#7 Feminist vs. Beatrice

The female characters in Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds are almost categorical characters to me. The ideas of self for these types of women are varied in many ways but all intertwine themselves around the missing role and image of a man. The feminist critic’s perspective begins deconstructing characters with the understanding that a woman’s idea of self has been systematically been oppressed and silenced, denied and stereotyped. If I were to take on the shoes of a feminist critic, I would focus particularly on Beatrice, who I believe is the head of the problem as she is head of the household. As the mother, Beatrice interacts with her environment in a negligent and negative way. Her husband left her and she both distrusts men and yet yearns for their attention, and in this specific case, Mr. Goodman whose name and actions towards her daughter leans us to believe that he is a Good Man.
Even as a grown woman, Beatrice still cares about what others have to and have said about her. She allows the social, chauvinistic perspective warp her personal self and identity. She has dreams to a do something with her live but stops herself; seeing her children as “two rocks around [her] neck” and not having her father around, or any good man of his standard taking care of her. I do not believe that she ever acknowledges that even though her woman’s experience has been shunned, mostly by her own self-destruction, she does not value the experiences of her daughter and even oppresses Mr. Goodman stereotyping him as a Jew as seen with her back handed language describing him. From a feminist approach, I could only feel more pity and reject Beatrice and her self-destruction.

Worthy of an Award for Sure!

What I Saw and How I Lied definitely earned its place as a National Book Award winner. The plot or more so the way in which Blundell carried the reader through out the story, I consider a great ride. The topics, even though adult-like, matched the reality of our teenagers today. The novel presents passion and energy that was evident in every turn of the page. I believe that the book had fantastic historical accuracy. I am not widely capable of stating facts about the 1940's, but the elements were there in the book, such as the social use of cigarettes, the cocktails, and the details about the layers of dress, style of dressing that Evie explained, and the dresses, lipstick, hair imagery that the reader was able to piece together. The personal behavior was descriptive which made me believe that the story is historically accurate. Blundell also plays to the warped feminism in this book. It parallels to the 1940's perspective on women, the ownership of their bodies, and their sense of self. This did disturb me on a personal level, but again I can appreciate the novels and characters historical aspect and perspective.
Also, Blundell played to the readers’ sense of loyalty for their family and gave us mystery, sexual relations, desperation, and anger which all are tangible emotions that connected the reader to the characters. We were able to feel for these characters and care about them. As per requirements, What I Saw and How I Lied, offered the reader an in-depth exploration of the time period, the psyche of the chosen characters and the unique quality and sincerity of both the characters and the overall story. The language, I believe, carried the correct level of difficulty, respecting and stretching the readership of the readers. I love that there is this universal question of the degree of lies and what is a good lie and a bad one.
This was a great read!