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Essays on gender roles in literature
Gender roles in Literature
Essays on gender roles in literature
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The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The author and her times
Anita Diamant, author of the historic fiction novel, The Red Tent, is a devout Jewish-American living in Newtonville, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter, Emilia. She has written five books about contemporary Jewish life, The Red Tent being her first novel.
Diamant may have been influenced by the recent resurgence of creating Midrashim, or stories that attempt to explain the Torah by examining its subtexts. Modern women have taken a keen interest in this practice, hoping to expand on the minute biblical mentions of women like Dinah.
Form, structure and plot
The Red Tent is organized in a seemingly complicated yet beautifully simple way. There are three main sections; Dinah's mothers' story, her childhood, and her life in Egypt. Each is further divided into chapters.
Although the story is divided into sections, the plot progresses intact. The exposition consists of Jacob's arrival and subsequent marriages to Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah. Twelve of thirteen children are born, including Dinah, narrator and only daughter. Dinah grows up helping her aunt/mother Rachel, who brings her to the city of Shechem.
The initial incident occurs when Simon and Levi, two of Dinah's oldest brothers, enter the city of Shechem and murder all of the resident men, including Dinah's beloved husband, Shalem. Cursing her entire family, a pregnant Dinah is taken to Egypt by Shalem's mother, Re-nefer.
In the rising action the child is born, a boy who Re-nefer names Re-mose and raises as her own. He becomes a superior Egyptian scribe, and is eventually assigned to the king's right-hand-man.
In a climactic irony, Re-mose's employer turns out to be Joseph, Dinah's youngest brother. The truth about Shalem's murder is revealed to Re-mose, who in turn vows to avenge his father's death on Joseph's head. He is thwarted by Dinah, who convinces him to remove to the north. Joseph and Dinah attend the death of Jacob in the falling action, both forgiving the wrongs committed against them in their father's name. The story concludes with Dinah's death.
Point of View
Diamant has Dinah effectively tell her story from three different narrative perspectives. The bulk of the novel is related by Dinah in first person, providing a private look at growing up and personal tragedy: "It seemed that I was the last person alive in the world" (Diamant 203). Dinah tells the story that she says was mangled in the bible.
Understandably, Dinah's relation of her mothers' stories is done in third person narrative, since she herself was not yet born.
Darryl’s life is worth fighting for. “You can’t buy what I’ve got.” ‘The Castle’ directed by Rob Sitch, about one man, his family and neighbours on the verge of being homeless. Darryl Kerrigan, the “backbone of the family” won’t stand for that. Of course no one can buy what he has. He’s spent almost his entire lifetime building what he has, why should he give it up? Darryl’s way of life is simple yet filled with family values. 3 Highview Crescent is the home to Darryl, his wife Sal and their 3 children: Wayne, Steve, Tracy and Dale. (Wayne currently being in jail.) The house is made up of love, and simple family values. Darryl’s also added bits and pieces to it. He’s added on so much to the house, his own personal touch. His neighbours, also in the same bout are almost family to the Kerrigans. Jack and Farouk are another reason why Darryl’s ready to take matters into his own hands.
Elizabeth Fernea entered El Nahra, Iraq as an innocent bystander. However, through her stay in the small Muslim village, she gained cultural insight to be passed on about not only El Nahra, but all foreign culture. As Fernea entered the village, she was viewed with a critical eye, ?It seemed to me that many times the women were talking about me, and not in a particularly friendly manner'; (70). The women of El Nahra could not understand why she was not with her entire family, and just her husband Bob. The women did not recognize her American lifestyle as proper. Conversely, BJ, as named by the village, and Bob did not view the El Nahra lifestyle as particularly proper either. They were viewing each other through their own cultural lenses. However, through their constant interaction, both sides began to recognize some benefits each culture possessed. It takes time, immersed in a particular community to understand the cultural ethos and eventually the community as a whole. Through Elizabeth Fernea?s ethnography on Iraq?s El Nahra village, we learn that all cultures have unique and equally important aspects.
Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate is the story of an African boy, Kek, who loses his father and a brother and flees, leaving his mother to secure his safety. Kek, now in Minnesota, is faced with difficulties of adapting to a new life and of finding his lost mother. He believes that his mother still lives and would soon join him in the new found family. Kek is taken from the airport by a caregiver who takes him to live with his aunt. It is here that Kek meets all that amazed him compared to his home in Sudan, Africa. Home of the brave shows conflicts that Kek faces. He is caught between two worlds, Africa and America. He feels guilty leaving behind his people to live in a distant land especially his mother, who he left in the midst of an attack.
One of Lajoe's sisters was found strangled in the family's bathtub. Then, upon hearing the news of his sisters death, one of Lajoe's brothers had a heart attack and died. LaJoe's parents packed up soon ...
...ess her husband just so happens to die. Her husband has spent most of his nights with the couple’s personal servant, Sarah, who has conceived the children of this man. Ms. Gaudet also dislikes the children solely for the fact that they remind her much of her husband. Manon is soon granted her freedom when her husband is murdered by African- American rebels.
Finally Mary Rowlandson was forced to leave the burning house. Immediately she saw her brother-in-law fall, dead from wounds; her nephew, whose leg was broken, killed, and her sister shot. All around her was carnage. She was shot through her side and the child she carried in her arms was struck by the same bullet. There were 13 killed and 24 taken captive. According to Mary Rowlandson's account,
Inside Toyland, written by Christine L. Williams, is a look into toy stores and the race, class, and gender issues. Williams worked about six weeks at two toy stores, Diamond Toys and Toy Warehouse, long enough to be able to detect patterns in store operations and the interactions between the workers and the costumers. She wanted to attempt to describe and analyze the rules that govern giant toy stores. Her main goal was to understand how shopping was socially organized and how it might be transformed to enhance the lives of workers. During the twentieth century, toy stores became bigger and helped suburbanization and deregulation. Specialty toy stores existed but sold mainly to adults, not to children. Men used to be the workers at toy stores until it changed and became feminized, racially mixed, part time, and temporary. As box stores came and conquered the land, toy stores started catering to children and offering larger selections at low prices. The box stores became powerful in the flip-flop of the power going from manufacturers to the retailers. Now, the retail giants determine what they will sell and at what price they will sell it.
progresses her actions to things happening around brought her to the end of her life. Other
Sarah had her heart broken but this is when she realized she had to stop trying to fill the mold which her parents expected of her, this is where most of her struggles begins. Sarah always religious person, but after her father passed away she stayed up north to mourn on her own at this time she met this Quaker family. The Quaker family, Israel and his wife Rebecca, open their arms for Sarah and hooked her interest toward the Quaker religion, because abolitionist beliefs and the fact that women were allowed to be minsters. The Quaker beliefs amazed Sarah because she saw an opportunity to express opinions which has been on her heart for the majority of her life. After Israel’s wife died, Sarah decide to go up north to Philadelphia to live with Israel and his children to learn about Quaker religion and become a part of the church. But this cause issues with Sarah’s family, religion and society. Society was appalled that Sarah, an unmarried women, was going to live with a very recent widower, who was a part of culture which spoke out about the way of life of her southern society. Her mother disapproved of her going up north because she was not married, so it was Sarah’s obligation to live at home with her mother and help. Sarah’s mother felt abandon and betrayed by her sweet Sarah. Sarah’s pass ministers disapproved
After a basketball game, four kids, Andrew Jackson, Tyrone Mills, Robert Washington and B.J. Carson, celebrate a win by going out drinking and driving. Andrew lost control of his car and crashed into a retaining wall on I-75. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J. escaped from the four-door Chevy right after the accident. Teen basketball star and Hazelwood high team captain was sitting in the passenger's side with his feet on the dashboard. When the crash happened, his feet went through the windshield and he was unable to escape. The gas tank then exploded and burned Robbie to death while the three unharmed kids tried to save him.
When they arrived, Joseph explored the town and saved a girl from a mad dog. We later find out that her name is Elzbietka and she lives with her uncle who is an alchemist. They offered Joseph and
When his parents divorced, his father was the one to move out of the house. When Jeff was 18, Joyce took David and left. Jeffrey was alone in the house with little food and a broken refrigerator until his father and his new wife found out about the situation and moved into the house.
Dinah is born into a society where all women are expected to put their feelings aside to conform to and satisfy the man and his children. She is trapped from the very beginning in a chauvinistic and male-dominated worl...
The stories and narratives between these three women differ greatly. Rachel, for instance is present in the content of interpersonal relationships within the Jewish theories (Sered 131). According to the book of Genesis, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel’s sister, instead of her. Jacob suspected Laban of such action so he set up secret gestures for Rachel to give during the wedding ceremony. Rachel, however, could not go through with it after considering Leah and the possibility of shame upon her sister. After the ceremony, Rachel hid underneath Jacob and Leah’s bed and spoke for Leah so that Jacob would not recognize the voice and realize he married the wrong sister. Rachel was protecting her sister from humiliation both publically and privately. The story continues to explain that Rachel was infertile for many years. She eventually was blessed to conceive, but then later died during childbirth. “Rachel is portr...
...ey take his their wives, the Cid’s daughter, and bring them to a secluded place in the woods and beat them nearly to death and leave them there, but are eventually found and rescued. The Cid infuriated with what had happen required justice from the king, in which he got, infantes being guilty, resulting in the return of his honor.