THE FLOWERS
By Dagoberto Gilb
It is a bit funny to think that we women are viewed as the underdogs, unable to take care of ourselves and even helpless. Men have no idea how smart women are. We can waltz through life having doors opened for us, and bills paid, just because we can look pretty and produce children. I have lived on both sides of the feminist vista point and I like being cared for. I have done the Hippy thing and supported two children while I went to school and worked six to twelve hours a day. Yes, I can take care of myself and my family all by myself, but the truth is, sharing the responsibilities with someone else who thinks I am wonderful makes life a whole lot nicer. In the book The Flowers, the mother of the main character , Sonny, is Sylvia, and in many ways she is considered to be a helpless little Hispanic woman. However I do not view her that way. Women have been able to get men to take care of them for thousands of years, and she is very capable of using what God gave her to get a lifestyle that allows her to do the things she enjoys. The women in Sonny's porn magazines are even manipulating men. It is not the paper in the magazines that is making money, it is the women who know how to entice men and make them forget about everything else. With far less effort than the porn models, Sylvia is able to have a nice home, a car, and the funds to support her shopping habit. She even has a son that loves her and admires her looks, and it is not because he gets a daily gourmet meal, or caring conversation everyday. I believe that the modern feminist has become to extreme and has jeopardized some of the leverage that women have had since Adam and Eve.In the past Sylvia has been able to raise her son with very little interaction, yet he still adores his mother. She took little interest in Sonny’s likes, as a result when she introduces him, she tells Cloyd , he new husband, “ Maybe he likes baseball…I think that’s his favorite.”(12). it is as if she were introducing a child she has never met. In contrast Sonny is grateful for any little crumb she drops for him, even when he is able to sneak a few chips, and as a result she gives him a several dollars and sends him somewhere else to eat. The bond that comes from giving birth, ties children to their mothers regardless of the quality of parenting skills. It is easy to see this in interviews with adopted children. One woman said she did not know she was adopted but never felt close to her mother, but when she met her maternal mother their was a unmistakable bond.
Well kept appearance is another strength that has been under rated and at times discarded by modern feminists. I believe that appearance if probably a woman’s most valuable asset. In the book, Sonny loves to see Sylvia’s hand when she has had her nail done, and notices when she has bought a new dress, even the way she smells. I was even amazed that a young kid would notice as much detail as is described on page 76 when he says "It seemed to me she was wearing another new dress, and she was smelling washed and bath-oiled and lotioned and misted, and the high heels were glossier and redder than her lipstick.". This is enough to make him lie for her and keep any secret she sends his way. Her shopping and primping is a small price to pay for those secrets. Most men have a strong positive reaction to an attractive woman, this makes it easier for women to manipulate men.
Sex appeal is a huge asset, and Sylvia uses it to purchased another opportunity to improve her fashion of living, when she marries Cloyd. He believes he has been the one who is responsible for their relationship. He tells Bud “I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal” (51). He has the audacity to believe that he manipulated her in to marring him. I would be inclined to believe that there are more poverished ‘Mexican gals’ with children, than there are men that make a decent living and want to marry them, making it more likely that Sylvia had to entice Cloyd to get his attention, otherwise he would have married the first one he met.
There is an old saying that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. Women have used this to make men appreciate them, and make it seem that the woman has slaved to be able to present the food. This heightens there appreciation for their counterparts. Cloyd is completely oblivious that the authentic Mexican food, he thought he was getting when he married Sylvia, all comes from a can. Behind his back she even tells Sonny “He doesn’t even know I buy este chile at the grocery store…he thinks I make it…” (51) and then is able to sway Sonny to cover for her. Consequently, Cloyd is appreciative that she slaves to prepare wonderful meals.
Sylvia knows she can easily influence Cloyd when ever she is inclined to. In a conversation with Sonny she asks him if he need a new T.V. Then asks him, “You want me to make him (Cloyd) get you a better one?” (73). She is so casual about having that much control over men. Cloyd himself is blinded by his lust for Sylvia. At the start of their marriage, he appears to be groveling when he promises ‘something big’ to Sonny, and when he offers the desk for his room. The relationship between Cloyd and Sonny is not comfortable, yet Cloyd is going outside of his comfort zone to look good for Sylvia.
Sylvia is able to recognize when Cloyd may have gone to far to be comfortable. Thus, when Cloyd’s promise for something big becomes a trip to ’Notre Dame’ Sylvia attempts to influences Sonny to drop the idea. This could fend of any resentment that Cloyd may have about being taken advantage of when he was vulnerable.
Cloyd is so controlled by Sylvia that, he does not even argue that her time is unaccounted for. Instead Cloyd takes a position on a subject as trivial as toilet paper usage. Sylvia lets him rage about it, but later laughs, behind his back, because it is so petty. By giving Cloyd the power over the toilet paper, Sylvia is able to give him the allusion that he is in control.
With little scholastic skills Sylvia is able to influence Sonny’s education with a minimal amount of effort. She speaks broken English and appears to have very little education. She does not even have enough interest in education to spend time with her son while he is studying. However, she is entertained by him learning French and uses other qualities to motivate him . When Sonny tells Sylvia "J'aime la pizza, (love the pizza)” (152), he tells us "She laughed...I liked that she laughed, because it proved French was funny and not only to me." (152). This laughter seems to be considered encouragement for him and he continues to study French. At the same time, it all so bought her a few more secrets to be kept, when she tells Sonny she is going out and she'll be back before Cloyd returns home.
I admire Sylvia’s ability to refine feminine manipulation to a fine art. My generation has fought for women’s rights all of my life, as a result I now see my comrades in a lesser light. They have traded in what Sylvia has, for well paying jobs, and nice homes, but they are over stressed, and their children are misbehaved and unmotivated in life. It is not hard to figure out why, women simply went to far and gave up some of what made life good. Men never asked to change jobs even though their life span in the past has been an average of ten years shorter than women as a result of stress. Consequently when millions of women walk away from their domestic jobs, it left the position unfilled or inadequately filled. I am not saying that women should not work and just stay home to serve their families. We have come a long way and should be proud of what we have accomplished, but we should take a little more responsibility for our natural duties. Every other animal on this planet knows the importance of their roles, we might take a lesson from them. If we are less focused on the fight, and more focused on family, then we can go back to out living men, and have them treat us like goddesses on occasion. We can use some of Sylvia’s talents to make our lives less stressed and more enjoyable. After all, once we have proven our point and gotten what we want, it is best to stop fighting and make a compromise.
I remember commenting on this paper, but you said you didn't get my comment, so here it goes. I'm going to comment on other things this time, in case you find my old comment. Number one, this is a very fun to read, interesting and engaging paper. I really like your fresh insights and fearless analysis of a very provocative topic. Yes, this is Reader Response on feminism in the novel and a very interesting analysis, which I think gains more steam as you go along. The first paragraph has some assumptions that water down your analysis. For example, "In the past Sylvia has been able to raise her son with very little interaction." Do we know about the past in this paragraph? This is classic example of where evidence would really help to support your ideas. or you might decide the past is irrelevant because you've got great evidence about the baseball, but "in the past" distracts the reader.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of this is when you write, "She speaks broken English." As your reader, I'd like to see evidence of this or else leave it out. Decide what is important and focus on developing those points completely using evidence from the text.
Your points later on are very convincing because you connect to specific evidence from the text. For example the television quote or the Notre Dame section and the toilet paper. These paragraphs also show your critical thinking and work directly to support your thesis. Develop these ideas a bit more, incorporate more evidence in support of your ideas and continue working on your thesis and conclusion and you are on your way to an A paper.
More suggestions:
This threw me off: "It is easy to see this in interviews with adopted children. One woman said she did not know she was adopted but never felt close to her mother, but when she met her maternal mother their was a unmistakable bond."
This you should cut because it doesn't have a source and it throws off the reader. You either need to develop this topic more and include the citation or cut it. I don't think it's necessary to prove your point:
This TEA has two topics:
1)Sylvia has been able to raise her son with very little interaction,
2)Well kept appearance is another strength that has been under rated and at times discarded by modern feminist
poverished [impoverished]
mans heart [watch those apostrophes] see my blog post on most common errors
Watch your sentence structure:
In revision you need to keep a sharp eye out for grammatical errors. I'd suggest taking advantage of the free tutors at Gavilan in the Reading and Writing Center, or making an appointment with me to help you identify the errors and prevent your grade slipping from a collection of tiny errors.
Cloyd is completely oblivious that the authentic Mexican food, he thought he was getting when he married Sylvia, all comes from a can.
[to the fact that] [he thought he would be getting] [actually comes from a can]
all so [also]