The Three Day Blow Analysis

Feminism has some origins in the 1700s, but started to blossom in the 1960s-1970s. Feminism examines how the world is dominated by men and the expected behaviors of males and females. Women are defined as the difference to men and male values, which meant that their thoughts and ideas were not considered important. In the short story “The Three Day Blow,” two men, Nick and Bill, discuss irrelevant things until they become drunk enough to talk about who was really on their minds, Marge. Marge and Nick recently split up. Bill is trying to convince Nick that he is better off without Marge, but Nick feels differently. Through a feminist lense in, “The Three Day Blow,” males and females are expected to act as their stereotypical gender, even though …show more content…
Although it took Nick to become drunk in order to express his feelings, it shows that Nick still had feelings for Marge, and she was more important to him than Bill thought. When the subject or Marge was first brought up, Bill explained to Nick that “Once a man’s married he’s absolutely bitched.” He further said that men will not have “anything more.” He even said to “fall for them but don’t let them ruin you.” Bill is proving to be very masculine by showing that he was not sensitive and emotional like most typical women are. He did not consider Nick’s feelings, but came to the inaccurate conclusion that women bring men down, and men are stronger without women. In this instance, however, a woman (Marge) seemed to have more power over a man (Nick). Marge is the heart of the conversation and is clearly always on Nick’s mind. He constantly thought towards the end of the story that “He had lost Marge” and that “He might never see her again.” Nick felt lost without Marge. This story took an interesting turn on gender roles. Women usually need men in their life, through the feminist lense, however, Nick was desperate to have Marge back into his life. Marge was nowhere to be found, and the readers can conclude that she was not thinking about Nick while she was …show more content…
Bill felt that men are better off without having a woman to tie them down. Bill was clearly not a “family man” and did not want to see Nick become more family orientated. Bill wanted to fish, watch sports and drink, not care for a family. From Nick’s reaction to his break up with Marge, it is obvious that he is trying to hide the fact that he wants to have a family with Marge. He was devastated when he felt that he had ruined his chance with Marge. He was even upset about how Bill was trying to define their relationship. Bill wanted to know if they were engaged or not, because Marge’s mother told many that they were engage. Nick said that they were not engaged, but they were planning to marry each other. Bill did not see the difference in being engaged or married, while Nick saw a complete difference in the two. Nick was so invested in the relationship that engagement and marriage were separate for him. Nick made a big deal however, he could not put the words to why it meant so much to him “I don’t know. There’s a difference.” Furthermore, towards the end of the story, Nick still had hope that he and Marge would reunite again. Bill encouraged Nick to “not think about it” or “he might get back into it again.” To this, Nick was relieved as he now understood that the break up was not absolute. He still has a chance to move forward in the