In Hemingway’s novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the role of women is something one can not avoid noticing. Although only two women appear in the book, the distinction of their characters, and their influence on the situation are apparent from their introduction.
Pilar, even from the beginning is constantly referred to as being like a man. One of her main features and personality traits is that she has the confidence, knowledge, and look of a man. This is apparently a praisable quality because the men compliment her on it constantly. She also has the ability to really understand the strategies of war, to the point of becoming the new leader of Pablo’s band fairly early in the story. However, she has not lived her life as though she were a man. She is technically the woman of Pablo, and has had many experiences with other men before. She tells us of her time in Valencia.
“We made love and then sent for another pitcher of beer with the drops of its coldness on the glass...” (86)
She seems very feminine and beautiful in this passage, and in many other descriptions of her past, but Hemingway always tells us, quite frequently through Pilar’s own dialogue, that she is masculine and ugly. (97)
Maria, the second female character, is just the opposite of that. She is perhaps the only representation of feminine nature at all, not including the country of Spain, for which they are fighting. She is described as very beautiful despite the fact that she has recently been in captivity where she was raped and had her hair cut off. She is submissive, yet not weak. She has an inner strength that comes with surviving torture, but it is not one of her overwhelming characteristics. Robert Jordan calls her “little rabbit” which seems a suiting cognomen. She is small and dependent like a rabbit. She lets Pilar tell her what to do for the most part, and when Robert Jordan comes she becomes his woman at Pilar’s suggestion. We are not told if this behavior is due to the fact that she was captivated for so long, or if she was like that before her entrapment, but it seems likely that her recent living arrangements had something to do with it. It is clear that Robert Jordan likes her behavior, and that to him it accentuates her beauty, but even Jordan is surprised ...
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...is proposterous. The pity is unnecessary in that playing the role of a man is actually to her benefit in the male dominant world she lives in. If she lived a life like Maria does, she would certainly not be happy, or live up to her potential as a fighter in these missions.
Maria does have some brains and is not entirely an object, and Pilar becomes jealous of Maria on several occasions, which makes their characters more complex, but the main male characters of the book certainly have more facets to their personalities. Maria and Pilar don’t really have secrets from the reader, and if they started out with one, it was revealed quickly. Because there are only two women in the book, one might have thought that they would have represented all women, but their characters are so distinct that it is hard to see that as the case. It is possible that Hemingway himself has a biased against women, but in a book such as For Whom the Bell Tolls in which a war takes place, perhaps it was the fact that in general women participate in battles like these less frequently. It could be simply a case of statistics rather that trying to prove a point, or Hemingway’s biase.
Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without
The novel brings to life their struggles, triumphs, and search for self. None of these are more evident than in the character Pilar Puente. Pilar begins the story as simply a child longing for home, but evolves into so much more. From the beginning, Pilar shows to be a girl who simply wants to belong. This desire for belonging is only strengthened by her deep love for her distant grandmother and resentment for her mother. However, by the end of the novel, Pilar is able to find her true self. Through her long sought-after trip to Cuba, Pilar finally realizes her identity. Her entire life had been leading her to the truth; Pilar was an American, one who would never let go of her Cuban
... are the “weaker, purer, more virtuous sex” (10), however, in this poem, Lady Maria is the more aggressive, imploring, suggestive and outspoken one. Humility is not her goal here: there is a play on the word “rule” (16) where in Lady Maria is pointing out the hypocrisy in the rules in order to establish a relationship in which she is the one who rules.
Assadnassab, Sara. "Hemingway´s Depiction of Women in A Farewell to Arms.”. http://epubl.ltu.se/1402-1773/2005/117/LTU-CUPP-05117-SE.pdf (accessed April 17, 2013).
Above all, Hemingway wants to make the reader understand how one person’s selfishness and needs can manage to manipulate another one by pretending to care. He also proves how women at times can be easily influenced by the people they love. They are tricked into believing they are everything to them. He shows a couple’s different point of views and their inability to understand and listen one another. For the most part, Hemingway send the message that everything is possible. A woman does not need a man’s approval for anything. Women are successful, strong and can overcome the biggest things in life.
According to “The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language”, the word “feminity” is defined as “the quality or condition of being feminine or a characteristic or trait traditionally held to be female.” Further speaking, feminity is formed by various socially-defined and biologically-created gender roles played by women influenced by a number of social and cultural factors. For example, the traditional gender roles of women include nurturer, birth giver, homemaker and caregiver. However, marked by a series of women's rights movements starting from the 19th century, women’s gender roles, as well as the ways how society and men perceive women, have been largely changed. This significant change, described as a process of female awakening, was widely reflected in many contemporary literature works. This essay will specifically focus on the construction of feminity in two short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway and “The Stoy of an Hour” by Kate Chopin through examining how the authors define “feminity” in their treatment of female characters.
“There can be many reason for animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed, or under control of others. Some who are cruel to animals copy acts what they have seen or that have been done to them, others see harming an animal as a safe way to get revenge against--or threaten-- someone who cares about that animal”. (“Animal… Statistics”) Concerns towards abusing animals have gone up in the past. Although there are not many cases on animal abuse, many have occurred. Abusers are charged with Criminal Animal Abuse and then sentenced to life in prison. Some animals that are physically abused are sometimes rescued by Animal Control, and are taken it to an animal shelter. However, many shelters have not had the space to keep the animals so the workers would have to put them down (Carol Roach). Researchers have shown that the main animals getting abused are dogs, chickens, horses, and livestock (“Animal...
Misogyny is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the hatred and lack of respect of women. Hemingway appeared to have a misogynistic view of females, and that was evident in his writing. One of his novels, MEN WITHOUT WOMEN, contains quite a few female characters that are portrayed in a negative manner. Although these women were distinctly different, they all shared some common aspects. The following will explore the mistreatment of three of these women. I will analyze the similarities of each of these women, and I will attempt to bring to light how they are terribly treated. My claims will be backed up by thorough descriptions of the treatment of each woman,
Throughout the 20th century there were many influential pieces of literature that would not only tell a story or teach a lesson, but also let the reader into the author’s world. Allowing the reader to view both the positives and negatives in an author. Ernest Hemingway was one of these influential authors. Suffering through most of his life due to a disturbingly scarring childhood, he expresses his intense mental and emotional insecurities through subtle metaphors that bluntly show problems with commitment to women and proving his masculinity to others.
Ernest Hemingway is today known as one of the most influential American authors of the 20th century. This man, with immense repute in the worlds of not only literature, but also in sportsmanship, has cast a shadow of control and impact over the works and lifestyles of enumerable modern authors and journalists. To deny his clear mastery over the English language would be a malign comparable to that of discrediting Orwell or Faulkner. The influence of the enigma that is Ernest Hemingway will continue to be shown in works emulating his punctual, blunt writing style for years to come.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises is an interesting piece of literature that has been analyzed and reviewed by many scholars throughout the years. Something that is often brought to attention are the gender roles. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway makes a stronger woman and a more feminine man, this is something that had not yet been seen in literature. A few authors had made female and male characters in their novels that were different than the norm, but none to the extreme of Hemmingway. In Hemingway’s novel, his female character, Brett, does not care about obeying the societal gender role set forth for her during the time period she lives.
Women were represented in different ways throughout the movie Metropolis, but the underlying theme was women were seen as purely sexual. Maria was seen as the nurturer in the film, but also as a sexual object. She was the one who preached for peace and harmony down in the catacombs to the workers. Maria was also the nurturing maternal figure that was seen walking into the garden with all of the poor children. The vamp, on the other hand, was portrayed blatantly as a sexual object. This whole movie was seen through the eyes of the male perspective, which usually portrays women as sexual objects, and robs them of any identity. Lang shows Frederson as having fear of femininity which involves women's emotion and nurturing.
Abuse towards animals is recognized by many in the commercials shown on television, including the Sarah McLaughlin song and the pictures of animals starved and beaten. The commercials are shown quite regularly and give viewers a small look into the world of animal cruelty. What the commercials do not show, however, are the countless cases of people getting away with violence, as well as the hundreds of thousands of animals whom did not live to make the commercials. Television, radio, and internet ads often depict and portray the lives of animals living in shelters, and ask of the public to donate money each month for the cause. Without a doubt, this is the extent of what many people can say their experience with animal cruelty consists of: pictures and short video clips of half-dead dogs and cats left to die in over-crowded housing.
According to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty), the first humane organization, founded in 1866, in the Western Hemisphere that works to rescue animals from abuse and pass humane laws, the definition of animal cruelty is “acts of violence or neglect perpetrated against animals.” This definition is presented in a paper written by Learning To Give, an organization that teaches children to give back, take voluntary citizen action, and engage civilly and presents it through a philanthropist approach. Animal cruelty is an atrocious act that needs to be understood and not undermined. It is easy to push something to the back of our minds and put ourselves in denial when the issue is not right in front of our faces. Many of us know animal cruelty exists, but how many of us know how prevalent it is? Acknowledgement of the problem is the only way we can begin to solve it.
Every year, the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) takes in close to 50,000 reports of animal mistreatment in Australia and about 150,000 in England and in Wales (RSPCA, 2013). However, these figures do not include the cases when mistreatment is not reported which, according to the RSPCA, happens almost as often as the ones recorded (RSPCA, 2013). Maltreatment occurs when an animal is tormented or harmed, imprisoned or transported from one place to another in a manner that risks their well-being and health. Killing them in a non-humane way, not providing them with the correct food, not taking care of them or the illness and injuries they may have, and not providing them with proper shelter or adequate living circumstances are also forms of cruelty. In 2013 the RSPCA investigated 4,000 more cases in Australia than in the previous year; statistics also show that in the United Kingdom, on average, every thirty seconds someone dials the Organization’s 24-hour cruelty line seeking for help (RSPCA, 2013). This indicates that animal mistreatment is a growing issue that has effects not only on the victims, but also on the perpetrator, the people involved in rescuing and saving the animals’ life, and every other individual that gets touched by their stories. Thus, considering that abusing animals is against our moral and ethical obligation of protecting our planet and the forms of life in it, including animal life, it is an issue that is happening considerably often. However, thankfully for the animals, there are also organizations and laws opposing and fighting against animal cruelty to save the victims and to put an end to it. Global organizations such as the RSPCA, ALDF, PETA, WSPA, among other...