Femminism

Two Girls with the Courage to Change their World Although most humans are born free, they can live life bound by the barriers and expectations of society. The novels The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Sister Wife focus on female protagonists who break out of the moulds their societies place them in and form their own identities. In this essay, I will argue that these novels show how feminism has a positive impact on society and on the individuals who practise it. To do this, I will analyze how the cultures restricted females, how each protagonist resisted conformity, and the successful conclusion each character reached. In The Sweetness of the Bottom of the Pie, the main character, Flavia DeLuce, epitomizes the struggles women faced for equality in England during the 1950’s. In the aftermath of World War II, a new emphasis was placed on the nuclear family as the foundation of society. Although during the war many women worked outside the home and participated in the war effort, after its end they were encouraged to assume roles of wives and mothers as the government aimed to re-establish domesticity as women’s primary occupation. The fictional town of Bishops Lacey was no different. Women were expected to perform domestic work or jobs considered to be specific to their gender, such as a cook or librarian, and men were expected to perform the superior roles, such as detectives, professors or priests. The society Flavia was raised in expected females to be dependent and accepting of their male superiors. Flavia, the protagonist of the novel, can be described as an independent, self-reliant, and persistent eleven year old. Throughout the novel, her feminist qualities and resistance to the moulds of her culture are evident. Flavia verbally declares on several occasions that she is just as capable, if not more so, than her male counterparts: “Yes, I’d solve this case and present it to him wrapped up in gaily colored ribbons” (95).

Cited: Bradley, Alan. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Canada: Anchor Canada, 2009.Print. Hrdlitschka , Shelley. Sister Wife. British Columbia: Orca Book Publishers, 2008.Print.