Women’s Independence
Women’s dependence on men is an obstacle for them to overcome if they want to be independent and have agency in their own lives. This is an issue which is addressed in both Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina and Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine. Each novel features female characters whose dependence on men hurts them. These women strive to be independent, though some are more successful at achieving this goal that others.
In Bastard out of Carolina Bone and Anney and are both negatively impacted by Anney’s dependence on men. Bone is still a child, so she depends on her parents for financial and emotional support, but Anney, barely more than a child herself, is dependent on the men in her life for financial security. She …show more content…
When Anney walks in on Glen beating Bone with his belt she asks what Bone did to provoke the punishment, and Glen says, “She told me she hated me…told me I would never be her daddy. And I went crazy, Anney. I just went crazy. Do you know? Do you understand how much I love you all, love her?” (Allison 107). This statement, in conjunction with Bone’s desire to truly belong to her family, increased not only her dependence on Glen but also her obedience. Wanting to avoid the abuse and be accepted, she tries to behave better at home and spends more time out of the house after school.
After Anney discovers the full extent of Glen’s abuse she removes Bone and Reese from their home and takes them to Alma’s (Allison 115). Glen turns the tables on Anney and makes it seem like he is unable to live without her, convincing her to come back home to him (Allison 117). This pulls her back into his cycle of abuse by convincing her that she actually does have power in their …show more content…
Lillian teaches her about life in American. She gives Jasmine and some other young women the tools necessary for assimilating, “Lillian taught us all to cook hamburgers and roasts, to clean toilets with cleansers that smelled sweeter that flowers, and to scrub pots and pans with pre-soaped balls of steel wool instead of ashes and lemon rinds, so we could hire ourselves out as domestic” (Mukherjee 134). While Jasmine is dependent on Lillian for awhile, she quickly learns how to take care of herself and she sets off to New York City.
In New York Jasmine lives with Dave Vadhera and his family. Jasmine helps to take care of his elderly parents. Because she has no freedom, Jasmine feels that she is “spiraling into depression behind the fortress of of Punjabiness” (Mukherjee 148). Knowing that she lacks the resources to take of herself, Jasmine calls Lillian Gordon’s daughter. She arranges for Jasmine to meet Taylor and Wylie. They are a couple who hire Jasmine to be a nanny for their daughter,
Women’s dependence on men is an obstacle for them to overcome if they want to be independent and have agency in their own lives. This is an issue which is addressed in both Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina and Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine. Each novel features female characters whose dependence on men hurts them. These women strive to be independent, though some are more successful at achieving this goal that others.
In Bastard out of Carolina Bone and Anney and are both negatively impacted by Anney’s dependence on men. Bone is still a child, so she depends on her parents for financial and emotional support, but Anney, barely more than a child herself, is dependent on the men in her life for financial security. She …show more content…
When Anney walks in on Glen beating Bone with his belt she asks what Bone did to provoke the punishment, and Glen says, “She told me she hated me…told me I would never be her daddy. And I went crazy, Anney. I just went crazy. Do you know? Do you understand how much I love you all, love her?” (Allison 107). This statement, in conjunction with Bone’s desire to truly belong to her family, increased not only her dependence on Glen but also her obedience. Wanting to avoid the abuse and be accepted, she tries to behave better at home and spends more time out of the house after school.
After Anney discovers the full extent of Glen’s abuse she removes Bone and Reese from their home and takes them to Alma’s (Allison 115). Glen turns the tables on Anney and makes it seem like he is unable to live without her, convincing her to come back home to him (Allison 117). This pulls her back into his cycle of abuse by convincing her that she actually does have power in their …show more content…
Lillian teaches her about life in American. She gives Jasmine and some other young women the tools necessary for assimilating, “Lillian taught us all to cook hamburgers and roasts, to clean toilets with cleansers that smelled sweeter that flowers, and to scrub pots and pans with pre-soaped balls of steel wool instead of ashes and lemon rinds, so we could hire ourselves out as domestic” (Mukherjee 134). While Jasmine is dependent on Lillian for awhile, she quickly learns how to take care of herself and she sets off to New York City.
In New York Jasmine lives with Dave Vadhera and his family. Jasmine helps to take care of his elderly parents. Because she has no freedom, Jasmine feels that she is “spiraling into depression behind the fortress of of Punjabiness” (Mukherjee 148). Knowing that she lacks the resources to take of herself, Jasmine calls Lillian Gordon’s daughter. She arranges for Jasmine to meet Taylor and Wylie. They are a couple who hire Jasmine to be a nanny for their daughter,