Character Study in Manual Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman
On the surface, Manual Puig's Kiss of the Spider Woman is about politics and oppression. Caged literally and figuratively in an existential cell, both Molina and Valentin are wards of a police state and are therefore powerless to change their circumstances. But the novel is really about how spiritual freedom is cultivated and made manifest by Molina's retelling of his favorite movies. Because the substance of the films is first filtered through Molina's perspective, his perversion of the characters and plots reflect his own progression from an oppressed prisoner to a heroine who freely chooses the path to her own death.
That Molina identifies himself with the heroines in the films is unmistakable by the end of the novel. In the first movie he tells to Valentin, a woman who involuntarily changes into a panther whenever she kisses a man is parallel to Molina's life as a homosexual man in a society that condemns him. The panther woman's love is dangerous, and so is Molina's. His fatalistic view of his place ...
In this paper I will be telling you many different forms of domestic violence. I will include the physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, social abuse, and emotional abuse. I will also describe the "cycle of violence", teen dating violence, and why women stay with an abusive partner.
By examining the narrative voice as well as the cultural restraints placed on them, readers can see the sexist culture in the novel and that the novel itself does not necessarily advocate this misogyny. Yunior, a Dominican man, is the overall narrator of the novel, so readers essentially see everything through his masculine eye. When discussing a brief fling with Lola, Oscar’s sister, Yunior says, “Even those nights after I got jumped she wouldn’t let me steal on her ass for nothing. So you can sleep in my bed but you can’t sleep with me?” (Diaz 169) His question suggests that it is his right to sleep with her, and his discussion of Lola herself objectifies her by noting only her body and her refusal to use it. This objectification is clearly sexist, but it is a reflection of the narrative voice, Yunior, not of Lola. Yunior will casually refer to a woman as “a bitch” (Diaz 183), which is clearly demeaning, but it is a man’s view and does not reflect on the substance of the women. It shows readers the culture he was raised in, not an actual portrayal of the women, illustrating a misogynist society but not a misogynistic novel. In the Dominican Republic, gender-based violence is the fourth leading cause of death, hinting at the overall problems caused by the hyper-sexualized nature of the country. Sociologist Denise Paiewonsky
Michael Chabon’s novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is a coming of age story which, remarks on sexual identity and familial issues which shift the course of the characters’ lives within the novel. The novel’s main character is Art Bechstein. Art has just graduated college and he is seeking to find himself and in the process others too. In the book, sexual identity becomes a major focus. This is seen when, Art meets Arthur Lecomte, a man who is very charming and homosexual. Art also meets Arthur’s friend, Cleveland Arning, who is attracted to danger and involved in organized crime. The story gets further complicated when Art begins a new relationship with a young woman named Phlox Lombardi. She is very insecure and Art is also attracted to
Domestic Violence is a widely recognized issue here in the United States. Though many people are familiar with domestic violence, there are still many facts that people do not understand. Abuse is not just physical, it is mental, emotional, verbal, sexual and financial. Many victims of physical abuse are also fall victim to these abuse tactics as well. An abusive partner often uses verbal, mental, emotional, and financial abuse to break their partner so to speak. It is through this type of abuse the victim often feels as though they are not adequately meeting their partner’s needs.
Buzawa, Carl G. and Buzawa, Eve S. Second Edition: Domestic Violence. Sage Publications, Inc.; Thousand Oaks, California. 1996
In the book Ask the Dust by John Fante, the main character Arturo Bandini, is a 20 year old Italian American from Colorado who comes to Los Angeles in hopes of becoming a famous writer. Arturo is very talented and can become the next big writer but faces many obstacles that stop him in his tracks. Things like his own immaturity and desire for acceptance impair his ability to achieve his dream. In the beginning of the book, Arturo is very immature and lets his desires get the best of him, but at the end of the book he becomes more objective and mature. The growth of Arturo is astounding and can be separated into stages of development. He comes to a realization that you can 't just be stuck up on something but you have to be able to move on.
This novel is set in a time 300 years after a convulsion, a great war that was brought upon by men. It was men who were the diplomats and men who made the speeches about national pride and defenseand we died (pg. 301). The beginning of the novel starts out as a reflection and continues to be a reflection until the end, although the ways in which Tepper words happenings, put the reader in the moment so that he/she forgets they are reflecting and thinks that each happening is going on as you read, giving much more meaning to the piece. The reader is taken on a journey through the experiences of one girl from adolescence to adulthood, and as she comes to understand the way of life in Womens Country so do we the reader. Stavia (the main character) is reflecting everything that has made her who she is up to that point in her life. When Stavia was young the only worry she had to deal with was the coming and going of the male counterpart.
Domestic violence include sex abuse and intentionally or unintentionally use of physical force such as slapping, hitting and causing other injuries to your partner, children, friends, etc. A psychologist and law school professor, Mary Ann Dutton, who is an expert in domestic violence described it as "a pattern of behavior in which one intimate partner uses physical violence, coercion, threats, intimidation, isolation and emotional, sexual or economic abuse to control and change the behavior of the other partner." (Taken from an article in www.womenslaw.org, by Valerie Despres)
Domestic violence consists of verbal, financial, emotional, sexual, and physical abuse within the household, generally involving partners and families. This occurrence of violence is acted to gain and maintain control over somebody. Abusers have the tendency to enforce fear, guilt, shame and intimidation to brainwash and maintain power. The...
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
Domestic violence, also referred to as intimate partner violence, intimate partner abuse or domestic abuse, affects over one million people in the United States alone. It can be carried out in any number of ways including physically, emotionally, sexually, psychologically and/or financially. Its legal definition considers it to be “any assault, battery, sexual assault, sexual battery, or any criminal offense resulting in physically injury or death of one family member or household member by another who is residing in the same single dwelling unit” (Brown, 2008). In the United States it is considered a major health problem so much so that it was declared the number one health concern by the U.S. Surgeon General in 1992 (Peterman & Dixon, 2003). Not only is it a rapidly growing health problem but it is a growing societal concern as well. Extending beyond the effect felt by the victims and their families, it impacts our communities, government, law enforcement and public service agencies.
Life is not a singular momentous journey; it is a multitude of experiences and events that shape not only one’s life, but one’s character. In Vida, Patricia Engel manages to construct a multilayered novel that produces a synergistic effect—the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. By constructing Vida in non-chronological order, Engel manages to convey a realistic account of finding one’s self by reminiscing upon distinct life-changing moments and the subsequent realization of the individual self. Although the chapters seemingly have nothing in common, in the sum of their parts they form a complete portrayal of Sabina. In fact, as Engel asserts, it is not the momentous occasions in life that are the most profound to one’s personal development—the most consequential moments are “uneventful, the way most life-changing moments are. You don’t see them happening” (44). Ultimately, by employing a non-chronological narrative—along with other literary elements—Engel skillfully conveys the personal history of Sabina, while fragmenting time and place. Thus, each chapter is a representation of the person who Sabina was at that time—her feelings, her language, her tone—and that is constantly changing as a girl is growing into a women, and attempting to figure out who she is as an individual.
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...
I read a story, after I finished reading it my mind was still reeling over what I had just read. Stories like this are quite impressive magnificent; they draw the reader into the story and leave them with a strong impact. How we interpret a text is in itself impressive, as every person is different, every interpretation is too. As I read “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, I could not help but notice that Kate Chopin uses the window to symbolize the future that Mrs. Mallard has been pinning for all her life. Chopin also uses Mrs. Mallard’s heart condition as a symbol of Mrs. Mallard’s marriage. The short story is consequentially the story of an oppressed woman who had to confine herself to the social norms of marriage. Through Formalism Criticism, we will explore the various symbols that Chopin uses to describe how Mrs. Mallard yearns for freedom, and through the Feminist Criticism, we will explore how the institution of marriage oppresses our heroin.
Domestic violence is a pattern of behavior in any relationship to maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Is domestic violence abuse? Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions. Such as frightening, intimidation, terrorizing, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injuring or wounding someone. Domestic Violence affects millions of humans in the U.S. regardless of age, economic status, race, religion or education. Members of immigrant and populations are especially vulnerable. The law can help provide protection against this. There are some long term effects to domestic violence that have not begun to be fully documented. Weaken women who suffered from physical and mental problems as a result of domestic violence. Battering is the single major cause of injury to women, more significant that auto accidents, rapes, or muggings. The emotional and psychological abuses Force in to the minds of women by batterers are more costly to treat in the short-run than the physical injuries. Many physical injuries done to women seem to cause medical Conditions as the women grow older. Arthritis, hypertension and heart disease have been identified in battered women then directly caused or aggravated by domestic violence suffered early in their adult lives. From the one they feared most, their abuser the one who has to have control at all points in life doesn’t care about their spouse feelings or pe...