Role Of Confidence In Louise Erdrich's 'Mauser'

In the book ‘Two or Three things i know for sure’, Dorothy Allison who tells her story growing up in a memoir and she uses her experiences to explain the two or The things she learned. What makes this her story stand out is not just that it 's a memoir but also because the main point is beauty and how women in her family were put down and abused because of their appearance. Throughout this whole book Dorothy tries to send out one important message on beauty which from my understanding beauty is not based on what men say or society says, we live in a world where a woman 's beauty is determined whether a man find hers beautiful and that must stop. Timothy Dow Adams who read’s ‘Two or Three things i know for sure’ writes his review on it, and his understanding of Dorothy Allison 's points of views.

Jane has gotten used to cruelty and biased behavior towards her average looks, and develops a miserable self-esteem that believes the only possible way to describe her exterior is “plain”. This self-esteem prevents her from even beginning to recognize that anyone could appreciate her or find her beautiful in any manner. The society’s typical reactions and judgments shaped Jane’s self-esteem, and prevented her from receiving equal treatment as that of a beautiful woman.

In "The Red Convertible," by Louise Erdrich, the red convertible symbolizes the brothers relationship at different stages through the story. In the story Erdrich uses specific actions of the brothers to show change in their relationship, which corresponds with the red convertible. Erdrich uses scenes involving the red convertible to show different stages of the brothers relationships. The story begins with a road trip representing the boys closeness, then precedes onto Lyman beating up the red convertible symbolizing the brothers separation. Erdrich then continues the story with Henry giving the red convertible to Lyman representing their reunion. The story finishes when Lyman runs the red

The sexy and enticing image in the American civilization affects teenagers as they are driven to emulate those ideas which in the end are deceived and hurt because of their ignorance. In the story, Connie has predicaments within her family because of her efforts to become sexually attractive which causes her to criticize her sister and her mother. Joyce Carol

Circumstances define the actions an individual takes. Building self-confidence is achieved by changing the belief of our self-image. Realistically, makeup is a tool for hiding pimples, blackheads, and unwanted features, more like fitting into the society of beauty. Whereas hormones cannot be controlled, and pimples pop out ridiculously without consent. Perhaps, weakness cannot be hidden, but provide a lesson of empowerment. Stephen’s self-doubt that increases by him convincing himself he is guilty of his insecurities. It is admitted, “Convinced that he had been guilty of babyish weakness.” Which, assesses the confidence of doubt he sources. The “glass roses”, in the story was portrayed in Stephen's mind, as “pretty little flowers made of red glass.” But in great detail, resembles a solid phase of Stephen and his insecurities. And once the roses shattered, we see Stephen constantly revising it in his mind, as beautiful; exemplifies the vigorous break free of Stephen’s insecurities. Progressively, he determines the beauty of resiliency and self-confidence.

The societal expectations for beauty are an ingrained concept amongst the minds of almost every individual, who in turn project these standards on each other and their own children. Throughout her adolescence, Walker seeks for validation of her beauty through others. “When I rise to give my speech I do so on a great wave of love and pride and expectation.” (Walker 2). Walker was seeking a reaction from her audience as she read her Easter speech to her church; a reaction of approval and admiration, which then confirmed her “cuteness”. The emotional toil brought upon by the accident caused Walker to go into a dark place of unacceptance of herself. She did poorly in school, was bullied in school, and kept her head down for several years of her life because of the shame she felt from the appearance of her eye. “I tell it I hate and despise it. I do not pray for sight. I pray for beauty.” (Walker 5). At twelve years-old, Walker talks about the eye that has gone blind and development of her self-unacceptance can be seen here. The lack of concern she had about the function of her eye, but rather the aesthetics, shows how dependent Walker was on in achieving societal standards.

In the beginning, Connie’s character is one of innocence, self-absorption, and shallowness. Oates describes Connie as a fifteen-year-old girl who has “a quick, nervous giggling habit of craning her neck to glance into mirrors and check other people’s faces to make sure her own was all right” (Oates 157). In this description, Connie’s dynamic character acts shallow and is self-absorbed. She places her values on her physical appearance and in her friends’ acceptance. Connie “knew she was pretty and that was everything” to her (158). Connie bases her self -worth on her looks and in the values of her friends’ perception of her.

As the proverb goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty, as we know it, is subjective to each individual. However, some individuals are primed to perceive beauty as deriving from physique, clothing, and accessories; neglecting more important traits such as honesty and kind-heartedness. Aaron Shephard portrays in his short story, “The Hidden One: A Native American Legend”, that neglecting such traits results in failure. Any woman who makes deceitful attempts at proving they’re capable of seeing the Great Hunter is cast away. Little Scarface’s unpleasant older sister would “hold[] her down and burn[] her arms and face with sticks from the fire” (Shepard 1) and lie to their father about it. She claimed to see the Hunter and lied about that as well. The mistreated little girl is stripped of having appealing clothing and, what some may consider, a beautiful face; yet, only with her pure soul intact, she ultimately succeeds. The image of beauty the author is attempting to paint for you is that physical appearance only gets you to the door; the Hidden One, symbolized as the prize, is obtained with a “good heart”, free from “jealous[y] and cruel[ty]”.

In the middle of the trip to Aunt Ida's, Rayona wonders what will happen to her. Standing on a hill overlooking Ida's house, Christine runs and leaves Rayona. In a short lapse of time, Rayona has lost her mother and gained an unwilling caretaker. The treatment from both women causes Rayona to question her own value as a person; she finds herself of little worth. As life on the reservation slowly progresses, Father Tom befriends Rayona. While the priest's intentions are innocent, he ends up causing Rayona to feel more poorly about herself. So Rayona runs, she tries to escape from her difficulties at the reservation. At the lake, she decides to begin a new life. Several things happen to Rayona at the camp. The ways her co-workers behave toward her depress her further, and then the letter she finds causes her to want what is perceived as a normal life. Though also at the lake, begins a turning point for Ray

She had a healthy body, she was intelligent. She had an “abundant sexual drive and possessed strong arms and back,” (2, 8-9). She was herself blind to her own positive qualities as she was too busy trying to please others with her looks, “she went to and fro apologizing,” (2, 10). She apologized to everyone for her imperfections. The imagery of, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (2, 11), portrays the indifference society felt towards her. She wanted to be appreciated, but she was only seen her for her looks and not her inner self. She had learned from the time she was a child her imperfections made her not good enough or socially

From this moment on, every acceptable quality she has will mean absolutely nothing to her. As long as she has her big nose and her two thick legs, that is all she will see herself as wholly. This leads her to thinking about permanently removing her unwanted flaws. She believes that if she removes her flaws, she will finally be accepted by society. In both stories, the reader interprets that both the woman and the young girl have specific qualities that someone in their lives has pointed out as flaws. The opinions of these certain people obviously matter to both of them, so they eventually decide that they want their flaws removed for good.

A form of adversity is in Alice Walker’s essay, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self”, it shows how a person’s perception of everything is always greatly influenced by their past experiences. Walker uses various elements throughout her writing to show her outlook towards her appearance. Walker uses the incident that happened in her childhood to show that a persons mindset can be changed by a experience and how her attitudes changes from a sassy, conceited kid to a matured and powerful women who finally sees beauty in her life. Alice Walker’s essay is a great example of a person whose fear of adversity allowed themselves to be worn down by it. She begins the story with a cocky outlook on life where she knows she is beautiful. “I’m the prettiest!” (Alice Walker), as a young child she would use her

It's easy to find Louise Erdrich among the canon of what have come to be known as western writers. Her name (or names, given the mltiple pseudonyms) pops up right near the top along with Cormac McCarthy and Elmer Kelton. And as impressive as her noteriety is, one eventually wonders if "western writer" isn't an albatross hanging around the neck of her career. Maybe it's Tolkien's fault. After all, he's the one who created an entire genre in which setting is paramount to plot or conflict. But Erdrich doesn't share his negligence. Her sories are set in the west, but her truths are universal. "Fleur", specifically, speaks to two.

As the girl continues on to grow up she is continually facing challenges with her confidence and thus affecting her emotionally and physically. For instance, one of the line states that “ she went to

We are constantly surrounded by images of the “perfect” woman. She is tall, thin and beautiful. She rarely looks older than 25, has a flawless body, and her hair and clothes are always perfect. She is not human. She is often shown in pieces – a stomach, a pair of legs, a beautifully made up eye or mouth. Our culture judges women, and women judge themselves, against this standard. It is forgotten that “beauty pornography”, as Wolf says, focuses on underweight models that are usually 15 to 20 years old. Flaws, wrinkles and other problems are airbrushed out of the picture.