Why does an author opt for a mysterious character in the novel? The answer to this ultimate question is that he wants the reader to consider himself in the place of the character who is solving the conundrum, or who is narrating the story. In this case, the main character, Snowman, is recalling the tale of a girl whose nature and psyche is difficult to explain. It is difficult, but not impossible to explain due to the reason that the narrator gives some description of her physical attributes and her personality traits. We can have the blurred imagery, which can be clarified into a clear visualization by giving close attention. The recollection of memories by Jimmy is in the form of a puzzle, and sometimes there seems no certainty in the clues he gives. In other words, he might have added these false clues, because he has nothing else to do on the planet with the “I am the only human being” tag on it. There's a possibility that Oryx story is made up by Jimmy in the silences of loneliness just as he makes up other stories to while answering weird questions of Crakers. There's a greater possibility that Oryx knew Crake's plan since the beginning, and she was a partner of Crake in crime, because she is an expert in choosing morally bad pathways to achieve the target she is given.
Oryx and her mysterious behavior always interests the reader. Not only she is strange as a person, but her background is even stranger. She comes from a family, she knows nothing about. To top it off, she is fully unaware of her native language. The only part she remembers is that she is from a distant foreign place, and her answer, I'm not sure, to every question she is asked makes her personality more intriguing. This might seem like a case of...
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...: Anchor Books, 2003. Print.
Bacigalupi, Paolo. “The Tamarisk Hunter.” Literature and the Environment. Ed. Lorainne Anderson,
Scott Slovic, and John P.O'Grady. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. 252-261. Print.
Bouson, J. Brooks. "The Anxiety Of Being Influenced: Reading And Responding To Character In
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The author chose to do all of these things because they all are crucial to the story, and they help to make the book better. They make it more interesting, less confusing, and more professional. All of these elements were probably well planned and thought out because they are so important. I think that the characters make the story good or bad, and that’s the author’s job - to create the characters and the ideas and things like that, and that’s why we’re doing this project: to evaluate what the author has presented with these characteristics.
Oryx and Crake by Margret Atwood. The influence of family members in the child hoods of Jimmy, Oryx, and Crake, affect their morals astronomically. Jimmy’s abusive household pushes him to engage in actions that influence his morals. Jimmy tries to dissociate himself from his toxic relationships but fails, because he cannot relieve himself of these people his fate is corrupt. Oryx’s environment causes her to become desensitised by the ill wishes, and actions of others. Her milieu allows her to be influenced by others because she too is constantly under the control of others. Crake’s parental influence is not established, because of this he essentially lives alone like an orphan for most of his life. A result of having no one to turn to, Crake establishes his own moral compass. The effects
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
Many feminist/post-modern theorists see language as a patriarchal construct that excludes women. As Jeanie Forte writes, this characterization of language is informed by Lacanian theory, which, in turn, is influenc...
Gender Matters is a collection of various essays on feminist linguistic texts analysis, by Sara Mills. Mills develops methods of analyzing literary and non-literary texts, in addition to conversational analysis based on a feminist approach. The author draws on data from her collection of essays gathered over the last two decades on feminism during the 1990s. The essays focus on gender issues, the representation of gender in reading, writing, and in public speaking. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of feminists’ analysis of sexism in literature and the relation between gender and politeness. The article is informative for my research paper, as my topic is going to cover language analysis of the text and who women reading and writing differs according to the discourse analysis within linguistic, psychology, case studies audiences and surveys. The book would be helpful, particularly the last three essays that discusses gender, public speaking, the question of politeness and impoliteness in public speaking. Mills’ analysis is not complete without including the idea of global notions of both women and men, to see whether women and men write and read in the same way globally. Therefore, an update would enrich the book’s discussion section. Although, Mills addresses the class and race theme in language and public speaking, I will only look into the role of language that plays a part in doing or reducing gender in literary, non-literary texts and in conversation.
In the play Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus is depicted as a morally ambiguous character; neither purely evil or purely good. Oedipus runs from his fate initially to prevent himself from pursuing what he believed was his fate; however, he is lead straight towards his real fate. He kills his biological father as he is headed to Thebes, where he takes the throne. Once he has taken the throne, he begins to try and save his city from the plague by looking for the murder of king Laius. However, what he does not know is that the prophet has told him who has slew the king; therefore, he presents his ignorance as a leader. Not only does his ignorance create the flawed character inside himself, but it also causes him to run from his fate. The significance of Oedipus being a morally ambiguous character is that he cannot run from his fate
From the moment a woman is born, she is automatically expected many things from her. Wear a dress, have no body hair, be with a man, don’t be too loud, etc. The list of “norms” that a woman is anticipated to uphold to goes on for days. And often times, women that decide to branch out from those “norms” are viewed as less valuable or obscene. In Robyn Ochs essay, “Bisexuality, Feminism, Men and Me”, she discusses the revolutionary moment when she realizes that living up to the assumptions of what it means to be a woman systemically limits us from our true potential. As presented in the movie “Frida”, a brilliant artist is often times overshadowed by her promiscuous relationships with women and men. A woman’s life does not dwindle down to the
...rms of power and source of pride in society. Emphasizing sexism in language and rising the concern with words can be a vital feminist strategy to provoke social change (Weatherall, 2002). Language can produce a false imagination and represents women and men unequally, as if members of one sex were somehow less wholly human, less complex, and has fewer rights than members of the other sex. Sexist language also characterizes serotypes of women and men, sometimes to the disadvantage of both, but more often to the disadvantage of women. (Wareing & Thomas, 2012). As a result, it is necessary that individuals have the right to define, and to redefine as their lives unfold, their own gender identities, without regard to genitalia, assigned birth sex, or initial gender role. Language about women is not a nonaligned or an insignificant issue but profoundly a political one.
Homer’s The Odyssey is a Greek story that follows the journey of its primary character, Odysseus, back to his home in Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus encounters many challenges in his journey home, from encounters with Polyphemus the Cyclops, the witch Circe and even the ghosts of dead Greeks. Meanwhile, his household in Ithaca is being threatened by suitors of his wife, Penelope, all wanting to inherit Odysseus’ possessions in the belief that he was already dead. Like many epic heroes, Odysseus possesses many admirable qualities. Three good characteristics of Odysseus are—cleverness, bravery and strength—here are some supporting instances from the epic that demonstrates Odysseus possession of such characteristics.
Snowman portrays Oryx as this naive girl who thought she could help better this world of science. Jimmy’s love for Oryx mirrors that of his mother as he is constantly looking for validation of Oryx feelings towards him. Jimmy sees Oryx as a substitution for his mother’s love and she seems to reciprocate the feelings “when she’d get back from one of her trips, she’d materialize in Jimmy’s room in the middle of the night” (314).
Adichie was born in Nigeria and is most known for giving a TEDxTalk in 2013 about modern feminism. After the overwhelming success of the talk, such as having millions of views on YouTube and being featured in the song “Flawless” by Beyoncé, she decided to publish the speech into an expanded essay named “We Should All Be Feminists.” In this essay, Adichie talks about her life and encounters of sexism from a young age, especially her introduction to the word “feminist” occurring at fourteen. She is having a normal day, playing and arguing with her friend Okoloma, until he “harmlessly” quips, “`You know, you’re a feminist’” (8), which in Nigeria, is not a compliment. She also spends a third of the essay addressing the fact all negativity towards gender inequality has the same root: unwavering tradition. She questions, “What if, in raising our children, we (the parents) focus on ability instead of gender… interest instead of gender” (36)? Simply, if negativity towards the opposite sex is eradicated in a new generation, there will be no more inequality to worry about. She also parallels Wollstonecraft in commenting on the fascinating diversity of males and females. She claims that if men are undeniably strong physically, women should be held in the same
Lindberg, Laurie. "Wordsmith and Woman: Morag Gunn's Triumph Through Language." New Perspectives on Margaret Laurence: Poetic Narrative, Multiculturalism, and Feminism. Ed. Greta M. K. McCormick Coger. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996. 187-201.
William Robinson criticizes that theses approaches make feminist translation “not a translation, but a mutilation” of the original texts (1934, p. 151). Contrary to what critiques suggest, in fact, neither the “hijacking” method nor the usage of inclusive language