Character Analysis “The Lesson“
In the everyday society, women have been taking the centre stage in looking and ensuring there is continuity in the society. They continue the society by the fact that they are responsible for reproduction and take care of the young ones. In recent literature works, women have been given negative perception by the society which is dominated by male chauvinism. Social inequalities have made it possible for women not to have upward mobility and their status still remain the same.
This concept has been highlighted by different authors who have portrayed women to be belonging to the low class. “The Lesson”by Toni Cade Bambara The lesson is a short story written by Toni Cade Bambara. The story is about the economic and social disparities which exist in the world as the narrator came to realize for the first time on her trip to New York. The world is full of racial and class injustices that determine the way people live in the society as one of the characters who is told the story is determined to go beyond these barriers and improve her life. Sylvia who is the main character in the story is insulted by the neighbor who is a rich person because of her low economic background.
The insulation coming from different social classes in the society is portrayed by the author when the neighbor insulted Sylvia (Timco, 1991). From this perspective, women characters are portrayed to be of low social class which leads to the creation of conflict between the two classes of people. As the main character, Sylvia reports that she had never realized the differences in social classes until that time when she was insulted by the neighbor. Conflict theory becomes to play following the dominance of some social groups in the society, and the resistance of this dominance leads to a conflict arising between the two groups. The main character, Sylvia has been used to portray how the low class is not happy with social inequaliies in the society.
She is portrayed to be angry with the rich, Miss Moore and wanted to hit her as she is bothered by the inequalities in the wealth distribution throughout the world and injustices. “Hairball” by Margaret AtwoodHairball is a short which talks about the influence of western culture in the modern society and how it impacts relationships. The main character in the story is called Kate who undergoes personal and societal conflicts. The main character also undergoes conflict with her lover. The story begins when Kate goes to the hospital to have her ovarian tumor removed after which she names the tumor hairball.
The hairball reflects the vulnerability she undergoes in her efforts to get a child which has led the society to give her a different perception. The writer has used women characters in this short story to show how women characters are vulnerable to the society and the differences conflicts they undergo in defining themselves in the society (Atwood 2003). The character is facing societal conflicts because she is not living to the expectation of the society, she is expected to give birth and bring up the children which are to make the society to continue. Her failure to deliver and give back to the society brings her confrontation and conflicts which later cost her. Kate has been used to explain how the conflict of identity crisis is developed in that she is no longer proud of herself following the ovarian tumor she used.
Her face has changed and no longer feels proud like a woman and she is left vulnerable. The last conflict Kate undergoes is as a result of rejection by her boyfriend following her ovarian tumor. This has caused her job in which her boyfriend has taken over, and she is left with no option but to remain vulnerable in try anything, which comes her way to enable her get identity in the society. The story addresses the impact of culture for the modern woman; they are expected to live to the expectatiion of the society and at the same time, they are influenced by the western culture in imitating. “Tiny, Smiling Daddy” by Mary Gaitskill The story is about the female character Kitty who was brought up well in a loving and caring family but over suddenly decided to change her life style and beliefs. This caused worries to her parent who later checked where they might have gone wrong in bringing up their daughter.
The little daughter changed her life styles and started engaging in prostitution and lesbianism. She latter turned against her parents and could not hear anything from them even informing them part of the story (Mary, 1997).The author has used the female character to explain the contemporary influence of the media in society. At the same time, it explains the forces which drive individuals beyond the family knowledge. Nothing much could influence Kitty to engage herself into prostitution and lesbianism if not social interaction with the bad company. The contemporary lifestyle is rapidly changing, and people are adopting practices, which can only be better understood by them.
Kitty was brought up well and changed over suddenly due to influence from the environment. The character has been used to in the story to show the contemporary life and how the world is globally changing from the traditional way of doing things. At the same time, the story reveals the suffering women are undergoing in silent within the society and the frustration they face which makes them look for satisfaction else where. This can be justified as Kitty was explaining in the magazine that her father didn’t know what she underwent. Alternatively, the character has been used to challenge the parenthood in the society that there is still more to be done in shaping the behaviors of their children.
All that they have done is not enough, and more actions are needed in designing a polite way to bring up their children.
