Lulu Nanapush Character Analysis

865 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of women in patriarchal society

A common theme of social and political male-assertiveness is prominent throughout the course of history. This occurrence subjects females to serve as the less privileged gender, and has created much controversy. Within the novel Tracks, Louise Erdrich conveys differentiating social commentary through the leading, female characters: Fleur Pillager, Pauline Puyat, Margaret Kashpaw, and Lulu Nanapush. Patriarchy is not defined to the extent of popular belief in the story, but can be easily observed from minute actions of Erdrich's characters. All of these actions pertain to a common belief coinciding with the muted discrimination. While not completely circumventing the ostentatious patriarchy, the female figures define themselves by avoiding confinement of it. Arguably the most repellent of patriarchy, Fleur Pillager’s atypical and reckless behavior displays many defiances. The most evident instance occurs near the beginning of the novel. In an alien town, she surprises a group of men by asking to play cards with them. The narrator states,”Women didn’t usually play with men… there was a shock of surprise” (Erdrich …show more content…

Near the end of the novel, Nanapush repeatedly tells Lulu that she should not marry a Morrisey. His repetitiveness hints that the interest has been expressed by Lulu several times. He warns her, “Grand daughter, if you join this clan, I predict the union will not last” (Erdrich 182). He bases his reasoning upon faults of the older Morrisseys, and for tacky things such as stereotypes of the Morriseys’ significant others. Nanapush’s firm beliefs in the similarities amidst generations limits his granddaughters free will. However, the tone indicates that he expressed his thoughts several times. Using the foreshadowing of the text, it can be predicted that Lulu does not adhere to Nanapush’s warning. Her resistance of the pseudo-patriarchy is iconic to the motive of the

Show More
Related

  • Examples Of Heroism In Walk Two Moon

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    A heroine's journey usually involves a female protagonist, however, the relationship with this story structure goes much deeper in this book.

    Read More

  • Heat By Mike Lupa Character Analysis

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    The book, Heat written by Mike Lupica, is a novel about a young boy named Michael Arroyo who faces many difficulties throughout the book, all for his right to play his beloved game of baseball. Michael lives with his dad, Papi, and his brother, Carlos. They are all Cubans who came to the United States for a better chance to follow their dreams. Papi always encourages Michael to play baseball and he always has high hopes for Michael’s career in baseball. It is right to believe in Michael so much because later he fulfills his father's dream for him. After Papi dies of heart failure, Michael still continues Papi dream for him, to be the Little League Champion. Throughout the book Michael meets two characters who have significant impacts on him,

    Read More

  • A Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis

    1063 Words  | 3 Pages

    AP English Literature and Composition MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: A Raisin In the Sun Author: Lorraine Hansberry Date of Publication: 1951 Genre: Realistic Drama Biographical Information about the Author Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930. She grew up as the youngest in her family. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a real estate broker.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.

    Read More

  • Cinderella The Legend By Hurston

    421 Words  | 1 Pages

    In today’s society, gender issues are often discussed as a hot topic. In literature, feminist views are used to criticise “societal norms” in books and stories. Two popular pieces by authors Kolbenschlag and Hurston paint two very different views on women. One common assumption in the use of a feminist critical perspective is that gender issues are central. Kolbenschlag who wrote the literary criticism “Cinderella, the Legend” would most likely disagree with this statement, she feels that women bare greater burdens in society and are more largely affected by social norms.

    Read More

  • A Raisin in the Sun Character Analysis

    709 Words  | 2 Pages

    The play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry has many interesting characters. In my opinion, the most fascinating character is Ruth because of her many emotions and captivating personality. She goes through extreme emotions in the play such as happiness, sadness, anger, stress, and confusion. Ruth is very independent, firm, kind, witty, and loving.

    Read More

  • Comparing A Raisin In The Sun And Ibsen's A Doll House

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women and men are not equal. Never have been, and it is hard to believe that they ever will be. Sexism permeates the lives of women from the day they are born. Women are either trying to fit into the “Act Like a Lady” box, they are actively resisting the same box, or sometimes both. The experience of fitting in the box and resisting the box can be observed in two plays: Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In Hansberry’s play, initially, Beneatha seems uncontrolled and independent, but by the end she is controlled and dependent; whereas, in Ibsen’s play Nora seems controlled and dependent at the beginning of the play, but by the end she is independent and free.

    Read More

  • Bande De Filles Analysis

    1531 Words  | 4 Pages

    Power, especially in the hands of females, can be a force for immense societal changes. Director Sciamma plays with the role of power in the lives of the four girls, predominantly in the character of Lady. Lady’s sense of control, stems from winning hand on hand fights, but the opinion of the men around her lays the foundation of this empowerment. The more fights Lady wins, the more the men appear to respect her, yet as feminist Simone de Beauvoir explains “[n]o matter how kindly, how equally men treated me when I tried to participate in politics, when it came right down to it, they had more rights, so they had more power than I did (Simone de Beauvoir - The Second Sex- ix),” the “power” Lady obtained was provisional. Lady’s power was directly tied to the opinion of the men around her, in this scene, a portion of the boys sits on stairs physically higher than Lady, invoking a sense of power hierarchy and control. The boys only valued Lady when she successfully participated in the their world of violence, but this participation came with boundaries as “[w]omen can never become fully socialized into patriarchy- which in turn causes man to fear women and leads then, on the one hand, to establish very strict boundaries between their own sex and the female sex (Feminist theory 142).” The men had never truly incorporated Lady into their group, she had just

    Read More

  • The Role of Female Characters in American Literature: The Great Gatsby and The Grapes of Wrath

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    For readers who observe literature through a feminist lens, they will notice the depiction of female characters, and this makes a large statement on the author’s perception of feminism. Through portraying these women as specific female archetypes, the author creates sense of what roles women play in both their families and in society. In books such as The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the roles that the main female characters play are, in different instances, both comparable and dissimilar.

    Read More

  • Expected Behavior in The Coquette and The Female Marine

    1905 Words  | 4 Pages

    In society, constructs of correctness have been formed on the basis of expected, gendered behavior. Individuals have traditional roles that they play which are based on the historical performance of their gender. Although very rigid, these traditional roles are frequently transferred, resulting in an altered and undefinable identity that exists beyond the boundaries of gender. These transgressions into the neuter role are characterized by a departure from the normal roles of society which, if successful, complete the gender transference and allow the individual to live within a new set of boundaries. The Female Marine, or the Adventures of Lucy Brewer is the fictional autobiography of a woman who recounts her experiences in the navy and life as a cross-dressed male. Throughout her narratives, Lucy is able to successfully leap back and forth between gender roles without repercussion. On the other hand, Hannah W. Foster's The Coquette is a sentimental seduction tale that narrates the tragic demise of a young woman who attempts to exceed acceptable behavioral boundaries by establishing herself as a virile, independent individual, a role established by Simone de Beauvoir to be associated with the male (Beauvoir 405). Because of the similarity in the situations of these women there lies a need for an examination of their narrative purpose. The differing results of success with these women are found in the author's reflection of their audience's narrative expectations that deal with the social outcome of women who attempt to move beyond gender-identified behavioral roles.

    Read More

  • Patriarchy Between Men And Women

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    The rise of women in power has caused many men to feel a growing sense of insecurity in their manhood. For example, In Raisin In the Sun, Walter Lee felt lesser of a man, primarily, because of Lena Younger’s position as head of the family. The fact that he, the sole man of the family, as Travis is considered more of a boy, is constantly thwarted from making any executive decision by a woman can be directly associated with his foulness, but, once Lena Younger entrust him with the insurance money, Walter becomes friendly and very pleasant to be with. Similarly, in Mariama Ba’s So Long a Letter, Ramatoulaye is considered “Lioness” after rejecting all of her pretenders. The surname evokes fear which subtly hints of the insecurity that the men have toward women who have the power to deny them, yet it is also distinctly different from Hansberry, considering that, even through their insecurity, the men still fancy these powerful women, possibly to satisfy their ego in “taming” the beast and owning as trophy. Both aspects emphasize how men are poorly able to deal with this sudden change in

    Read More

  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).

    Read More

  • The Evolution of the Role of Women in British and American Literature

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles: Then and Now

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Indisputably, roles and characteristics of opposite genders have been ubiquitous, since historical evidence proves so – dating back to when the practice of oral tradition was favored over written language. This historical evidence is especially apparent in literature from previous time periods. In these works of literature, men and women often have very different social and economic positions within society. Particular duties, or tasks, are practiced depending on the gender of these individuals. However, in the advancing world we are currently living in, these duties are beginning to intertwine in an effort to allow equal rights amongst opposite genders. This effort to break the sexist barrier, which encompasses our world, has already begun rattling the chains of politicians and the like. However, with the progressions made thus far in retaliation to sexism and unequal gender privileges, the United States of America is heading in a positive direction towards gender equality. Nonetheless, the female gender is perceived as a lesser entity in society while the male gender is dominant and controlling. The masculine individuals in literary works usually govern, or direct the feminine individuals. These characteristics are often evident in various literary works – including “Hills Like White Elephants,” and “A&P” written by Ernest Hemingway and John Updike, respectively. The slow and steady transformation from a sexist society to one that allows inferior genders to perform similar tasks, if not the same as their superior counterparts, may disturb the ideological mindset of figures with authority; however, it provides inferior genders with the opportunity to branch out socially, economically, and politically.

    Read More

More about Lulu Nanapush Character Analysis

Open Document