To begin with men's power that affects Esther directly, there is the issue of sexual discrimination that is shown obviously in the novel. In the patriarchal society, men are in-control. Also, men have women in their power. Women are oppressed by men. As for Esther, men have many effects on her life. There are many men who oppress her.

Firstly, Marco, who falls in love with his cousin, has almost raped her. He can't have his wish fulfilled because his cousin is going to be a nun. Esther doesn't have any idea that a man who falls in love with his cousin will see her as a material. He curses the word "slut" at her. She is very disappointed. The thing he does with her is one of the causes that make her break down.

Secondly, Irwin, whom Esther meets at the library, doesn't have responsibility. E

Besides, women are expected to be virgin before they get married. In the novel, there are many parts that emphasize on the topic of women's chastity. For example, Buddy tells her not to sleep with other man until she gets married with him, but he can sleep with other woman. He has double standard. Esther can't stand with his hypocrisy and wants to leave him. As for Eric, he doesn't want to marry woman who isn't virgin. "if he loved anybody he would never go to bed with her. He'd go to a whore if he had to and keep the woman ha loved free of all that dirty business." (P.64) Incidentally, her mother sends her some article that is about reserving virginity before merry. People thought that women should sleep with her husband only. Social values in the patriarchal world, women will be condemned when they do wrong, but men won't. " of course they would try to persuade a girl to have sex and say they would marry her later, but as soon as she gave in, they would lose all respect for her and start saying that if she did that with them she would do that with other men and they would end up by making her life miserable." In the patriarchal society, men are powerful. All social values come from men. They determine what women can do and what women can't. They want women to be virgin before marry. Men can fool around but women can't.

Esther: "All right" But I didn't. I felt terrible. (P.118)

First of all, women are not expected to have talent and intelligence more than men. Although women have ability to study, academic world is not a field of women. Esther can't be highly successful in her career. In the patriarchal society, men have authority. They will determine whether women can live in men's field. " After my month on the magazine I'd applied for a summer school course with a famous writer where you sent in the manuscript of a story and he read it and said whether you were good enough to be admitted into his class." (P.84) Though Esther

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1320
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)