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The Reef by Nora Roberts Essay

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Nora Roberts’ The Reef, a romance and suspense novel, is my favourite text. First released in 1999 and set on the Caribbean Sea, it tells the story of a lad, Matthew Lassiter, who alongside his uncle, witnesses his father’s murder aboard a ship. Though the death seems like an accident, Matthew suspects that Silas, a rich businessman who had quarreled with Matthew’s dad over an amulet they had both been searching for undersea, was behind it. Eight years afterwards, Matthew and his uncle set out to avenge his dad’s death and find the amulet he died searching for. On their expedition, they ran into the Beaumonts, a wealthy family likewise hunting for this amulet undersea, and the two groups team up. The Beaumonts have got the resources whilst…show more content…
His decision is what Mrs. Beaumont and Tate go always along with, regardless of their opinions. For instance, his desire to go hunting for the treasured amulet is what leads the entire family to the Caribbean, causing the females to leave behind all their commitments, including Tate’s education, due to their inability to protest. Likewise, in Tate and Matthew’s relationship, there is clear evidence of male dominance because whatever Matthew desires is what Tate does, especially in terms of their sexual relationship. “Ray (Mr. Beaumont) waved a hand as Tate started to protest”. The aforementioned statement from the novel is also proof of Mr. Beaumont’s patriarchal authority over his daughter. In this scene, Tate tries to convince her dad to not partner up with the Lassiters in hunting for the amulet since they only want to “use” the Beaumonts; but he would not even hear a word of it because he believes that as a father, his decision is final and must not be countered. In the same vein, male dominance in Matthew and Tate’s relationship is seen in this excerpt (which is one of many) where Matthew cuts Tate’s statement short and imposes his decision on her instead: ““Matthew—” said Tate. “We’ll talk later.” Matthew cut in”. Additionally, in accordance with societal perceptions, Nora Roberts portrays the males as very unemotional and almost cold-hearted characters. Not even the death of Matthew’s dad can cause the
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