English
A rose for Emily is the story of a young woman called Emily. She lives with her father and he plays a very big part in her life. For example she will not get married to her man unless her father approves. When he dies she gets engaged to a man that society considers a lesser man. She later murders him under mysterious circumstances. Sweat is the story of a woman called Dalia. She is married to a man called Sykes. He is very abusive and beats Dalia up. She gets fed up and plans to leave him. He plots to kill her before she does. He plans to use a rattle snake to kill her but the snake turns on him and kills him.
Gender issues have been an integral part of mainstream life since time immemorial. Gender issues have been the cause of controversies and heated debates and arguments for a very long time. With each passing day there is a new gender related issue on the rise that has to be addressed. It thus comes as no surprise that in both a rose for Emily by Faulkner and sweat by Huston gender stands out as a main theme and a very important aspect in the lives of both the antagonists and the protagonists in these two short stories. In both short stories there is emphasis on gender and gender related roles. A key element that stands out is the roles and cultural perceptions attributed to the woman. There are millions and millions of different cultures all over the world. The bottom line in all these cultures is that they all agree on gender related issues. In almost all cultures on the planet earth the male sex is viewed as the superior sex (Giles, p.78). The female sex finds it relegated to the sideline. The female sex is always forced to take a back seat to the male sex and bask in the glory and live in the shadow of the male sex There is absolutely no culture on earth that can claim gender neutrality. All cultures favor the male sex at the expense of the female sex. The following essay uses the two short stories a rose for Emily by Faulkner and sweat by Huston to explore matters gender. The essay explores how the female gender is portrayed in these two short stories. The essay also makes a comparison between the portrayal of the female gender in a rose for Emily by Faulkner and sweat by Huston. The essay also explores how these two short stories serve to fuel the age old cultural stereotype that the female sex is inferior to the male sex and as a result all females must subject themselves to the will of the male sex. In sweat Hurston uses idiomatic dialogue to make the story more understandable and interesting. This is because idiomatic dialogue clearly reveals the setting of the story.
A rose for Emily greatly complicates the role of being a lady. According to the story a lady is subject to judgment by society. This is clear when Emily is judged for choosing what society deems to be a lesser man. This in the story the meaning of a lady is as to the wishes of society.
Another common gender stereotype that serves the interest of the male gender at the expense of the female gender is that females are the property of the prominent males in their lives. In many cultures females are considered a material property (Toolle, p.96). The general cultural stereotype and disposition is that just like any other material property women can be owned by the men in their lives. The role of gender in the Hurston story is clearly it illustrate this stereotype. This stereotype receives critical backing in the story titled sweat. In the short story Delia is a very hard working woman. She is the sole bread winner in her marriage. Her husband has no suitable or sustainable form of employment. The ironic fact is that Delia barely enjoys the fruits of her hard labor. Just like her all her earnings are the property of her husband Sykes. This is clearly evident when Sykes goes to the extent of using Delia’s hard earnings to finance his concubine. This is more tragic than it is sad. Delia works very hard and Sykes reaps al the fruits of her hard labor. He is the primary beneficiary of her labor despite his lack of any tangible form of contribution to the financing of the family. Emily in the short story titled a rose for Emily also furthers the concept of females being viewed as the material property of the men in their lives. Analysis of the relationship between Emily and her father before the death of her father clearly reveal that Emily barely had any autonomy at all. All aspects of her life were under the firm grip of her father. He called all the major shots concerning her life even in situations which required Emily to act independently.
A lot of cultures sanction men beating up their wives as a form of disciplining them for alleged atrocities (Singh, p.51). Though this is persistent especially in Africa the west is also warming up to the concept of men beating up their wives. It has become a common occurrence to hear reports of men smacking their wives or even in extreme cases hurting them badly. Discipline is the sugar coating that society uses to cover up the scourge that is gender based violence. Delia in the short story sweat is a woman not new to gender based violence. According to the story her husband started abusing her as early as two weeks into their marriage. The abuse continued throughout the course of the marriage until the eventual death of her husband under rather bizarre and poetic circumstances. The question thus arises as to why Delia did not just walk away from this relationship. One might ask that since the relationship was abusive from its inception what held Delia back and kept her from leaving this man and finding a better man who would appreciate an cherish her. The answer to this question is very simple, society. Due to the disposition of society with regard to gender violence it is all right for a man to lay his hands on his wife every once in a while. Being beaten up by a spouse does not warrant walking out of a relationship especially one as serious as a marriage, according to society at least. It has reached a point where every person in society thinks that it is okay for a man to lay his hand s on his wife. It is this societal stereotype that keeps women in abusive relationships all over the world. Since society warrants it the women have little to go on in terms of building up a case against an abusive spouse. Women themselves have been brainwashed by this societal stereotype. Some women now think that it is okay for their husbands to abuse them either physically or mentally. These women thus stay in abusive relationships and persevere the effects of living with an abusive spouse for a very long time. Delia perseveres but at some point she finally breaks down. He reaches a point where she cannot take it anymore and decides to leave her husband. The interesting fact is that she did not have to put up with him for so long. She could have left and liberated herself at any point of the relationship but instead chose to stay.
Both short stories sweat and a roe for Emily shed light on matters gender. They especially highlight the plight of the feminine gender even in modern times. They clearly show ho society has placed the male gender on a pedestal and subjugated the feminine gender. As a result of this subjugation females are ever victims of an increasing number of atrocities. It is very important for students to read these stories. This is because they illuminate the issue of gender as it truly is in society.
Works Cited
Faulkner, William, and M. Thomas Inge.A rose for Emily,. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill, 2003. Print.
Gender & society: official publication of Sociologists for Women in Society.. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2007. Print.
Giles, Wenona Mary, and Jennifer Hyndman.Sites of violence gender and conflict zones.Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. Print.
Green, December. Gender violence in Africa: African women's responses. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2009. Print.
Hurston, Zora Neale, and Cheryl A. Wall.Sweat. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2005. Print.
Illich, Ivan. Gender. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004. Print.
McMillan, James F..France and women 1789-1914 gender, society and politics. Taylor & Francis e-Library ed. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.
Singh, SubhashChandra.Gender violence. New Delhi: Serials Publications, 2011. Print.
Toole, Laura L., Jessica R. Schiffman, and Margie L. KiterEdwards.Gender violence: interdisciplinary perspectives. 2nd ed. New York: New York University Press, 2007. Print.
Wykes, Maggie, and KirstyWelsh.Violence, gender and justice. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2009. Print.
