Private Eye V. I. Warshawski as the Second Marlowe
Traditionally, society sets up a norm of how a person should handle their duties creating gender identities. Tradition comes to play with the aspect of how females and males should conform to these identities. This limits women’s perspective on themselves because society habitually views women doing domestic chores such as making food in the kitchen, cleaning, and taking care of people. It creates gender expectations and people conform to this notion to some amount even in modern households. However, Sara Paretsky’s novel Indemnity Only, liberates feminine terrain with the main character Vicky Warshawski by showing how she isn’t restricted by these norms and instead uses them as one of her …show more content…
Warshawski is not intimidated by violence that comes with her job of being a detective. This is shown after she was kidnaped by Earl and his gang member and was beaten up in order to scare her off the case (Paretsky 72). She had a black eye on her face which is similar to violence that male detective Phillip Marlowe faced when he was beaten up during his investigation (Chandler 83). Although she was beaten up, she still continued on with the case and was not affected by threats. V.I. Warshawski uses her brains and words to her own advantage during the confrontation between her and the insurance fraud Masters. She manipulates the situation by saying to one of Earl Gang member Tony “you big he-men really impress the shit out of me. Are you telling me Tony's going to rape that girl on your command? … He can't get it up, never could…I braced my hands on the couch at my sides as I spoke. Tony turned crimson and gave a primitive shriek in the back of his throat...now! I yelled, and jumped” (Paretsky 265). V.I. Warshawski cleverly disarms the bad guys and broke one man’s arm. This shows her breaking from the stereotypes of how a female is considered weak and cannot do a man job by showing off her Wonder Women fist of …show more content…
Warshawski that differs from male detective novels. The similarities between them are the approach to introduce their character’s environment. Paretsky uses the basic layout of a detective novel and changes it with a female detective to show that women are capable of more than what is perceived of them according to society. V.I. Warshawski challenges traditional social norms and is a true feminist with her attitude and actions. Warshawski is not intimidated by violence that comes with her job of being a detective. She is the female version of Philip Marlowe but constructed her own identity with her feminist ideas. V.I. believes that women should have the freedom to make their own choices. She also empowers and encourages other women which is clearly shown when she comes into contact with Anita McGraw and Jill
Traditionally, society sets up a norm of how a person should handle their duties creating gender identities. Tradition comes to play with the aspect of how females and males should conform to these identities. This limits women’s perspective on themselves because society habitually views women doing domestic chores such as making food in the kitchen, cleaning, and taking care of people. It creates gender expectations and people conform to this notion to some amount even in modern households. However, Sara Paretsky’s novel Indemnity Only, liberates feminine terrain with the main character Vicky Warshawski by showing how she isn’t restricted by these norms and instead uses them as one of her …show more content…
Warshawski is not intimidated by violence that comes with her job of being a detective. This is shown after she was kidnaped by Earl and his gang member and was beaten up in order to scare her off the case (Paretsky 72). She had a black eye on her face which is similar to violence that male detective Phillip Marlowe faced when he was beaten up during his investigation (Chandler 83). Although she was beaten up, she still continued on with the case and was not affected by threats. V.I. Warshawski uses her brains and words to her own advantage during the confrontation between her and the insurance fraud Masters. She manipulates the situation by saying to one of Earl Gang member Tony “you big he-men really impress the shit out of me. Are you telling me Tony's going to rape that girl on your command? … He can't get it up, never could…I braced my hands on the couch at my sides as I spoke. Tony turned crimson and gave a primitive shriek in the back of his throat...now! I yelled, and jumped” (Paretsky 265). V.I. Warshawski cleverly disarms the bad guys and broke one man’s arm. This shows her breaking from the stereotypes of how a female is considered weak and cannot do a man job by showing off her Wonder Women fist of …show more content…
Warshawski that differs from male detective novels. The similarities between them are the approach to introduce their character’s environment. Paretsky uses the basic layout of a detective novel and changes it with a female detective to show that women are capable of more than what is perceived of them according to society. V.I. Warshawski challenges traditional social norms and is a true feminist with her attitude and actions. Warshawski is not intimidated by violence that comes with her job of being a detective. She is the female version of Philip Marlowe but constructed her own identity with her feminist ideas. V.I. believes that women should have the freedom to make their own choices. She also empowers and encourages other women which is clearly shown when she comes into contact with Anita McGraw and Jill