Gertrude Stein And Monique Truong's The Book Of Salt And Americanah

In the novels The Book of Salt and Americanah the patriarchal system of oppression that has held constant is challenged in a variety of ways. The Book of Salt written by Monique Truong, is narrated by Bình a Vietnamese immigrant who was essentially exiled from his country due to his sexuality, he recounts his life as a servant for the famous American writer Gertrude Stein and the struggles that he faced. The way that he speaks about Gertrude Stein in the novel indicates that she is an independent woman, who does not rely on the company or finances of a man. In “The Book of Salt” Gertrude Stein is a prominent figure in society and is self-supporting through her success in her career and abstains from the traditional role of housewife that was …show more content…
Their agency was given to them based on their social economic status and their adoption of American values. Gertrude Stein was a white American woman, and an American value is an education which often it is synonymous with success and associated with masculinity. Referring to Gertrude Stein’s stance on wives, “Wives are not geniuses” (Truong 148). While The Book of Salt takes place in the early 1900s, when not many women were going to college, education has always been a foundation of success. Additionally, Stein is an extremely progressive woman who considers herself to be modern and of modern ideals. “The modern world is without limits, she (Gertrude Stein) tells Miss Toklas, so the modern story must accommodate the possibilities…” (28). Ifemelu on the other hand was born into a middle-class family where she was allotted an education and the opportunity to go to America to further her education and therefore her success. Her time spent in America instilled her with western values such as independence and the important of an education. Ifemelu acknowledges the differences that her social economic status took part in her success and ability to go to America. Ifemelu recounts a time with a potential employer where “Ifemelu would also come to learn that, for Kimberly, the poor were blameless. Poverty was a gleaming thing; she could not conceive of poor people being vicious or nasty because their …show more content…
Ifemelu and Gertrude Stein challenge the sex-roles of the women. According to society, women are meant to be subordinate to men and fulfill a life of motherhood. It is often seen as emasculating to men if in a relationship the woman is more successful than the man. It is interesting to note that there is no feminine terminology or equivalent for emasculate. This is because in the man and woman binary, man is considered to the dominant force. Ifemelu and Gertrude Stein are interesting chracters because they are the complete opposite of the domineering group of people that hold true power, but yet they manage to exert power in their own way. Ifemelu is an African woman who emigrates to America to further develop of her education; she finds financial success as a writer and also engages in a relationship where she was an equal to her spouse. Gertrude Stein on the other hand was an American born woman, to a middle class white family. She does not, and will never, face the same struggles as Ifemelu because of her race and socio economic status. However, she receives criticism from those in her environment because of her sexuality, Bình recalls “You and Miss Toklas are the only circus act in town. And… I am the...sideshow freak” (Truong 142(. Bình is referring to the fact that Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas are criticized for