The Three Day Blow Literary Analysis

Although the topic of feminism related back to the 1700s, the feminist lens was not really prevalent until the 1960s and 1970s. There were a significant amount of different versions of this lens—French, British, and North American—, but they all centered around a main idea that society was essentially patriarchal. In terms of literature, feminism explores the idea that men dominate society/western way of thinking and that women are constantly being repressed in a psychological way. Moreover, with the utter domination of masculinity throughout history and literature, many women authors were unfairly overlooked because of their gender. Through this lens, one is able to see the gender-related problems seen in literature as well as the world today.

Before this occasion with Nick and Bill, Nick recently broke up with his girlfriend Marjorie. Even though it seemed like he did not care about the breakup in Bill’s eyes, after Nick became more and more drunk, it became obvious that he was in a state of melancholy with her departure. When Nick and Bill are drinking with each other, Nick decides to get some more water to help drink the whisky. After walking through the dining room, he sees his reflection in the mirror. He describes it as “He smiled at the face in the mirror and it grinned back at him. He winked at it and went on. It was not his face but it didn’t make any difference.” With Nick being unable to recognize himself in the mirror, it can be portrayed as a symbol. With the loss of Marjorie, Nick was a different man with two different personalities, which is shown in the mirror. On one hand, Nick wanted to be a so-called man, who can have a stoic personality even with the loss of his beloved Marjorie. This is the same, sober man that started to drink with Bill at the beginning of the story. On the other hand, Nick was very depressed about his loss, which ultimately showcased his stereotypical feminine side with his dependence. In other words, it almost seemed as if Marjorie was a part of Nick, and Nick was unable to recognize himself in the mirror because he is no longer with Marjorie. In history and literature, it has been portrayed for women to be dependent upon men, but in this story, it seems as if Nick is dependent upon Marjorie, which truly shows the power Marjorie has in the story. Also, this shows that men and women can have multiple masks/personalities instead of just one personality with common stereotypes associated with it. In summary, with the symbolism in the