From All the Women Caught in a Flaring Light :: Gay Lesbian

From All the Women Caught in a Flaring Light Imagine a big room of women doing anything,playing cards, having a meeting, the rattle of paper or coffee cups or chairs pushed back,the loud and quiet murmur of their voices, women leaning their heads together. If we leaned in at the door and I said, Those women are mothers, you wouldn’t be surprised, except at me for pointing out the obvious fact. Women are mothers, aren’t they? So obvious. For My Daughter Who Is Not Mine When all the women in my life are mothers, what else can I aspire to be? Aren’t motherhood and womanhood so intricately interwoven so as to run into one another, to become one another? What kind of woman are you if you can’t add to the discussions in the doctor office waiting rooms about nursing this child or that through this malady or that? What kind of woman are you if you can’t re-tell the story of labor and delivery, recounting the hours, the pain, the excess or lack of your child’s hairiness over a church picnic while eating cold fried chicken and coleslaw? What kind of woman are you if you can’t feel the contradiction between the satisfaction of a job well done and the sorrow at a loss for being necessary when your child moves away from home? What else could I be but a mother? So, I am a mother, and yet am also not one, because I can tell these stories about my child with only partial knowledge. I am a non-biological mother of a child with tw o mothers, making my position ambiguous when I share my parenting stories publicly; though, at home, when Aedin calls out â€Å"Momma,† I’m all too happy to be the one she’s calling. The most common question we hear in public is â€Å"who’s the mother?† as people look back and forth between Rachel and me, obviously confused. It’s been asked matter-of-factly by doctors for their charts, shyly by new acquaintances out of curiosity, brazenly by total strangers out of nosiness, and sometimes not even spoken, but implied by a wide range of people knitting their brows in our direction in public places. When I’m out alone with Aedin, no one asks this question; I’m sure Rachel has the same experience. Now that Aedin is verbal, she answers based upon how the person asks it; since I’m her Momma and Rachel is her Mommy, she answers accordingly, but she only looks at them with confusion if they use an ambiguous word such as Mom or Mother.

A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time By Shashi Deshpande. Feminist Press at the CUNY, 1999. Reviewed by Sudha S. Balagopal I first read a A Matter of Time a few years ago, when it was published in India. The book made a deep impression on me, with its sensitive story of rebuilding and hope. After its more recent release in the US, I read it again, enjoying it even more. Very few books can lay claim to that fact for me. In A Matter of Time, a father, named Gopal, with three almost-grown girls, decides he has had enough of marriage and its binding ties, and walks out on his family. In a culture where marriage, to many, is the be-all and end-all of existence, where responsibilities outweigh desires, this expression to be free of all bondage in itself is strange and different to say the least (unless of course, it is for spiritual reasons). Sumi, Gopal’s wife, and his three daughters, seek shelter with her parents. Coincidentally, Sumi's parents themselves have a relationship that is more than strained. They are husband and wife in name only, inhabiting the same house with virtually no communication between the two of them. The three girls, Aru, Charu and Seema are bewildered and adrift. They all want normalcy. But what is normalcy once a father has walked out on his family? Sumi, the mother, is extraordinarily collected, to the point of indifference. How they learn to cope with this dislocation is the story that Deshpande spins for her readers. Ofcourse this is not the only story-it is also the story of all the families that are intimately linked to Sumi's. The one problem I had with A Matter of Time was the abrupt introduction of characters. Deshpande does not describe how some of the people are related to the main character as they come into the picture. In the beginning, I had a problem sorting out the various relationships. And in this I do not mean the central family of Sumi, Gopal and their three daughters. It is all the other family members: the cousins, their children, Gopal’s nephew and his wife and their children, the grandparents’ tenants and a host of others. It is said in India that when you marry a man you marry his whole family. It is the same with Deshpande’s book, where the reader is forced to accept Sumi and her entire clan, including the complex network of her relatives and well-wishers. That fact apart, Deshpande’s characters develop as you read on. The inner workings of a family are examined so clearly, making me see my own family in many parts of the book. The book is also a mirror of a society in transition. The change in Indian society is skillfully elaborated through the different generations in this book; the grandmother Kalyani who is not really educated, Sumi who is educated but doesn’t work outside the home, Sumi’s sister Premi who is a successful doctor, and the young girls Aru, Charu and Seema, who all aspire for careers and independence. The old and the new co-exist in a family that is modern, but with certain old values. With a style that is lilting and gentle, Deshpande draws us into an intricate web of family relationships, without passing judgement on any other characters' deeds. For the reader, however, there is no escaping the clutches of emotion or feeling.

Literary Analysis Of The Fall - 1454 Words

La Chute translated The Fall, was published in 1956 by Albert Camus . The Fall is Camus’ last completed novel according to the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Fall can be seen as complex. At times, interpreting and analyzing can be difficult to some when attempting to understand the novel. However, according to Referential Anxiety in Contemporary French Fiction by David R. Ellison, there is no right or wrong way to interpret The Fall because Camus never had the chance to explain it himself. David R. Ellison argues that It seems as if no real progress has been made in deciphering the text’s central enigmas due to this. For the reader, this is good or bad news. The bad news is that no one can tell you with any real authority exactly how to†¦show more content†¦In particular the flesh, matter, the physical in short, which disconcerts or discourages so many men in love or in solitude, without enslaving me, brought me steady joys. I was made to have a body†¦ To tell the truth, just from being so fully and simply a man, I looked upon myself as something of a superman† (camus28). As the narrator, Clamence, tells the story of his fall from ‘Eden’ (Paris) and his exile to the ‘hell’ of Amsterdam, Clamence, explains his life and exile in Amsterdam to readers while speaking to an unknown person at a bar. Clarence’s’ highly critical view of himself and life reflect a loss of faith in human nature and justice. Camus chosen profession for Clamence as a lawyer draws attention to the narrator s views, which center on justice and morality. This all changes when Clarence’s is walking home one evening when he notices a women on a bridge preparing to commit suicide. Clarence chooses not to interfere instead he continues on his way without interrupting the women. Once Clamence was given the opportunity to risk his life to save another, he was forced to realize the real motive for all of his actions. He didn’t act out of virtue; he acted out of a selfish desire to obtain the accolades of society. (152 Robertson) Clamen ce charitable actions, assisting widows and orphans, giving to the poor and helping blindShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis Of The Fall In The House Of Usher884 Words   |  4 PagesDeep Into the Mind of Fear: Literary Analysis â€Å"...Madman!- he sprung to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul†(Poe 277). The short stories, The Fall in the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe, and The Minister’s Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne explore fear in a deeper context. Fear is a very common emotion. Fear is the result of encounters with the unknown. The Fall in the House of Usher, shows a very anxious Roderick Usher sending for a childhoodRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Okonkwos Things Fall Apart903 Words   |  4 PagesEA 3.2 Literary Analysis: character analysis Each individual have a different view on others culture that they have experienced as they come and go. Some may love the idea of a new civilization, meanwhile there are some who completely think the opposite. For one, Nwoye was someone who was different apart from the people in the village. He did not judge quickly like Okonkwo instead he observed and heard. As Nwoye became more attentive with the word the missionaries were sharing and went to churchRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Things Fall Apart Themes1246 Words   |  5 PagesLiterary Analysis of Things Fall Apart Themes Masculinity â€Å"Okonkwo ruled his household with a heavy hand. His wives, especially the youngest, lived in perpetual fear of his fiery temper† (Achebe 13). Okonkwo is the definition of hypermasculinity. As someone who condemns all things feminine, he never learned how to express his feelings, leading to him lashing out in violence instead. It is important to note his treatment of the women in his life as well. Okonkwo’s poor, often times abusive relationshipRead MoreThings Fall Apart Literary Analysis Essay781 Words   |  4 PagesEA 3.2 Literary Analysis: character analysis Many people have their own culture, wouldn’t you agree? Some feel more strongly about their culture than others. Culture is something that is a large part in everyone’s life. It determines who you are and how you handle situations. When two cultures interact with each other and start mixing up, it results in something called a cultural collision. A cultural collision can be seen as a good thing or it can become something negative within both cultures.Read MoreFall of the House of Usher Literary Analysis Essay1325 Words   |  6 PagesLiterary Analysis As with many of Edgar Allan Poes pieces, The Fall of the House of Usher falls within the definition of American Gothic Literature. According to Prentice Hall Literature, American Gothic Literature is characterized by a bleak or remote setting, macabre or violent incidents, characters being in psychological or physical torment, or a supernatural or otherworldly involvement (311). A story containing these attributes can result in a very frightening or morbid read. In all probabilityRead MoreLiterary Analysis of Things Fall Apart Essay778 Words   |  4 PagesIn Things Fall Apart the Igbo society is dominated by gender roles. Husbands beat their wives just for bringing food a few minutes late. Women are completely discriminated against. In fact, it is an insult to call a man an agbala (a woman). To men, women exist in a world in which they are to be seen not heard, coming and going, with mounds of foofoo, pots of water, market baskets, fetching kola, being scolded and beaten before the y disappear behind the huts of their compound (Mezu 2). However,Read MoreThe Fall Of The House Of Usher - Literary Analysis Essay1196 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The Fall Of the House Of Usher is a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe in 1839. The short story is complexly written, with challenging themes such as identity and fear. Poe utilises many elements of the Gothic Tradition such as setting and supernatural elements to create a more mysterious story, and uses language to his advantage, employing adjective filled descriptions of literal elements that also serve as metaphors for other parts of the story. In The Fall Of The House of Usher, Poe exploresRead MoreLiterary Analysis of Poes The Fall of the House of Usher Essay1082 Words   |  5 Pagesachieve this feat. His story The Fall of the House of Usher is centred around the central idea of the impact of fear on ones life. His parable talks about facing your fears and the self-destruction that can come by allowing fear to run your life. Through his Gothic romantic style of writing, Poe includes elements such as a dark atmosphere, a mysterious setting, and symbolic characters in order to highlight the power and effect of fear on ones life. The Fall of the House of Usher addresses theRead MoreEssay about Things Fall Apart Literary Analysis662 Words   |  3 PagesThings Fall Apart Analysis In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe employs imagery, symbolism, and themes to reveal the story of Okonkwo. Throughout the novel he weaves in these things to really tell us the tale. With imagery, Achebe really is able to set the setting and the feel of the scene even deeper. The drums rose to a frenzy. The people surged forward. The young men who kept order flew around, waving their palm fronds. Old men nodded to the beat of the drums and remembered the days whenRead MoreFeminist Literary Analysis in Chinu Acebes Thing Falls Apart670 Words   |  3 Pagesparticular Things Fall Apart, by Achebe portrays Igbo Society and examines masculinity from an African perspective. Throughout the novel, women were voiceless and struggled against injustice; which is set in the era of the first wave feminism. As most are aware, this period of history highlights the inequalities between females and males. A topic that has been analyzed by Chinu Acebe, Levine Nett, J.Case Tompkins, and other feminist theorists. Thus, this paper argues that feminist literary theory is a