“There is nothing left for me in this world”
As well as showing her feelings this phrase shows that she has completed everything possible to her, this also emphasises the fact that her life is in many ways very formulaic.
“Looking for a Rain God” is another short piece expressing cultural expectations of women. In this piece it becomes obvious to me that women have a very limited role in life. The piece is based on a small tribe of people, which are desperate for water, as they are facing a situation involving drought. Whilst the men of the families are fighting for their family’s survival the women sit and “wail” in an act of desperation within their shambolic lives.
The women of the families are usually the last to receive any necessary resources, although without their husbands they would in most cases be unable to survive. Unlike “Veronica” the women based within this piece are in many ways unhappy and do not feel fulfilled. Set aside from this point they do still follow the basic outline of culturally stereotypical women at this time, which in this case is to stay at home in aid of caring for their families.
The roles of women in the novel “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck are expressed by the portrayal of one character named as “Curley’s wife” One main factor which firstly expresses a limited role in life for Curley’s wife is based within the fact that she hasn’t received a name, she is known as a possession to her egocentric and obdurate husband “Curley”.
Curley’s wife lives an isolated, lonely, poignant and low-key life in which she is treated as one of Curley’s achievements which he can be proud of. Her overall role within the novel is to look after Curley and to uphold his pride.
As a result of her isolation she acts as a “floozy”, either manipulating people of behaving flirtatiously. Curley’s wife also follows the broad outline of stereotypical women, as her role is low-key and to act as a possession. In Curley’s views she is an achievement which he can be dominant towards, which has not real importance in life.
Although Curley’s wife’s appearance and attitude appears to be a “floozy” and emphasises that she is manipulative and selfish, this is due to her restrictions in life. The overall outcome of her life is very poignant although her destitute lifestyle expresses the mitigating reason for this.
The cultural expectations of women have been expressed through a combination of salient factors within each of the pieces summarised. The stereotypical role involving the caring of families and the pride of husbands is in many ways very poignant, As shown above consequences can involve women being fulfilled as it “Veronica” or unhappy to involve a decrease in character as in “Of Mice and Men”
Overall after exploring cultural roles of women within “Veronica” by Adewale Maja-Pearce, “Looking for a Rain God” by Bessie Head and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck” I can see that there is an overall stereotypical role of women throughout. This role gives women limited opportunities in life and causes them to be isolated. Results of this isolation are varied between cultures. Some of the women within the investigated pieces appear to be fulfilled whereas others appear to be very unhappy leading a dull and poignant life. In conclusion this stereotypical role of women is extremely unfair and should be overruled completely to provide all women with equal opportunities.
