post 25
May 3, 2011 by jessicafisher255
It is interesting to see how two female writers, Silko and Kingsolver, portray women. Silko gives us the character of Laura, who abandons her child with her family. She is portrayed as a loose woman; she leaves with a car full of men, and whiskey on her breath (61). Tayo is told by his Aunt the time his mother hadn’t come home; “I knew she had been out all night because I never heard her come in…she waked under that big cottonwood tree and I could see her clearly; she had no clothes on. Nothing. She was completely naked except for her high heel shoes” (64). We see that his female character is portrayed as a bad mother, someone who sleeps with a lot of guys. Someone who is shameful. It gives this character more meaning because Laura is created by a female author. Someone who should have empathy for female characters. One who would understand the struggles that females have faced for centuries. Laura is also an Native American female. She would have faced even more discrimination in her time. She would have met even more prejudices and had more restrictions put upon her life.
Kingsolver also does the same thing with Salome. Salome is racist and is also painted as a bad woman. She is someone who has left Harrison’s father back in America and is sleeping and living with two other men for financial gain. She sends her son off to boarding school and like Laura is an absentee mother.
One often thinks that female characters are presented negatively because of the writer. Most time this idea is because the author is male, and cannot understand or think like a woman. Critics believe that male writers do not give their female characters true identities or voices because they are incapable of doing so. In this case, Laura and Salome are given little voice and the writers are female. The characters are portrayed negatively and not given a chance to be heard, or given the opportunity for empathy by the readers.
