The Experiences of women in Veronica, Looking for a Rain God and Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

The Experiences of women in Veronica, Looking for a Rain God and Of Mice and Men Essay The pieces Veronica by Adewale Maja-Pearce, Looking for a Rain God by Bessie Head and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck all involve cultural views based on women. The feelings of the women based within each of the three pieces are very varied and are conveyed in different ways. The short story Veronica is based on a woman who is very limited and has restrictions based around her. After looking into the piece in detail my opinion is that Veronica does not lead a good life. She achieves a standard five from her education but nothing more. Although it becomes obvious to me that her life is poignantly dull and boring, Veronica appears to be fulfilled within herself. She leads a stereotypical life of women for the time and meagre environment. She completes her personal expectations of her life by becoming a part of a family, including a husband and children. After doing this she has led a life in which she has in the past aspired to. An expression made by Veronica which indicates to me that she is fulfilled is; There is nothing left for me in this world As well as showing her feelings this phrase shows that she has completed everything possible to her, this also emphasises the fact that her life is in many ways very formulaic. Looking for a Rain God is another short piece expressing cultural expectations of women. In this piece it becomes obvious to me that women have a very limited role in life. The piece is based on a small tribe of people, which are desperate for water, as they are facing a situation involving drought. Whilst the men of the families are fighting for their familys survival the women sit and wail in an act of desperation within their shambolic lives. The women of the families are usually the last to receive any necessary resources, although without their husbands they would in most cases be unable to survive. Unlike Veronica the women based within this piece are in many ways unhappy and do not feel fulfilled. Set aside from this point they do still follow the basic outline of culturally stereotypical women at this time, which in this case is to stay at home in aid of caring for their families. The roles of women in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck are expressed by the portrayal of one character named as Curleys wife One main factor which firstly expresses a limited role in life for Curleys wife is based within the fact that she hasnt received a name, she is known as a possession to her egocentric and obdurate husband Curley. Curleys wife lives an isolated, lonely, poignant and low-key life in which she is treated as one of Curleys achievements which he can be proud of. Her overall role within the novel is to look after Curley and to uphold his pride. As a result of her isolation she acts as a floozy, either manipulating people of behaving flirtatiously. Curleys wife also follows the broad outline of stereotypical women, as her role is low-key and to act as a possession. In Curleys views she is an achievement which he can be dominant towards, which has not real importance in life. Although Curleys wifes appearance and attitude appears to be a floozy and emphasises that she is manipulative and selfish, this is due to her restrictions in life. The overall outcome of her life is very poignant although her destitute lifestyle expresses the mitigating reason for this. The cultural expectations of women have been expressed through a combination of salient factors within each of the pieces summarised. The stereotypical role involving the caring of families and the pride of husbands is in many ways very poignant, As shown above consequences can involve women being fulfilled as it Veronica or unhappy to involve a decrease in character as in Of Mice and Men Overall after exploring cultural roles of women within Veronica by Adewale Maja-Pearce, Looking for a Rain God by Bessie Head and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck I can see that there is an overall stereotypical role of women throughout. This role gives women limited opportunities in life and causes them to be isolated. Results of this isolation are varied between cultures. Some of the women within the investigated pieces appear to be fulfilled whereas others appear to be very unhappy leading a dull and poignant life. In conclusion this stereotypical role of women is extremely unfair and should be overruled completely to provide all women with equal opportunities.