the banning of little house
I have thought about many different ways to organize this paper and have come to the conclusion that the best way to approach the topic is on a book-by-book basis. My perceptions of the gender biases in these books vary greatly and I did not want to begin altering my views on each so that they would fit into certain contrived connections. What interests me most in these stories is how the authors utilize certain character's within their given environment. Their instincts and reactions are a wonderful window into how the authors perceive these "people" would interact with their surroundings and often are either rewarded or punished by the author through consequences in the plot for their responses. Through this means we can see how the authors expect their characters to behave in relation to their post in the world. We must be very careful as readers to judge these biases based only on evidence within the text and not invent them from our own psyche due to the individual world we know. In Louis Sachar's award winning book Holes, we see gender biases in many characters. The first and most obvious bias in this book can be found in the way Sach
· Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons. New York: Harper Trophy, 1994. Van strikes me much the same way the Warden does in Holes. Although he is presented in a slightly less fantastic light, one cannot help but see him as the embodiment of evil and destruction within Coman's world. This not only demonstrates a stereotype of men as violent, but it also is a necessity to the book because it does not ever actually detail the violence occurring in the book other than the opening. By making Van the animal that he is, we as readers have an easier time believing he is capable of the horrors inherent within this book. He takes on almost a Neanderthal-ic feel as the book progresses and the lives of everyone involved become more complicated. I do not mean to suggest that power and masculinity always must go together, but Van most certainly is shown to us as the stereotypical dominant male from the start. Using his brawn to solve problems rather than his brain, Van is our worst nightmare of what a man is capable of becoming: a thoughtless, guiltless tornado of destruction. Coman uses these biases present in our minds to amplify her character and thereby increase the power of her story. Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech is a book that I believe presents a very well rounded and complete character in Sal. She is a warm and intelligent girl and Creech does not encumber her character with the pitfalls of any evident stereotypes as far as I can see. She interacts with her environment in a logical and intelligent way, and at times, such as when her mother lost her baby, demonstrates amazing strength. It appears that Sal's strength is derived from her family, which is a very endearing feature. This is probably why Creech employed this characteristic, in order to make Sal someone we would want to know and care for. It is important in this book for Sal to be someone the reader can relate to because she is not only a central character but also a storyteller. We must trust and care for her in order to feel the emotions Creech is trying to evoke. Edward Bloor's Tangerine presents us with a gender bias we encounter more commonly in TV sitcoms than in literature: that of the athletic, mean spirited, adolescent male. Erik's tirades and terrors are well documented in the book, and though I will not rehash them I will say that they are tragic. Bloor's character is menacing and torturous towards his little brother for his own amusement and spite. Erik's ability to cover his tracks and allow everyone to believe he is a "normal" young man turns him into a conniving villain in this piece. Erik fits the jock/bully role perfectly and Bloor amplifies this by using Paul's voice in his writing. Paul deems Erik's goals as "The Erik Fisher Football Dream" and even comments on his love life. "I guess Paige and Tina want to date football players, so these two will do. Erik and Arthur want to date cheerleaders, so these two will do" (Bloor 39). Erik now is shown to us as a materialistic social climber with no regard for anyone but himself. The egotistical Adonis we now see serves as the villain to the sensitive and humble Paul. Bloor does this because to the modern reader the dominant male character is very easy to hate, what with his well-documented oppression of every other major group he encounters.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Green Lake, Patty Ann, Creech Sal, Sharon Creech, Warden Holes, ThingsGirls Dolls, Paul Bloor, Bloor's Tangerine, Carolyn Coman, Finally Earl, patty ann, gender bias, camp green lake, gender biases, character patty, boys chose, green lake, ernst wrote, walk moons, characters encountered, image perfection, character patty ann,
Approximate Word count = 2272
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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