The Woman With No Name in Monte Hellman's The Shooting
Works Cited Missing
Generally forgotten by critics, and classified as alternately a cult classic and a B-movie (in reference to both its budget and its reception), Monte Hellman's The Shooting is a film worth revisiting. At a remote camp in the middle of the desert, a Woman With No Name arrives to hire two men to lead her to the town of Kingsley, days after one of the camp members was shot dead and another ran away. On their descent into the scorching desert, it becomes apparent that the Woman has misled her employees as a hired gun joins their party and they continue their journey, it would seem, to execute somebody. The Woman from time to time physically leads the pack, and is always
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At the heart of the scene is the metaphor central to this opening shot; that of male instability, masculinity in crisis. Coley has given his horse to the Woman With No Name and rides on the back of Gashsade's steed out of necessity. He has given up his means of transport, his agency. Without his horse, Coley lacks mobility in the narrative and his position as a male is challenged. The male body is celebrated in the Western with "the phallic image of a man on horseback, sitting high above the ground, upright and superior, gazing down at a world whose gaze he in turn solicits" (Mitchell, 167). This celebration, typical of the genre is denied. Coley shares the space of the horse with another man and that superiority is negated. Gashade's power is challenged even further as he is forced to stoop over the front of his horse (shot 3) as if to carry the burden that is Coley. Masculinity in the Western is "not simply a blunt biological fact... (but rather) a cultural fiction that must be created, then re-created" (Mitchell, 155). These male characters are without the ability to create a masculinity for themselves. As "the Western is invariably pitched toward an exhibition of manly restraint" (Mitchell, 155), Gashade and Coley can never …show more content…
To 'have' the cinema is, in some sense, to 'have' the woman" (Doane, 498). Yet a returned gaze denies that possibility to have her. This action upsets expectations of the viewing experience and brands this woman as a threat. As "the voyeur ... must maintain a distance between himself and the image" (Doane, 499) representative of the distance between desire and its object, the voyeuristic act is turned on its end in this scene. The apparent interaction of the screen and the viewer breaks the act of viewing a spectacle and forces the audience's gaze away from the object of voyeurism. This is in keeping with the tradition of the intellectual woman who "looks and analyzes, and in usurping the gaze ... poses a threat to an entire system of representation" (Doane, 504). The woman as looker is an affront to subordinate female roles. Mulvey points out that men "cannot bear the burden of sexual objectification (and are) reluctant to gaze at (their) exhibitionist like" (Mulvey, 488). The general roles of "woman as image (and) man as bearer of the look" (Mulvey, 487), become complicated through Hellman's camera placement in the scene, and work with the narrative by reinforcing the Woman With No Name's position as an independent and determined woman, and emphasizing Gashade's and Coley's struggle with the
He soon realizes that the boarding of a wild stallion upon the Drake causes the excitement in the air. With much struggle, the stallion is placed in a makeshift stall within the ship and it causes quite a ruckus as its hooves crack against the wood and its whistle pierces the air. Alec has an immense love for horses and one night he gets a chance to visit the stallion up close. He witnesses the horse with its head out the window of the stall staring at the expanse of the ocean, but once it sees him it whistles once more and retreats into the darkness. The boy leaves a sugar cube on the windowsill for the stallion and then returns to his cabin for the night. Each night after, Alec continues to leave a sugar cube for the horse to eat once he has retreated to his cabin for the night.
In the essay, “The High Cost of Manliness,” writer Robert Jensen discusses the harmful effects of having male specific characteristics, such as masculinity. Jensen realizes that men’s actions and ways of living are judged based upon the characteristic of being manly. He argues that there is no valid reason to have characteristics associated with being male. Society has created the notion that masculinity is the characteristic that defines males as males.
From the beginning, Robert Cohn’s name defines himself－he is essentially a conehead in a society where concealing insecurities and projecting masculinity is paramount. Although he tries in vain to act stereotypically male, Cohn’s submissive attitude and romantic beliefs ultimately do little to cover up the pitiful truth; he is nothing more than a degenerate shadow of masculinity, doomed for isolation by society. In the incriminating eyes of people around him, Cohn is a picture-perfect representation of a failure as a man. Through Cohn, Hemingway delineates not only the complications of attaining virility, but also the reveal of another “lost” generation within the Lost Generation: those living without masculinity and the consequences they thus face.
...ring for him he has to find something to care for and by talking to the horse he is, in a nutshell, caring for it. So, as the reader can see, desire is a recurring theme that permeates the novel.
All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, is, among other things, an exploration of its main character, John Grady Cole. The author chooses words carefully and sparingly when creating dialogue for Cole. In doing so, McCarthy creates poetic effects and rich meaning from limited verbiage. This novelist lets his readers get to know his main character largely through dialogue instead of through direct description. In this way, readers find the techniques used by McCarthy similar to those used by Ernest Hemingway in many of his books and short stories. Like the dialogue of Hemingway's protagonists, Cole's speech is sparse, but it is indicative of a great deal of meaning.
Imagination is a quality that everyone has, but only some are capable of using. Maxine Hong Kingston wrote “No Name Woman” using a great deal of her imagination. She uses this imagination to give a story to a person whose name has been forgotten. A person whose entire life was erased from the family’s history. Her story was not written to amuse or entertain, but rather to share her aunts’ story, a story that no one else would ever share. The use of imagination in Kingston’s creative nonfiction is the foundation of the story. It fills the gaps of reality while creating a perfect path to show respect to Kingston’s aunt, and simultaneously explains her disagreement with the women in her culture.
In both “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the authors take critical aim at two staples of mainstream values, materialism and tradition respectively. Both authors approach these themes through several different literary devices such as personification and symbolism; however, it is the authors' use of characterization that most develop their themes. We'll be taking a look at the parallel passages in the stories that advance their themes particularly when those passages involve both of the authors' subtle character descriptions, and why this method of character development is so powerful in conveying the authors' messages.
...g in that dangerous situation. Once again, it often results in the male being responsible, with a few exceptions, to provide complexity and unpredictability to the character. If there was any doubt that the actions of the male protagonists of overcoming danger wasn’t enough, the element of a masculine figure protecting or saving a female character made sure to declare the masculinity of the character. On a regular basis the presence of dangerous situations is directly responsible for the degree of masculinity of a character.
America for the most part, has been considered the land of freedom and opportunity. Unlike “Hell Heaven,” and “No Name Woman,” “The Storm” took place in America only. Calixta committed adultery by kissing Alcée Laballiére on the lips and allowing him to sexually touch her while her husband was away from home. Most women in America practice Christianity and is little to no consequence for committing adultery. Calixta only felt shame for kissing Alcée Laballiére compared to Ana, who had to fear for her life for following the law. American women have the choice to choose their husbands and wouldn’t be penalized for being in public with men who weren’t their husbands. Calixta had more freedom as a mainland American woman than Boudi and Ana. If
Deborah Tannen’s essay, “There Is No Unmarked Woman”, explores the idea of “marked” and “unmarked” words, styles, titles, and how females have no ability to choose an unmarked position in life. She posits that “The unmarked forms of most English words also convey ‘male’” (88). Tannen is incorrect in her premises because females are able to choose unmarked hair and clothing styles, men are marked just as often as women, and many unmarked forms of words no longer convey “male.”
Kingston’s “No Name Woman” is a story that revolves around morals, society and family expectations, and women role in society. Kingston writes the story of her aunt that committed suicide in China and she has never heard of until her mother spoke of her once. The purpose of Kingston story is to show women role in China and how women were trap in their society.
Gail Godwin's short story "A Sorrowful Woman" revolves around a wife and mother who becomes overwhelmed with her husband and child and withdraws from them, gradually shutting them completely out of her life. Unsatisfied with her role as dutiful mother and wife, she tries on other roles, but finds that none of them satisfy her either. She is accustomed to a specific role, and has a difficult time coping when a more extensive array of choices is presented to her. This is made clear in this section of the story.
From an external viewpoint, most men are physically stronger than women. As shown throughout history, this factor directed men to assume superiority and domination on women, treating them no more valuable than slaves. From a very young age, girls are taught to be feminine – nurturing, modest, and virtuous – while boys are raised to be masculine – independent, strong, and stoic. Gender discrimination has continued to widen with these early teachings. In our society, young women continue to face the central issue of being inferior to men through social prejudice, stereotypical obligations to the home, and scientific assurance.
In “No Name Woman,” Kingston establishes the desire
Her screenplay is really a cornerstone of the film’s success. Dialogues are full of salt; all events unfold in close connection to the individuality of characters, who take decisions; and, on top of that, all of the characters themselves are quite lively and creatively different. A film always reflects the inner world of its screenpwriter. On the other hand, although an audience might watch the same movie, every viewer perceives and interprets differently the symbolic meaning of presentational media used by a filmmaker, implications of a plot and actions of characters from one's own subjective point of view. It must be noted that a film is able to address the unconscious of a viewer directly via sound and visual effects and can affect a person in a much greater variety of ways than other forms of art like literature, music or painting can do.