The Fat Girl A Short Story by Andre Dubis

It’s apparent that Louise’s identity has changed from being a shy and isolated girl to someone that wants to have power.

Lets say Brently had died that day what was Louise going to do? Its not like she can get a job and take care of her self and theirs two reasons why. One! She was a woman and they didn’t have any rights in those times. Black men were able to vote first than white women. That tells you a lot of how things were back then. The second reason is Louise had a heart condition and one had to be very careful with her. So I guessing she couldn’t do any hard labor or be stress. That’s why I don’t understand her. It might because I am male and I cant really see it from a female point of view. Maybe that’s why I can’t really see why Louise is full of joy because of her husband death. Also another thing I wonder was if she had heart attack because she was happy or sad that Brently was alive? I also wonder if Kate wrote this because she was going through personally?

Louise’s illusions all have a beginning stage. One of these delusions is the fact that she views the world in a superficial perspective, only connection self worth to beauty. An example of this, is seen when she is given the symbolic representation of a prostitute when she marries her first husband, seducing him with her charm and beauty. This provides background information about her character, stating that this superficial view has been a part of her since a young age. This twisted perspective also feeds into her other misconception, which is that her son, Patrice, must be intelligent because of his beautifully sculpted face and body, but, is in fact dumb. In the quote “Louise did not question the intelligence of her ten-year-old Adonis. He spoke very little, but she attributed this speechlessness, like the silence of the gods, to

her mother on the inside but not on the out. Louise does not care for the inside which is

Carrie hugged her and Louise said “The candy are in the top drawer, help yourself whenever you want”(Dubus 163). Louise finally felt free and accepted. Later, Carrie encouraged Louise to lose weight. Louise agreed. During her weight-loss diet, Louise felt miserable and wished she could be herself again as she was happier then. Louise lost weight and is treated differently because of her weight loss. When Louise returned home after her weight loss, she is received much more positively. Her father no longer looked at her with pity and her mother and relatives reacted approvingly towards her.:...at the airport her mother cried and hugged her and said again and again: You're so beautiful...For days her relatives and acquaintances congratulated her, and the applause in their eyes lasted the entire summer...(DuBus166-169). Louise started to see a young man named Richard who worked in her father’s firm. Eventually they got married and Louise became pregnant and started to gain weight during her pregnancy; and continued to gain weight after she gives birth. Her mother and husband begin to disapprove of her. Louise's husband, Richard, begins to draw away from her emotionally and argued with her about her weight gain. He would say things like “You’re gaining weight, it’s not all water either is fat”(Dubas 170).Louis, begins to remember the satisfaction she got while eating in secret. She felt in her heart that her husband only loved her for her appearance but she didn’t care

Her husband labels her as crazy and restricts her to a single room and forbids her to do most activities. Her husband demeans and belittles his wife’s condition by dismissing the severity of her depression. The Narrator has no say or control in her relationship. She has no control over the activities she’s allowed to do while in her room so she takes control of the only thing she can, her mind. She soon begins to imagine images within her room and within her wallpaper. The Narrator says, “Life is very much more exciting now than it used to be” because every day she now looks forward to helping the women behind the wallpaper escape. Now that Louise has complete control over her mind, she is beginning to taste freedom, even if she is destroying herself. Because John thinks he’s superior to his wife, he misjudges her condition and ends up making her condition worse by repressing her even

Andre Dubus was a very creative writer. His parents, Andre Dubus and Katherine Dubus, took a very big role in his life. They took care of him and helped him get through college, and college is where his writing career had begun. He had two sisters growing up as well that supported him. He had a lot of great works in his life, and “The Fat Girl” was one of his most famous works he had ever written. He had a lot of awards throughout his writing career and had many influences on a lot of different people. Andre’s early life affected how he became a famous writer.

     Something that Mary Pipher has brought up in the first chapter of her book was how society is causing young women to suffer many different problems. One of the most common and worst problems that arise is eating disorders. The media may be the culprit for this issue. Girls who are striving to be thin, and fit the mold of a star may never reach their goal, under natural conditions. As a result

Louise is a lady that taught Billie Jo’s father at night school (which he had been attending to have as a backup plan in case the farm failed). Louise represents the “light at the end of a dark tunnel”, the hope, that people look for during times when all is lost— when they are in a dark tunnel. The way that Louise helps and brings hope is through her actions and deeds. Firstly, she helps the morale of the family by bringing happiness in Billie Jo’s father, which seems to boost his confidence and joy since the tragic death of Billie Jo’s mother. Secondly, she helps the farm by buying Billie Jo’s father a new mule to assist on the farm, “Daddy bought a second mule with Louise’s help.” (226) Not only Louise’s actions, but Billie Jo’s and her father’s actions are also showing that hope has been restored. Billie Jo is now starting to forgive herself and is beginning to find happiness and joy for the first time since the death of her mother, which she thinks she indirectly caused. This is a form of hope in itself, because it is once again livening the mood of the characters. She shows this by playing the piano, which she had not played since the death, “…and I stretch my fingers over the keys, and I play.” (227) Not only this, but her dad is also finishing the pond to house fish that he had been working on since Ma’s death. This

Marya Hornbacher’s memoir, Wasted, describes her lifelong battle with eating disturbances with focuses on anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. In modern day society, thinness is associated with “wealth, upward mobility, and success” (Hornbacher, 1998, p. 46). Thinness is “an ideal symbolizing self-discipline, control, sexual liberation, assertiveness, competitiveness, and affiliation with a higher socio-economic class.” (p. 46) Not eating also suggests that one have such a full life that food is not a priority. The media influences children to believe that one must be thin in order to be beautiful. To Marya, a self-proclaimed perfectionist, she must be perfect in order to be successful. She believed she could only be perfect if she had a perfect body, a perfect career, perfect relationships, and perfect control over her life and herself (p. 231-232).

In Thelma and Louise, the gender roles are not what you’d normally expect. This can be seen in how Louise is

The pressure to lose weight in today’s society inhibits the personality and health of overweight people while essentially increasing the weight of the people who experience these pressures (Worley 163-167). So reasons Mary Ray Worley in her article, “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance.” Worley uses her personal experience as well as a small number of facts to dispute why overweight people struggle as they attempt to contribute to society (163-167). In the beginning of her article she references an association of which she is a member, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, to convey the possibilities to advance society when judgement based on size is abandoned (163-164). The association holds a conference every year, and Worley continually refers to the atmosphere at the convention as “another planet,” suggesting that the scarcity of judgment during the convention differed significantly from her everyday experiences (163-164, 167). Applying her encounters to all people of her weight category, she declares that even doctors blame the majority of sicknesses on weight (165). She also proclaims that people should not diet and exercise in order to lose weight, as this triggers loss of motivation without results, but to improve their attitude and mood (166). Referencing Dr. Diane Budd from the convention, she states that attempts to lose weight cause “lasting harmful effects on one’s appetite, metabolism, and self-esteem” (164). While Worley’s unjustifiable

Louise feels that Brently is always in power and controlling her every move and that she lacks the freedom. Louise then goes upstairs to her

The short story “The Fat Girl” by Andre Dubus teaches readers about a real life struggle that is commonly faced by others. The main character of the story is Louise, a young teenage girl who deals with the issues of being overweight. Her mother worries about her weight and tries to control it by feeding her on a diet. While Louise is around others she tries to eat salads and healthy food so it does not appear as if she has a problem. When no one is watching, Louise binge eats and sneaks sandwiches, candy, and other unhealthy snacks that her mother would not approve of. One of the main struggles she faces from being overweight is the fact that no boys are interested in her. She starts going to an all-girl college and befriends her roommate, Carrie. Louise and Carrie help get Louise on the right

Issues of dieting, fat, and slenderness are hot topics in our culture. Bordo addresses them from a postmodern, but historical, feminist perspective. In this essay, she attempts to explain the appeal of slenderness in our society; and also, how the ideology of normal our society holds can be mentally and physically damaging for many people.