In the literary microcosms
of Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man”, Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif”, and Tennessee
William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, the relationships between female characters
are dynamic and complex. As each narrative
develops, similarities and differences regarding female solidarity or lack
thereof are discernable. In “Petrified
Man”, Leota, Mrs. Fletcher and Mrs. Pike each form one side of a triangle
wherein distrust, insecurity, and envy perpetually collide. In comparison, the relationships between
Maggie, Big Mama, and Mae in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” are rife with
condescension and pretention. In
“Recitatif”, Morrison presents a more emotional account of the relationship
between her main characters, Twyla and Roberta, as they navigate the
encumbrances of systemic racism and the complicated nature of their respective
maternal misgivings. Each of the female
characters in “Petrified…”, “Recitatif”, and “Cat…” share the common struggle
to find empowerment beyond the constructs of the society in which they live while
often refusing, whether deliberately or ignorantly, the sanctuary of
solidarity.
First, the
relationships between Leota, Mrs. Pike, and Mrs. Fletcher in “Petrified Man”
exhibit the exigency for females to maintain appearances for the sake of
bolstering a perceived value. The women are benignly engaging with their familiar Southern
dialect, but as we investigate further the social norm of that era, we find a
much more malignant pathology. Though
the story is set in a charming Southern beauty shop, the undertones of the
grotesque suggest not that we should deny ourselves a decent outward appearance,
but that we shouldn’t wear beauty as a mask to hide our insecurities or satisfy
a patriarchal whim while attempting to convince ourselves it is somehow glamorous.
Oppression, by
definition, is the exercise of
authority or power in a burdensome or unjust manner, but sustaining it requires
convincing the oppressed to believe punishment is deserved for committing no
crimes. Leota, Mrs. Pike, and Mrs.
Fletcher are all trapped beneath the superficiality of a similar
construct. Sadly, back-biting, gossip
and jealousy ensue. This behavior is
central to the dynamic which ultimately prevents the women from feeling safe
with one another. There are conversations
and lamentations of husbands, children, and the petrified man, but because Leota,
Mrs. Fletcher, and Mrs. Pike exist primarily on the surface of themselves, they
become stuck in a cyclical conundrum of missed opportunities for real kinship. Though they are blind to it, the solidarity
they so desperately need is woven into the tapestry of an equalizing subjection. Such a commonality has been the birth of many
a revolution. Decades later this very
concept would fuel a feminist movement throughout the nation wherein women vehemently
sought to shed the idea that pretty faces, beehive hairdos and child bearing
hips are the breadth of our worth.
I am not a
pretty girl.
That is not
what I do.
I ain’t no
damsel in distress,
and I don’t
need to be rescued.
So put me down…
cuz I am not a
maiden fair.
Isn’t there a
kitten stuck up a tree somewhere?
I am not an
angry girl,
but it seems
like I’ve got everyone fooled.
Every time I
say something they find hard to hear,
they chalk it
up to my anger
and never to
their own fear.
just tryin’ to finally come clean,
knowing full well they’d prefer you were dirty….
And smiling….
And what if there are no damsels in distress?
What if I knew that, and I called your bluff?
Don’t you think every kitten figures out how to get down,
whether or not you ever show up?
(Difranco,
Ani. “Not A Pretty Girl”. 1995))
Accordingly, the
women in “Petrified Man” seem intent on convincing each other that they are
adept at exercising strength and independence in their marriages, but scarce
are facts to support these claims. For
example, Mrs. Fletcher asserts that Mr. Fletcher is the type of man who
respects his wife, but she is reluctant to discuss her pregnancy by him. She is incensed that Mrs. Pike has disclosed
this information to everyone at the beauty shop. Similarly, Leota describes her husband with
great pride, but he isn’t necessarily capable of holding down a job. Leota and Mrs. Fletcher seek to create masks
to hide their “ugly” parts; however, those same masks become blindfolds preventing
insight into the probability that their perceived ugly parts are more rooted in
the shortcomings of the men in their lives.
Leota and Mrs. Fletcher are also very enamored with Mrs. Pike’s outward
appearance, and naturally, Leota feels slighted when her infatuation with Mrs.
Pike is not reciprocated. Though the female characters in Welty’s
“Petrified Man” possess many endearing qualities, they have unfortunately
become more accustomed to castigating one another than complimenting one
another which is effectively the antithesis of solidarity.
In comparison, Tennessee
William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” portrays a detailed image of Maggie, a woman with
a seeming desire to challenge the status quo but who remains shackled to the
notion that her ultimate worth lies in whether her husband, Brick, desires
her. She resigns herself again and again
to staying on the proverbial tin roof which is, in her case, a loveless
marriage. As aforementioned, in
“Petrified Man”, Leota and Mrs. Fletcher also occupy their own versions of a
“tin roof” regarding their relationships with their husbands, but they seem not
to know they deserve better. Maggie;
however, is deliberate in her resolve to remain there despite a lack of
reciprocity. This fierceness sets her
apart but also ultimately traps her in the role of the damsel. Maggie the Cat truly wavers between her
plight as a “kitten stuck up a tree” and appointing herself “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. The
difference between the two is simply the illusion of control, and this is how
Maggie has come to reconcile empowerment beneath the constructs of a
patriarchal society in the 1950’s. Her
dichotomous state represents the birth of awareness, the development of
liberated thought, and the progression of full-scale resistance accompanied by
the internal torment of fear and doubt.
Contrary to the
women in “Petrified…”, Maggie’s scant moments of liberation are the cause of
strife in her relationships with Big Mama and Mae. In this case, it is their differences rather
than their similarities which make solidarity difficult to attain. Mae has placed the burden of her self-worth
entirely upon her children while her husband, Gooper, doesn’t seem to have any
interest in her whatsoever. Maggie views
Mae and her children as equally nonsensical as she is torn between feelings of
inadequacy over her own childlessness and the more rational realization of the
absurdity surrounding the idea that because she does not have children, she is
somehow incomplete. Both Gooper and
Brick treat their wives the way Big Daddy treats Big Mama which is, in effect, no
treatment if not patronizing, careless, and rude. Thus, Big Mama exhibits behavior indicative
of her own suffocation beneath a steaming pile of patriarchy when she blames
Maggie’s lack of sexual prowess for Brick’s drinking problem and general
discontent. Maggie is terribly insulted by this which
denotes her awakening to the outrageousness of gender inequality. If Maggie were a bit further along in her
evolution as a liberated woman, she might have put aside her fears and tried to
help Big Mama discover why her thoughts are so skewed on such matters. Therein lies a foundation for true
solidarity.
In contrast, Toni
Morrison presents a more in depth emotional account of psychological hardship in
her portrayal of the relationship between Twyla and Roberta in
“Recitatif”. Unlike the female
characters in “Petrified Man” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Twyla and Robert
grapple more with the impacts of racism and abandonment than gender
inequity. Though these are not exclusively
female afflictions, they prove to greatly affect the characters’ potential for unification. Twyla and Roberta’s suffering is ultimately
what binds them paralleling the plight of the women in “Petrified…”, but dissimilarly,
they allow the suffering to unite them rather than divide them. Early in life, they seem to find solace in
one another when they are both orphaned by their mothers, and as serendipitous
encounters bring the two women together over the course of their lives, they tend
to revert to such affinity. For example,
in “Recitatif”, Roberta and Twyla unexpectedly reunite at the local market, and
their propensity for fondness indicates that the circumstances that bring them
together may be much more powerful than the circumstances that tear them
apart. Unfortunately, the two women continue
to allow their resentments, fears, and social hardships to commandeer the
inherent love they share for one another.
In the end, no matter how many times they waver, the desire to return to
love is stronger than the desire to be right.
This is arguably the most powerful catalyst for a solid relationship. Furthermore, both women struggle to negotiate
respective maternal relationships. Though
their mothers are very different women, Twyla and Roberta both seem to share
the need to liberate themselves from the associated burdens of grief. This is another significant factor affording
them the kinship that renders them common ground throughout their journey
together.
Also in
contrast to the female characters in “Petrified Man” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”,
Twyla and Roberta seem rather secure in their respective relationships with
men. This may be attributed to either
the absence of fathers or the presence of more prevailing issues. In contrast, the women in “Petrified Man”
are unable to discard their masks and put away their airs. They perpetually dangle between cattiness and
caring. This “fair weather” dynamic
makes real solidarity nearly impossible to achieve.
In conclusion,
female solidarity can be elusive but highly effective and profoundly beneficial
if cultivated genuinely. Sadly, women in American culture are conditioned to
believe that we must look a certain way if we desire to be credible to our
counterparts. This is a fundamental
patriarchal tactic designed to prevent female unity for the sake of protecting the
status quo. Ironically, the purchase of
this idea renders us much uglier than if we’d relied simply on our brains
rather than our beauty. Every woman, fictional or not, who has endured
and exceeded the constructs of male domination are equally responsible for the
dialogue and action continuing today. As
the battle for gender equality rages on, I am humbly grateful for lessons in
solidarity and even the lack thereof as these have afforded me the knowledge,
freedom, and courage to say something
they find hard to hear and perhaps paramount is the capacity to grow in my
resolve each time they chalk it up to my
anger and never to their own fear.
So….Imagine
you’re a girl
just tryin’ to
finally come clean,
knowing full
well they’d prefer you were dirty….
And
smiling….
And what if
there are no damsels in distress?
What if I knew
that, and I called your bluff?
Don’t you think
every kitten figures out how to get down,
whether or not
you ever show up?
(Difranco, Ani.
“Not A Pretty Girl”. 1995))
Works Cited
Baym, Nina. Levine,
Robert S. “Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Eighth
Edition.” W.W. Norton & Company, New York,
London. (2013)
Difranco, Ani. “Not A
Pretty Girl”. Not A Pretty Girl
Album. Righteous Babe Records. 1995. CD.
Williams, Tennessee. “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. New Directions Publishing, New York, NY. 1954.
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