Animal Dreams By Barbara Kingsolver: An Analysis

Throughout history, many cultures have seen women’s primary role as the reproducer and caregiver. What happens when a woman doesn’t fit this mold of dutiful wife and mother? Barbara Kingsolver analyzes this circumstance in her novel Animal Dreams through her childless and unwed protagonist in the fictional town of Grace. Kingsolver’s works tend to critique the accepted and expected roles of women in society and evaluates the previously endorsed notion that women’s worth lies in their fertility and femininity. Placed in an era in which women’s roles were beginning to come further into question, Kingsolver 's Animal Dreams highlights the life of Cosima “Codi” Noline- a character who isn’t fully aware or conscious of her own changing views. Through this character, a connection can be made to its readers who are just beginning this change of becoming more critical of of the societal norms that many are brought up on. The development of Codi’s evolving role also echoes the similar metamorphosis of Kingsolver herself (Litovitz). Litovitz reveals the connection between the author and character by stating that “[Kingsolver] was a tall, skinny, flat-chested girl living in a community where reproductive abilities were the criteria for evaluating women.” Instating her own experience into her character, Kingsolver establishes a concrete juxtaposition between Codi Noline and the fictional …show more content…
While she supports feminist values of re-evaluating the roles which women were given, Kingsolver manages to simultaneously give insight to the impact of having or lacking the opportunity to experience motherhood through her characters in Animal Dreams. Through her critiques of American culture and women’s roles within, Kingsolver brings into to question the validity of the acceptance of leaving one’s value in fertility and