Ethan Parker
Jennifer Ewing
AP Literature P.5
December 3, 2015
Sarah’s Key Literary Analysis Process Paper
Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, though speaking about a particularly touchy subject, identifies feminist/ gender equality through a series of historical hardships that many had endured during the Holocaust. Keeping this in mind, Sarah’s Key is used for Mrs. Rosnay’s approval of the advances of feminism, and how women were limited by a low glass ceiling.
Sarah’s Key, though depressing, and hard to read is still an prodigious book. While the new historicist criticism applies more to Sarah’s parts of the story, as it occurred in the past, this eventually leads to a more feminist type of appeal. Tatiana de Rosnay talks about her inspiration
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for writing the book, she says: Been in contact with many Vel’ d’Hiv (Véldrome d’Hiver) survivors (In July 1942, French police, acting under orders from the German authorities in Occupied Paris, used the velodrome to hold thousands of Jews and others who were victims in a mass arrest. The Jews were held at the velodrome before they were moved to a concentration camp in the Parisian suburbs at Drancy, then to the extermination camp at Auschwitz. The incident became known as the "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup): since the book and many of them tell me, “This could have happened.” Because you have to remember it was the French police coming to arrest those people that morning. People thought they were coming back. They thought they were being taken somewhere to get their identity validated. This wasn’t the Nazis coming. This was the good old gendarme, the French police. So Sarah thought she’d be back. Mrs. Rosnay also mentions that when you grew up in France in the 1970s and 80s the Vel’ d’Hiv wasn’t part of the history program. and that she grew up knowing nothing about it until Jacques Chirac made a famous speech in 1995 [apologizing for France’s complicity with the Nazis during WWII]. That was the first time her attention was really drawn to it. Rosnay says that was the first time that she had heard about it was probably in the late 1980’s. It was all part of a shameful part of France’s difficult past of collaboration. Rosnay also talks about the challenges that the Jewish people had to face if they escaped, and example of this is page 118, “At one point Jules turned to the little girl. He spoke quietly. He told her to go back down into the cellar. There were large bags of potatoes. She would have to climb into one of them and hide there at best as she could.”. My grandmother has a friend; Mrs. Boil, she recalls this as she said, “German soldiers would come down and stick swords into the bags, and one time they cut my ear, and I had to wipe the blood off it so that they couldn’t tell that I was hiding in the potatoes, so when they pulled to sword out to see if there was blood, there wasn’t any and I would not get caught and killed.” She also briefly mentioned that after the start of World War II everything changed as the Jewish people had a curfew, and could only live in specific areas as opposed to before; putting an even tighter leash on what women were allowed to do at the time. In this she claims that, “Girls and women hardly had any rights. Our job was to stay at home, and make sure that our father was happy with us. If he wanted something done, then we could not object, and we had to obey him, and do it fast no matter what…”.The father dominating, and the women and children obeying every order was the case in most families during this time period; However, changed in the late nineteenth/ early twenty first century: When feminism affected the traditional gender roles. Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Within Sarah’s part of the story women's rights are very limited, and stereotypical: Women had no real jobs and were considered to stay at home, raise the children, and making sure that the husband is well taken care of. Evidence of this can be found mostly at the beginning of the book while Sarah is describing her parents, and how well they handle the situation of being taken from their house, and forced to live in inhumane conditions. She describes her father a man that stood strong with no fear in his eyes, only sadness; However; Sarah then describes her mother as a woman that is dependent on her father as imagined by Sarah saying, “She wanted her mother to stand up straight and look at the men boldly, to stop cowering… She wanted her mother to be brave.” when the police show up at her house. However, Julia’s story is different not only because it is occurring in the present, but also due to the way that feminism is more of a common idea, and as a result, is used more that when Sarah is speaking. A way that this is shown is when Julia tells her husband that they are finally pregnant after six years of trying. No longer wanting a child, because he feels that he is too old, he tells her that she needs to get an abortion; but, Julia replies with, “ “I don’t care,” I said, firmly. “I’m not going to do this. I want to keep this baby”” showing that women now have a choice to what the husband wants. Sarah’s Key is used as an fictional book that shows how feminism has progressed since World War II. In this she shows her support for feminist movements and her belief that women are often impaired in society, and viewed inferior to men. Although the author attempts to provide a new or surprising approach to a Holocaust story, Sarah’s Key also draws resemblance from other books such as Diary of Anne Frank, Suite Francaise, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and The History of Love in which they all provide an example of the atrocious mistreatment of the Jewish people in Eastern Europe during World War II. This draws readers to the text, because people are still interested in and are driven to learn more about the Jewish plight during this time. Although Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key bears strong resemblance to other books that have to do with gender roles of families and society in the Holocaust, she still represents her approval of feminism through the story not only in the actions that Julia takes, but also the way that Julia’s character develops in the story.
Starting as a journalist that does what she is told Julia breaks escapes the boundaries of her marriage: by no longer doing as Bertrand tells her to do, and no longer falls victim to his appearance by having sex after they fight. By doing this she feels free to to overcome society's rules, as many people are telling her to stop after she has written her article of the Vel d’Hiv, and starts to look for …show more content…
Sarah. Published in September of 2006, Sarah’s Key was originally written in French, and translated to English a year later. In 2007 it won the Prix littéraires Gabrielle-d'Estrées et Jackie-Bouquin (two literary prizes awarded by the city of Chambray-lès-Tours (Indre-et-Loire) since 1986.). In 2008 it won three more awards (Livre du Poche - Reader's choice, Prix de lecteurs de Corse, The Chronos Prize for Literature) and in 2009 the La Mennais. four years after the book was published, a movie adaptation was released starring Kristin Scott Thomas, receiving generally positive reviews, holding a 73% ranking of Rotten Tomatoes. To this day Tatiana de Rosnay has had twelve books published in French, and three published in English, her most famous by far is Sarah’s Key; which has sold over three million copies in French, and over two million in English. Annotated Bibliography Rosnay, Tatiana De.
Sarah's Key. New York: St. Martin's, 2007. Print.
One thing that clearly helped as it would in most cases was to read the book. Not only does it provide you with quotations that helt support your thesis, but also gives you an understanding what criticisms would be appropriate to use.
"How Tatiana De Rosnay Turned French History Into ‘Sarah’s Key’." Speakeasy RSS. N.p., 14 July 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.
This is a website that helped with the new historicist criticism part of the paper as it not only has details of how Tatiana de Rosnay found her inspiration to write Sarah’s Key, but also gave in depth detail of how other sources, such as survivors of the Vélodrome d’Hiver, gave key details and historical context of the event. This was also an aiding source to the paper as it talks about other literature that she read that gave ideas and provided a base to the plot of Sarah.
"Mrs. Boil Holocaust." Telephone interview. 24 Nov. 2015.
This is an Interview that I conducted when checking the historical accuracy of the story. Not only was this a helpful source to that but also explained how she saw the Holocaust in her eyes of a young girl that was only a year older than Sarah. Though she was young and at times it was hard for her to talk about or even remember, there were not many gender defining roles that she
saw. Deutscher, Penelope. "Constitutive Instability in Roussesu's Defense on Natural Sexual Difference." Yielding Gender: Feminism, Deconstruction, and the History of Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1997. 112-40. Print. Originally I found this on google scholars, and decided that I should read about at least two different views of feminism is I was going to use that type of criticism. I did something that you did, and went to the public library, and later Starbucks with my friends. I chose this particular book because it not only explained the type of criticism that made me think differently about the book. this also explained the stereotype of how women were associated with society during the time of the book, and the changes that lead to women in society today Tyson, Lois. "Feminist Criticism." Critical Theory Today: A User-friendly Guide. New York: Garland Pub., 1999. 79-126. Print. This was another book that I had checked out when I went to the public library, when talking about the book mentioned before this. I found this to be helpful when comparing the two chapters to find out how women were viewed. This is a newer version that I also noticed went along with “How to Read Like A Professor” as i explained the different stereotypes, and how they have changed over time.
Like the Good Other Woman, the Evil Other Woman often spends much of her life hidden away in the castle, secret room, or whatever, a fact suggesting that even a virtuous woman’s lot is the same she would have merited had she been the worst of criminals. The heroine’s discovery of such Other Women is in the one case an encounter with women’s oppression-their confinement as wives, mothers, and daughters-and in the other with a related repression: the confinement of a Hidden Woman inside those genteel writers and readers who, in the idealization of the heroine’s virtues, displace their own rebellious
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.
Using quotes from the book would strengthen your paper. Quotes prove to the reader that you have a valid argument.
Until the middle of the twentieth century, females were in an inferior position to males in all aspects of society. Women who wanted to deviate from the norm were often restrained by males and isolated in a sphere of society’s “perfectly submissive housewife”, a stereotype which women of the world eventually shattered. Kate Chopin accomplished this through her realist piece, The Awakening.
In The Jewish Women of Ravenbrück Concentration Camp the author, Rochelle Saidel discusses how gender plays a large role in the identity of the camp survivors, along with how
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structure. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society. Writing based on their own experiences, had it not been for the works of Susan Glaspell, Kate Chopin, and similar feminist authors of their time, we may not have seen a reform movement to improve gender roles in a culture in which women had been overshadowed by men.
Using the biographical lens a reader can understand her work more thoroughly and get a better sense of what she is trying to say. Kate’s unusual upbringing had a major role in her view on the world and helped shape not only her stories but her characters as well. The Awakening and “The Story of an Hour” are just two examples where Kate uses real life people and places to get her inspiration from. A little bit of Kate Chopin’s life can be seen throughout many of her short stories and novels.
In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient woman, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty, emotionless shell. In men’s eyes, this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
Bryfonski, Dedria, ed. Women's Issues in Kate Chopin's The Awakening. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven, 2012. Print.
The Holocaust continues to exist as a black mark in the history of Germany; through the government supported torture and extermination of both men and women, more than 6 million lost their lives. As a consequence of the collective tragedy for both sexes, there has been much debate pertaining to the focus of gender specific suffering in Holocaust literature; for this reason, the Holocaust accounts of women writers were largely ignored prior to the 1970’s. Many historians still refute disparities existed between the male and female experience. However, it is worth noting that the social, familial, and cultural expectations of men and women, both prior to and during the war, varied greatly. Moreover, these diverging roles promoted distinctively different coping, processing, and accounting of the tragedies stemming from the Holocaust. By examining the unique experiences of women, both within and outside the concentration camps, one can logically conclude these remarkable accounts broaden the scope of Holocaust literature. Embedded gender roles helped the survival efforts of women, and these unique female perspectives are valuable in accurately portraying the Holocaust experience.
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
...en endured throughout the Realist literary period. This oppression has evolved into strong female business figures. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” shows the perceived inequality and inferiority of women throughout this era. This lies in contrast with strong, powerful female officials, such as Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chopin’s The Awakening illustrates a literary attempt at women’s activism. Women’s activism is still present today, and is seen in the recent happenings at the Plymouth High School baseball and softball fields. Women have evolved past their positions as domestic keepers that were subordinate to men to active, equal members of society. Feminist literature has aided this evolution over the year. Women have overcome oppression through activism and garnered more rights since the termination of the Realist literary era.
...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).
Kate Chopin is an American writer of the late nineteenth century. She is known for her depictions of southern culture and of women's struggles for freedom. At this time in American history, women did not have a voice of their own and according to custom, they were to obey their father and husband. Generally, many women agreed to accept this customary way of life. Kate Chopin thought quite differently. The boldness Kate Chopin takes in portraying women in the late nineteenth century can be seen throughout The Awakening and other short stories. The following is an overview of her dramatic writing style.