Anne – Women in Contempory Society
2 04 2007One of the questions being considered during this unit is: How are women depicted in contemporary fiction and media? During your reading of the novel, comment on the ways in which women are being portrayed. Consider relationships, experiences, situations, etc.
In the novel Bastard Out of Carolina, there is a stark contrast shown between men and women. Through the perspective of Bone, a child trying to understand her own place in the world, this difference is most evident. At the beginning of the novel when Bone is younger, she laments not being born as a boy. She sees the toughness and brashness of her uncles and attempts to be just like them. For her efforts, they laugh and poke fun as she dresses like them and mimics their movements.
However, as time goes on, Bone begins to observe the subtleties that the women in her family embody. They don’t display an outward toughness like the men do, but instead an inward fire and deifance that puts them on a wholly different level than men. Over time, Bone moves further from the boyish ideal she idolized and towards wanting to understand the nature of women in her family.
“A man has needs,” they’d laugh every time they got together. “So what do you suppose a woman has?”
“Men!” one of them would always answer in a giggling roar. Then they would all laugh till the tears started running down. I wasn’t at all sure what was so funny, but I laughed anyway. I liked being one of the women with my aunts, liked feeling a part of something nasty and strong and separate from my big rough boy-cousins and the whole world of spitting, growling, overbearing males.
- Pg. 91
It is through observing her own family, a mix of aunts, uncles, grandmothers, and cousins, that Bone is able to sort out and understand these differences. The men fight and yell at each other to sort out their problems, while the women make comments at each other and fight with their words and tears.
Bone is torn between her childhood of wanting to be a boy and her growing perspective that being a woman has its own advantages as well. As the novel continues, it is likely that Bone will grow into her role as a woman, because she will learn that it is nothing to be looked down upon at all.
Anne,
You have made some interesting comments about the narrator of this novel. I am wondering what you think of the author’s reasoning for choosing to create the narrator in this way. The narrator’s feelings are obviously signficant – the challenge of feeling like a tom boy while knowing that she will ultimately grow up to be what the men are making fun of – strengthens the message being delivered to readers. Why did Allison create such a narrator? How can readers connect to the narrator at this stage in her life?
I look forward to your next comment!
Mrs. P