After reading Dimension by Alice Munro I must admit that I had some mixed feelings. I was most confused on the character Doree. She seemed to me to be fitting the typical stereotype of a woman who is being beaten but can't seem to get up enough courage to leave her abusive husband. This character mold always irritates me. I completely understand that a lot of times this situation of not leaving the husband seems to happen, but at the same time I would like to see a stronger woman presented in some of the novels telling a story like this. Where is the woman who hits back? Where is the woman who after the first slap immediately packs up and leaves? Why do we always tend to read about these frail women who stay and never get even?
Even though Doree did eventually leave him for good it was not by choice but by law. She left him due to the fact that she had to because her husband was insane and went to jail. And to make Doree seem even weaker the author chooses to make her character continually visit him fully knowing what he has done to her family.
Of course, there are some cases when fighting back may not be and option. However, this is fiction we are reading so I ask the authors to please, just make it up. Give me a women character with enough balls to leave and not stand for the abuse. Maybe if some authors would involve characters like that then it could inspire other real life women in the real life situation to follow after that character and leave.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
You've got a point there, and it's one that I've noticed over the years as well, not just in books but in movies as well. Women are often depicted as helpless, and it would be nice to see some stronger women characters who stand up for themselves and, as in this case, for their children who have no voice of their own.
I never thought that Lloyd was abusing her. Maybe I missed something, but I understood them to be happily married with children and a couple arguments here and there, but I never picked up on actual assault and battery in the story. If you were referring to abusive as merely getting into an argument, I feel sorry for the way you feel. Relationships (even some of the seemingly best ones) will inevitably have disagreements because everyone is an individual and has their own beliefs/values. I honestly thought that they had a recurring argument about something stupid and it wasn't even that intense. Again though, I could have missed it. Please refer me to the specific text because I feel ill-informed.
Post a Comment