Sofia and Corlissa:
A curious case of an atypical gender role was
Sofia. A girl her age in a predominantly Chinese-American family was to groom
her identity to seem appealing to prospective husbands, which her mother,
Corlissa, was always upset about. She chose another path and was independent.
She often snuck out of her home and was adventurous, typically what one would
expect a boy or young man might do. Her clear defiance of the rules was very
ironic because she was the only daughter of a pastor. Also, her rebellious
nature also bothered Corlissa. Being a white woman in a predominantly Chinese
immigrant town, she had to fight the stares and assimilate into a different
culture. When Sofia was a baby, Corlissa dreamt of killing herself and wishing
that Sofia were a son, which was a typical mentality of a Chinese woman during
a period when men were seen as more valuable than women. That is one of the
reasons why China's current population is over 1 billion. Unlike the other
women mentioned above, Corlissa entered motherhood. She took care of her
domestic sphere where she raised her daughter and seemingly had a loving
family. The dynamic of her domestic sphere was altered when the water women
arrived and Corlissa ended up dying.
As a female child of an immigrant, I can see why
it was expected that sons and daughters follow certain gender roles to
establish equilibrium in society. The novel animates the dissipation of the
equilibrium with the onset of the wrath of the waters ghosts characterized by a
flood endangering the town of Locke.
You break down each of the characters within the gender role lens quite well. However, as a reader, I want more of an overarching reasoning for this. I want the "so what?" of it all.
ReplyDeleteSorry that this comment is SO lengthy!But to answer your question... I think there is one relationship that I became more curious/interested in after reading your take. That is, I am more curious about the relationship between Sofia and Corlissa (her mother). Does this perhaps reflect reasons we should encourage our children to break or follow gender roles? Corlissa did want a boy, after all... and Sofia has some boyish personality traits.
I really like how you've added a personal touch at the end. That's a great way for your readers to get to know you!
Here's a few questions I think you could also ask/address:
1) Just because Richard's gender role is significantly changed, does this mean that all superficial/"living" roles (gender, culture, etc) are NOT extended to the afterlife? What could this suggest about the importance of these things between the living and the dead?
What does it mean that Richard's wife broke out of her traditional role? As noted with Chloe, in not following that role, she winds up alone and pregnant with nowhere to go. But in Richard's case, his wife was supposed to be especially obedient, as per Asian societies dictate, and yet she didn't continue to wait for him. She disobeyed him, which is shameful in Chinese tradition, and shame is the utmost terrible thing one can do, yet in the end, she is alive while others are not. She seems to sit outside that idea of gender roles.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for these helpful comments. I'm thinking about making another post addressing what you guys suggested and elaborating more on other ideas I thought of!!
ReplyDeleteHi Anisha,
ReplyDeleteYou mention that Chloe pays the price for not staying within her role by ending up pregnant and alone. However, you previously stated that the women's role consists of being an object of sexual desire and reproduction. Didn't she in fact fulfill her womanly role as she had sex and got pregnant? The tradition of domesticity (being married and reproducing) was broken but not necessarily the womanly role. Perhaps the problem was a failed masculine role?