After examining Lullabies for little criminals from the postcolonial point of view, I believe that the author Heather O'Neill may have experienced the issue of dominance and control over one group. She makes this concept well known in the book but I believe the hidden meaning behind this is that she experienced this throughout her lifetime.
O'Neill focuses on the fact that males have more dominance and control over the females. For example, Jules is constantly moving Baby throughout her childhood from one building to the next, whether it's a motel room or an apartment. The author makes this detail stick out, and I believe that O'Neill may have had a father that showed dominance over her and that may have been the control of moving her a lot.
With the Alphonse and Baby situation, Alphonse have great control over Baby and the things she did. He never wanted to see her with any other guy but him, and when he told her to turn a trick she did. This makes me believe that Heather O'Neill may have once had someone in her life who wanted to have control over her and tried too.
When reading through the novel from a postcolonial point of view, I strongly believe that the author is the hidden meaning behind this particular point of view. It's like she put herself into Baby's shoes and possibly relived her experiences but expressed them differently through Baby. It's quite possible that O'Neill had a loss of childhood and wanted to display them through her main character with the issue of dominance and control over another group of people.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Friday, May 15, 2015
Blog Post #5
In Lullabies for little criminals, I analyzed the novel through postcolonial literary criticism. It is well displayed in the novel that there is domination and control of one class of people by another class of people. This meaning that the men have more domination and control over the women, than the women do over the men.
The men in the novel are described as the drug dealers and users, as well as pimps. They are treated in a fair way in the novel, since nobody causes problems with the men. The women in the novel are described as the sex figures or objects and this is how they are treated. Even Baby, at the age of thirteen, becomes a prostitute because Alphonse makes her feel worthy to him and gets her into his prostitution business.
The text reveals that gender is shaping our perceptions of ourselves and others due to how the class that has domination and control treats the lower class. The men treat the women as useless and that they do everything wrong, like when Jules began blaming all of his problems on Baby. Alphonse uses women to his advantage for prostitution and makes comments to Baby that she is something special. The women in this text perceive themselves as nothing due to the way they are treated by the men, and when Alphonse takes Baby under his wing she perceives herself as used and only good for prostitution. Therefore, the way the different gender types act towards the other help shape the way they see themselves.
When it comes to the men they perceive themselves as something great since they feel like they're "winning." Alphonse creates his own income through prostitution and has no probably getting any girl he wants, and because of that the women make him feel like he is great and doing everything right. Although for Jules, he turns to drugs to make him feel like he is great and having Baby to blame for his problems makes him feel like he is winning over her.
The men in the novel are described as the drug dealers and users, as well as pimps. They are treated in a fair way in the novel, since nobody causes problems with the men. The women in the novel are described as the sex figures or objects and this is how they are treated. Even Baby, at the age of thirteen, becomes a prostitute because Alphonse makes her feel worthy to him and gets her into his prostitution business.
The text reveals that gender is shaping our perceptions of ourselves and others due to how the class that has domination and control treats the lower class. The men treat the women as useless and that they do everything wrong, like when Jules began blaming all of his problems on Baby. Alphonse uses women to his advantage for prostitution and makes comments to Baby that she is something special. The women in this text perceive themselves as nothing due to the way they are treated by the men, and when Alphonse takes Baby under his wing she perceives herself as used and only good for prostitution. Therefore, the way the different gender types act towards the other help shape the way they see themselves.
When it comes to the men they perceive themselves as something great since they feel like they're "winning." Alphonse creates his own income through prostitution and has no probably getting any girl he wants, and because of that the women make him feel like he is great and doing everything right. Although for Jules, he turns to drugs to make him feel like he is great and having Baby to blame for his problems makes him feel like he is winning over her.
Blog Post #4
In the novel, Lullabies for little criminals, the women are represented as sex figures. Alphonse, the local pimp, sees all the women this way and uses them to gain a regular income. Alphonse noticed Baby, and took a strong liking to her. He made her feel beautiful and acted like he wanted to be with her, when only he was dragging her into his prostitute business. Baby, at the age of thirteen, starts to prostitute for the money that Alphonse says they need.
The roles that men and women play in this novel are very different. The women obviously play the role of a sex object, as well as the person who stays at home and does everything on their own. The men on the other hand play the role of either the drug dealer, pimp, etc... and use the women to their advantage.
The social and historical conditions for women in this period that might help us understand their roles in the text is that women who don't always come from the best of homes can get into the wrong crowd, which lead to these roles. Certain women may play the role of a sex figure in this period, although it is not as common or noticeable but can happen as a way of life and possible income for them.
Women's lives are limited and restricted in this text quite a bit and some to a high degree. For example, when Baby begins hanging around Alphonse he starts to want Baby around all the time even though she can't be. When Baby is late for a meeting with him, Alphonse automatically thinks that she's lying to him about something and gets upset with her. When Baby first started going to the community centre on a daily basis, her father Jules put a stop to that immediately because of the people and the things they were doing. He did not give Baby a chance even though he was the one either doing drugs, in rehab, or out of town for "work." To some extent the lives of the women can be limited to what they are allowed to do and restricted to a degree of rules they must follow.
The roles that men and women play in this novel are very different. The women obviously play the role of a sex object, as well as the person who stays at home and does everything on their own. The men on the other hand play the role of either the drug dealer, pimp, etc... and use the women to their advantage.
The social and historical conditions for women in this period that might help us understand their roles in the text is that women who don't always come from the best of homes can get into the wrong crowd, which lead to these roles. Certain women may play the role of a sex figure in this period, although it is not as common or noticeable but can happen as a way of life and possible income for them.
Women's lives are limited and restricted in this text quite a bit and some to a high degree. For example, when Baby begins hanging around Alphonse he starts to want Baby around all the time even though she can't be. When Baby is late for a meeting with him, Alphonse automatically thinks that she's lying to him about something and gets upset with her. When Baby first started going to the community centre on a daily basis, her father Jules put a stop to that immediately because of the people and the things they were doing. He did not give Baby a chance even though he was the one either doing drugs, in rehab, or out of town for "work." To some extent the lives of the women can be limited to what they are allowed to do and restricted to a degree of rules they must follow.
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