Dehumanization in The Women Who Clean Fish

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Dehumanization in The Women Who Clean Fish

Erica Funkhouser's women who clean fish can hardly be categorized as women at all. Yet they supposedly are all named Rose or Grace forming a vast contradiction in itself. They are introduced as individuals giving the illusion that they are of some importance but very soon they are seen as nothing more than laborers. They become an unidentifiable mass, each as common as the next. However, they do not remain unidentifiable forever and by the end of the poem the women become entirely fishlike. "The Women Who Clean Fish" illustrates this dehumanizing transformation into fish.

The names Rose and Grace do not fit into this poem because of the context in which they are used. When the word "rose" is seen or heard it is the illustration of an elegant flower at the end of a long slender stem, adorned with delicate petals that is clearly visible and an instant picture of beauty comes to mind. By definition, grace means "a virtue that comes from God." Immediately an angelic, classy woman by the name of Grace is pict...

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