Did
You know ?
It’s in 1769 that the colonies adopt the english system decreing
women cannot have their own property in their own name. In 1920, the
nineteenth amendment to the constitution is ratified, ensuring the
right of women to vote. In 1923 there
will be
the introduction of the first version of an Equal Rights Amendment
but
it will be only in 1963 and 1964, the Equal Pay Act passed by
Congress, promising equitable wages for the same works, reagrdless of
the race, color, religion, national origin and an Act passed,
prohibiting sex discrimination in employment.
And
so, until then (in
theory)
Men had power over women, in this way, society was the entirety of
relations of a community, that’s the definition of the patriarchal
structure. Patriarchy
literally means « the rule of the father » and so refer
to autocratic
rule by the male head of a family.
In
1919 was
born Doris May Tayler, who
became Doris Lessing after her second divorce
wich she had a son. Flight
=
one
of her short
stories
from Habit
of Loving,
a
collection first
published in 1957 who
comile lighter
sketches and
soberer commentaries on broken lives from
England to Africa.Wherein
A patriarchal
social system can
be defined as a system
where men are in authority over women in all aspects of society.
How
does this text reflect a progressive failure of the patriarchal
structure ?
I]
The Grandfather discredits the patriarchal figure
The
first characteristic of the patriarcal system is the Male
Identification, the figure of authority in the family, the Male
Identification
based
on a man’s figure that
includes qualities of control,
strength,
forcefulness,
rationality,
strong
work ethic,
and competitiveness.
Each of these qualities contribute to male identification in a
patriarchal system.
→ In
this way, the grand-father has to be this figure but…
1)
Questioned
with the way he talks and
act
In
traditional patriarchy, the elder men had power over the younger
generations, in modern patriarchy (20th century) some men hold more
power by virtue of the position of authority… BUT it questioned
with the way he talks and act
-
Repetition of « hey » l.26, 29, 33, 36 → is he
stammer ? He seems uncertain
-
« I’ll tell your mother » l.41 « Rubbish,
Rubbish.Impudent little bit of rubbish ! » l.46 « I
see you ! » l.64 These are Childishness
like
when « he
stumped his feet alternatively, thump, thump » l.85
he
deosn’t talk he shouted
l.26,
46, 64, 86
→
no self control ; he
shouted angrily
l. 41 he mourned
l.96 he
mutered l.58
he muttered
miserably l.72
-
Role Reversal, the grand-daughter seems more mature « their
grown-up seriouness shut him out, making
him alone »
l.130 and with Lucy, his daughter, he act like a
child who’s calling his mother, not a old man who’s calling his
daughter: « Lucy » he said urgently « Lucy... »
l.81
-
Repetition of « Can’t you see ? » l.73 & 77 =
pathetic fallacy
How
people see him
Not
as a male head figure but as a pathetic old man « his
daughter looked at him and her eyebrows went up in tired
forbearance » l.79 ; Alice and Steven are « trying
to charm away his wet eyes and his misery » l.117 who needs to
be rassure « saying wordlessly that nothing would be
changed, nothing could changed » l.119
2)
the
Narrator
express
the
characters’s
feeling
The narrator’s omniscience
increase the pathos, the pathetic nature of the grand father
with
the presence of the
Pathetical lexical :
« he would be left, uncherished and alone » l.50
« with
quick, pathetic persistent glances of appeal back at her » l.55
« creak
angrily under his feet » l.65
« he
stopped again, looking back into the garden » l.68 → theatral
scene
« he
muttered miserably » l.72
(No
judgement but we really have the picture of the old man mumbling with
sardonic hatred l.75)
« hating himself. »
l.75
« making
him alone » l.131
- After Alice, the grand
daughter joined Steven he felt
abandonned like a child « she did not turn. She had
forgotten him. » l.59, « they had forgotten him again »
l.132
The
narrator accentuated this figure of the old man who is going mad
because he doesn’t control anything, he
endure the situation « the
old man stiffened » l.60
-
Narrator’s voice = indirectly the description of the old
man’s feelings
→
We know the Grand-daughter’s lover is Steven l.29 but even the
narrator name him as the « posmaster’s son » l.63, 78,
112, or « son of the postmaster » l.40
This
permits to see the evolution of the grand father’s feelings about
him, how he accepts to do not controll « Alice and Steven »
l.140
→
l.109 «he took out a
handerchief and mopped his whole face. The garden was empty » =
parallel act/feeling → traduce the sadness of the old man, feeling
empty
For
this first part we can say => Above the need for a male
identification in the family in the Patriarchal structure, the
narrathor highlights the family link, how the love make the
difference, The grand father who loves so much his grand-daughter,
it’s no longer the importance of the Patriarchal society but the
desire to keep « his darling » as he says l.62 next to
him. But at the end of the text, in the calm, in the silence, pigeons
and daughter turn back.
To
conclude he shows the limits in the patriarchal structure with the
way he acts, the legitamacy of the mother’s authority, but at the
same time the need for balance.
II]
Role reversal with Lucy: a Daughter, a Mother, a modern Woman
Lucy
is the symbol of the modern woman, she represents the fragility of
the patriarchal structure, the place of the mother, the importance of
the daughter’s point of view in the family for the grandchildren.
She introduces the question about the male head of the family, the
introdcution of the female head of the family → i’m talking about
soft matriarchal structure
-
The First look we have on her is when “she’s sewing in the front
room” l.66 the picture of a calm woman
And
just after, the way she looks at her father : « her
eyebrows in tired forbearance » l.79 It’s not disrespect, he
simply lost his credibility and so Lucy allows herself to making fun
of him, humouring him in
asking« Put your birds
to bed ? » l.80
-
She’s his daughter but she act like her mother with the adverb NOW
« What is it now ? » l.82 she’s not taking him
seriously, she will repeat « now, now » l.89 → as she’s
saying Oh god again ? What do you want now ?
« come, now, dad »
l.98 with the NOW she has that domineering tone,
She doesn’t stay impassive
on her decision but she stays calm, she has the control on her
daughter
-
It’s kind of a Role reversal based
on the patriarchal system
→ in
the patriarcal marriage, it’s not the mother who « gives »
her daughter, normaly she has no voice, no choice of her own, she has
to abdicated her will and autonomy to her husband, it’s a cycle,
her daughter is destined to replicate one day with her daughter so we
can ask : Where is Alice’s father ? Maybe Lucy represents
the father’s decision in the end… it explains why she asserts
« She’ll marry next month. There’s no reason to wait »
l.106 why she talk to her father coldly
l.108
emphasizes
the fact that the grand-father is no longer considered as
a superior,
the Male
Dominance (In
a patriarchal system, men make all decisions in both : society
and in their family unit, hold all positions of power and authority)
but
the fantomatic figure of another man, another male
To
some extent, maybe it’s
exagerate but, the dialogue between Lucy and the Old man represents
how the patriarchal structure is fading away with the modern
generations. It’s like the social system shows the
patriarcal system is in theory the power of the man but everybody
know Moms got it because Lucy
clearly has the moral authority on the weading decision of her
daughter, she doesn’t care about her father’s point of view.
- Perfect
Housewife
So
She represents the beginning of a strong woman who stand up to her
father’s « authority », but she also represents the
perfect housewife she « brought him a cup, set him a plate »
l.87 and at the end of the discussion she « took up her
sewing » l.108 as she
did at the first time we “saw” her on the text and later she
continues “that woman, his daughter, stood gazing, her eyes shaded
with a hand that still held her sewing” l.141,142
=>
Lucy is the perfect paradoxe of the modern woman, she is a daughter
but also a mother, she is a wife but she takes decisions, she has
control on the situation with the moral authority and yet, at the end
she cries, because the father was right, she lied about she was
married at seventeen and she never regretted it l.91 She took the
place of the male head to be the Matriarch. (matriark)
but on second thoughts, does she really?
Alice
is an extension of Lucy. She has this desire to be always right about
everything, and especially with her grand father she doesn’t
listen. The parallel between the homing pigeon and she point out the
evolution, we can see it as a symbol of the changement.
III]
The Circle of the Pigeons
In
the patriarchal structure,
women
also have a role but only in a sense that is submissive and
subservient to men. However,
as
I said, in extension of Lucy, our
young Alice takes her natural rights,
she
acts
freely, does what she wants.
Moreover,
the
parralele between her and the dovecote enables us to highligh the
gradual evolution of the patriarchal system.
Decription
of Alice
At
first we can think the way she acts is like a symbol
of a wayward
youth/rebellious
« Tell away ! »
laughing, l.42
she’s making fun of her old
grandfather, she doesn’t
care about what he wanna do,
She is a young, smart girl
She’s singing « I’ve got you under my skin » by Frank
Sinatra
What
is more, her physical description put forward the
intergenerational conflict in questionning the patriarchal system.
“her defiant but anxious young body” l.57 It marks the opposition
Old man in crisis who is losing control of everything even his own
daughter against a Young girl who clearly knows what she wants and
who is determined to look forward.
→
But
Her
quest
for liberty
is a vicious circle:
I
come back on what I said earlier, “the daughter
is destined to replicate one day with her own
daughter”…
She
is a young free girl
who wants to be married,
that’s the normal way at this time: freedom thanks
to the mariage BUT she
becomes
under control of her husband
if we can figure out the rest.
Futhermore,
that’s
why I’m talking about a gradual departure and not a clear break. In
some way, even in a system as the patriarcal structure, it’s still
hard to stop acting completely different
→
in
some way Alice shows that some things cannot
really change, she is not independent she is a couple at the end,
“young couple” l.111 “they moved off, now serious and full of
purpose” l.129 (it’s
not a freedom, it’s another way to submit)
Parallele
bird/Alice by the old man
The
dovecote illustrate this vicious cycle
→ At
first we can say it’s a metaphore, a metaphore of the men’s
control on Women, but, otherwise, it’s the family’s miror
One
of the charasteristics of a Patriarchal system is the Obsession
with Control:
Men living in a patriarchal system or society must be in control at
all times. They have a desire to control all social and family
situations and must make all decisions regarding finances and
education.
So
the text open on the grand father who is calling his homing pigeons
in the dovecote “Pretty, pretty, pretty” l.6
-
The old man’s « mood shifted » l.18 just after he saw
his grand daughter→ « he .. held out his wrist for the bird
to take flight, and caught it again at the moment it spread its
wings » as he wants to do with his own grand-daughter « Now
you stay here » he
muttered l.21
?
DOUBLE ENUNCIATION ?
« he
saw the girl escape from the
youth » l.69,
70 → like a bird escape
from his cage
It
follows the idea of the first group who tallked about how Pigeons are
the representation of the control and the symbol of the old man’s
desire to control
So
at the beginning, the grand father wants to control but his grand
daughter is escaping.
And
there is a beautiful Ironie: when he gives the freedom, the pigeons
come back.
“[he]
took out his favorite “Now you can go,” he said aloud” l.135,
136 we have this DOUBLE ENUNCIATION, he indirectly talk to his
invisible
grand-daughter.
At
the end he doesn’t talk like a child anymore, he has “dry-eyed
and calm” l.145, (it’s like a soft wind after a storm)
The
way the pigeons act refers to this cycle aspect I talked about, “they
weeled in a wide circle” maybe it’s an image from the author how
events go this way. With have a repetition of one
after another
l. 151 ans 152, talking about pigeons as we can talk about the other
grand daughters
And
a retrun on this adjective ‘empty’
→ l.
109/110 the garden was empty and at the end “the garden was all a
fluster and a flurry of returning birds. Then silence, the sky was
empty” l.154,155
=>
Double
idea:
about
the patriarchal structure –
it’s
not only a question of male domination, sometimes children has to
listen their parents for their own good. Respect the older for his
experience not because of the system.
about
love of family -
He
has to
give a bit of liberty to make them come back OR
the best way to keep their love is to let them go
The
link is
not only between Alice and the Pigeons but also with all the family,
the desire of control is not unique to the patriarchal system, it’s
also a mark of affection.
The
cyclic aspect of the text give us a way to interpret the mental
aspect. Cut off with the predjuges of the time and just see the
feeling between characters in a family.
To conclude so
The
progressive failure of the patriarchal structure is
based on the limits in the internal structure of the family: the
place of the woman who
is also a wife, a mother and a daughter and
the conflict between generations. But the desire to broke up with
traditions is not the easiest way, even if women in our text doesn’t
listen to the older, they
disown the dominance of the male head, the main point of the
patriarcal system,
it doesn’t significate they will
be happy ever after. Sometimes it’s just an advice, it’s just
love.
It’s
no longer a question of male dominance but the importance of family
link. The omniscience of the narrathor presents the different
characteristics of the characters and raises the question of
relationship into family.
After
Habit of Loving,
Few
years later, Doris Lessing says in The
Golden Notebook,
1962
"I've
got the feeling that the sex war is not the most important war going
on, nor is it the most vital problem in our lives."
Oral presentation
