miss Havisham has done to her when she tells Pip, "there are sentiments, fancies . . . which I am not able to comprehend. When you say you love me, I know what you mean as a form of words, but nothing more" (336). This statement shows Estella's grief with her total incapability to love or form any emotional attachment to another. This grief is a change in Estella from the coldhearted behavior

Patricia Lockwood’s The Rape Joke is a risky composition- not because it discloses information about Lockwood’s personal rape experience, but because it does so from a comedic stance, ridiculing the unfortunate event and the events leading up to and after it. While the creation of the poem was prompted due to the sexual assault she experienced, the content and subject are not centered around the incident or the assaulter but around rape culture and the sociological concept of victim blaming, from both society and oneself. There is no such thing as a rape joke-the joke is the incredulous ways society has guided people to respond to it.

His lack of social skills becomes much more apparent once he leaves the house for the first time. He has no intended destination, and wanders the streets. Once he is hurt by the limousine, he is given an injection to ease his pain. As the doctor fills the needle, he wants to show fear, not because he has had this experience before, but because "he visualized all the TV incidents in which he had seen injections being given" (Kosinski 33). Just like the prisoners in the cave, he was trying to understand a reality based on pictures in order to react to the world around him. One thing that he has never experienced is any type of a sex life. He found himself in a room with EE, where she made a sexual advance towards him. He thought back to a situation on TV where he could imitate an actor in a similar scene. He remembers a close embrace and kissing, but unfortunately

Even though the first amendment states freedom of expression, statistics show rape and sexual assault numbers have risen due to the presence of rape culture in modern society. Rape culture promotes more assaults and violent acts, not only towards women but also towards men. Some evidence rape culture is present in today’s society are rising statistics showing that only three out of a hundred rapists see jail time and that over 17 million American women are victims of sexual assault every year. Rape culture is seen in every aspect of daily American life, even if people do not realize it.

College-age adults are known to be high risk for sexual violence and most studies show that one in three women have experiences some type of sexual assault whether it was through physical force or harassment. These statics are known by most women on college campuses to ensure that women know and understand that this could happen to them. The issue is more than ensuring that women are aware of how protect themselves and know how to avoid these situations because it shouldn’t even be happening. When women are taught that they should know how to defend themselves we are saying that this type of behavior is normal and inevitable. We should shift from this dynamic and start teaching both men and women that this behavior is completely unacceptable and that sexually assaulting or harassing someone is NOT normal. This paper will mostly focus on incidents of rape and sexual assault on college campuses and what the outcome and reactions of these incidents were.