Comparison Of Encounter And Some People Are Meant To Live Alone

The general population of society expects individuals to hide their true feelings. Gender roles play an important part of social expectations. Two authors that demonstrate the difference of social outlooks are Marie Therese Colimon in her poem “Encounter” and Frank Collymore in “Some People are Meant to Live Alone.” These authors use various types of literary elements to demonstrate the world assumptions for either a male or female. Marie Therese Colimon discusses from a woman’s perspective how we truly feel internally, while Frank Collymore discusses from a male perspective how a man can be forced to their limits because of social assumptions. From youth to adolescence appropriate gender roles are given according to the view of …show more content…
Marie Therese Colimon is a female poem writer who wrote “Encounter.” In this poem she uses the literary element imagery to discuss how an individual, preferably a woman is acting when she runs into someone they knew very closely and she neglects to tell the other individual how she truly feels internally. The form of imagery that is being represented by the author is used to express the emotional and complicated role of a female. For example, in the poem Marie portrays a conversation to show the imagery of gender roles of a female being caring, vulnerable, and emotional. One quote that represents the gender role of social outlook and imagery is “ Listen to that tune from the house opposite, then we would each other go off across the city, carrying in our hearts, full with silent sobs.” In this quote, social expectations of gender role shows a female figure who is emotional, carrying all her feelings and regrets with her not knowing if the other person may feel the same. This is a typical gender view society has had on female figures for decades. Societal perception of female figures makes it difficult for a woman to be seen equal or taken seriously. Another quote that perceives gender roles differently is, “ The bitter burden of unspoken words, And the empty pride of having kept our pain” is a quote perceiving a woman as someone who is complicated, emotional, and thinking excessively. This woman is considered complicated to society because she is not showing or letting the other person know how she feels but yet she assumes the other individuals has the same emotional connection felt. She walked away wanting more out of that conversation, she was not satisfied, and that’s how social expectations views a woman; a female that is never satisfied with what she