The Dinner Party
Gender doesn’t define who you are and how you act. Men think they are invincible and it sometimes leads them on to say bold things. In “The Dinner Party”, by Mona Gardner the story takes place in India around the time period of 1940’s . During this time, society pushes the perspective of women in a negative way. Among the many guests there was a young girl and a high ranking colonel. The story opens with a spirited discussion between the two about their attitude that some men react better in a crisis. Mona Gardner uses the colonel, American, and Mrs. Wynnes to prove the thesis “Gender determine the amount of self control you may or may not have.” The Colonel is a rigid man that everyone looks up to, even the colonial official seems to take in what he says. Nobody challenges the colonel because of his appearance and his high ranking. He was confident and very presumptuous. He had the nerve to say, “‘ A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis’, the colonel says, ‘is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, he has that ounce more of nerve control than a woman has. And that last ounce more is what counts.” In other words, this just explains how arrogant the colonel actually is. The colonel stands for the women’s block to become independent, make a name for herself. When the young girl states women are over the housewife
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Wynnes becomes a major character in the story. She tells the young native boy to get a bowl of milk, from this she is proving the colonel wrong, but the readers don 't know it yet. Mona uses her as a game piece, when the colonel jumps and screams, the American asked Mrs. Wynnes how she knew about the snake. Mrs. Wynnes character replied with, “ it was crawling across my foot”. This proves the colonel untrue because his whole argument was men has added self control in any crisis. Now that he was taken by surprise and acted the way he did, he can’t really take the words he already spoke
Within each of these stories, Irving wrote about how women were an essential part of a man’s life, yet they were also a burden. The women were needed to cook, clean, and care the family, nothing else. Consequently, if a woman tried to stand up for herself or her family, she could face bitter attention from her husband, occasionally domestic violence. As the years went on, civil rights movements became global and women used their voices to discuss their oppression and mistreatment.
Through his journey, Colonel Shaw transforms from an inexperienced and uncertain leader into a confident and compassionate commander who earns the love and admiration of his men. 4. At the shooting range, Colonel Shaw sees soldiers boasting and betting about their shooting abilities, which he recognizes as unprofessional behavior, then he takes action to correct the situation. To make his point, he instructs the private to load his weapon and fire while he yells and fires a pistol next to him. 5.
Her sentences become more emphatic and she accentuates the word “we.” Whereas many of her statements up to this point were solely about what the children face, she now offers solutions and hope: “There is one line of action by which we can do much. We can enlist the workingmen on behalf of our enfranchisement just in proportion as we strive with them to free the children” (85-89). This reinforces the idea that Kelley is attempting to merge both movements, but that she would also like some help from men, especially considering that it was the only way for change to happen at the time. It also shows that she wants their efforts to be united and joined together for maximum results.
Women were well suited for providing nourishment and necessities for the army due to their skills obtained by their accustomed housework. “...the American army often recruited the many female camp followers to fill these jobs” (Brooks 2013, para. 17). They had slowly began to achieve recognition in society, especially war. It was then, that woman had begun to silently “protest” on having the same equal opportunity as men. During the war, women created a role for themselves to side amongst the male soldiers: a secret soldier.
In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.
In the document “Hortense Johnson Describes Black Women and the War Effort, 1943” the reader sees what type of work was asked of her and what difficulties she had to go through daily to accomplish it all. Hortense Johnson was a young lady working as an inspector in a war plant amongst five others. She nearly got into every little detail of her job and how she spent her day from the moment she woke up to go to work until she left her work to go home. During this period of time, many women and young ladies were asked to help with the war effort by working jobs that usually men would acquire. But due to the instant and constant need of more soldiers on the battlefield, the labor force was lacking individuals to take place of soldiers.
He continues with talking about how women feel inferior to men, but he argues that it may not be as big of an issue as some feminist groups make it out to be. Lastly, he brings to the reader’s attention that differences are
A deceiving student, Macca, dominates both Ruth and fellow victim, Philip. No one attempts to control this, not even Mrs Canmore who only warns the bullies. One student, Ruth, comes from a tough background; she is a soldier against the Macca War. Despite the consequences, Ruth becomes a quiet hero; this inspires the audience. Throughout the story, the author portrays Ruth as a shred of hope for the other characters.
How does this all relate to modern day issues? While the aforementioned essay within her book was not necessarily written all too long ago, feminism has changed and adapted to fit in with younger generations. As of right now feminism is currently quite the hot topic throughout the media in both western regions as well as more conservative regions. Oppression continues to remain hidden within “chivalrous” behaviors and ideals as presented by male dominated institutions that attempt to make decisions on behalf of women. Take for example, the war on Planned Parenthood and female healthcare.
Sometimes the things we do for others don’t always go as planned. That was the case for the innocent wife in “Birthday Party” by Katharine Brush, as what was thought to be a nice gesture by the wife, was viewed as a crime by her husband. This small event can be an indicator of a crumbling relationship, and through literary devices such as diction and shifts to portray this deeper meaning. The harsh adjectives used throughout this piece paint a story much darker than simple botched celebration.
In “Birthday Party,” Katharine Brush’s purpose for writing the short story was to reveal how something that is good can go so wrong. She also demonstrates how some things are not what they seem. Especially in the situation that she wrote. Her purpose from the beginning to end is demonstrated by the use of literary devices. Brush begins by describing the scenario, she states, “They sat on the banquette opposite us.”
Government Arts College for Women, Thanjavur. Abstract: Identity crisis or search of identity has received an impetus in the Post-Colonial literature. Man is known as a social animal which needs some home, love of parents and friends and relatives. But when he is unhoused, he loses the sense of belongingness and thus suffers from a sense of insecurity or identity crisis. In the field of Indian English Literature, feminist or woman centered approach is the major development that deals with the experience and situation of women from the feminist consciousness.
A young women states that women have grown out of the “jumping-on-a-chair-at-the-sight-of-a-mouse-era” and that they are much better in a crisis. The colonel argues that men have more self-control in a crisis than women. Mona Gardner uses the colonel, the American naturalist and Mrs. Wynnes to show that all genders can show equal self-control in a crisis. The colonel represents a living, breathing, stereotype when it comes to men and women.
The essay, “What I’ve Learned from Men”, by Barbara Ehrenreich is an impressive piece of writing focusing on a significant theme which is still present and is witnessed to this day. The theme that the author discusses is the on-going gender issues shedding light on the differences between men and women. Throughout the essay, Ehrenreich argues about the one thing women need to learn from men: how to be tough. She support this argument by providing a personal experience, taking her back to the time when she didn’t acknowledge the quality of being tough and falling victim to sexual harassment. She then explains this act as “behaving like a lady” and continues to support her claim by stating facts describing how women tend to act nice or “as a lady” by being the ones responsible to keep the conversation with a man going and constantly smiling even when unneeded and even when expressing anger and displeasure.
This chapter provides a review of available literature on social issues in To the Lighthouse. The basic focus is on the social issues related to every character in the novel. Issues like feminism, marriages, death, vision, religious doubts, optimism, pessimism, materialism etc. The relative work is connected to the objectives of the study. Mrs. Ramsay uniting family, and Charles Tansley religious doubts and degrading women, and Lily’s painting, similarly the marriages of Victorian and Modern Age through the characters of To the Lighthouse, and at the end how they all deal and respond to all these different social issues.