Katarina Gregersdotter's 'Watching Women, Falling Women'

In order to gain Cordelia’s approval and friendship, Elaine becomes a scapegoat for her three friends. On account of her family’s travelling as well as because of her earlier lack of girlfriends, she feels somewhat different from her classmates. In fact, Cordelia, Carol and Grace not only impose their ideas on Elaine and never respect her but abuse her for two years with the excuse of improving Elaine’s ways of living as well. They continuously dominate her and force her to do what they want and she suffers in their hands as well as at their homes and at school. As a result, Elaine always feels as if they are not her friends but her enemies. Although Elaine is oppressed and abused by her three girlfriends, nevertheless Cordelia is Elaine’s
On the other hand, Osborne indicate that, “when Cordelia and the other girls bury her, Elaine has no image of herself in the dark hole, jut a square of blackness . . . at this point, she essentially loses her identity” (104). Along similar lines, Katarina Gregersdotter in “Watching Women, Falling Women” argues that Elaine willingly slips into the role of a girl-among-girls for three reasons. First of all, she yearns for girlfriends whom she has only read about in children’s books due to her nomadic lifestyle. Secondly, she does as society expected her, since the reward is acceptance, and she has not discovered any optional behavior yet. Finally, if she does not perform what is expected of her, the punishment will be very harsh
One day in March, while the girls on their way home from school, abruptly Cordelia slides and falls. Once Cordelia sees Elaine laughing, she forces her to go to a ravine so as to retrieve her hat which Cordelia had thrown into the ravine as a punishment for laughing at her. Then, she promises Elaine that she’ll forgive her if she brings the hat back. In this case, Cordelia forces Elaine to go to the bottom of the ravine; in spite of she is reluctant to go there (Mehta184-185). Elaine states that, “I don’t want to go down there. It’s forbidden and dangerous; also its dark and the hillside will be slippery, I might have trouble climbing up” (CE 206). At that time, it is winter, however the ice is not very hard and it cracks open under her. As a result, Elaine approximately freezes to death and when she lifted her eyes to the bridge for help, the trio of Carol, Grace and Cordelia abandoned her. Consequently, Elaine becomes conscious of the fact that she does not need them and they simply used her for their cruel plays (Vendula Karásková 20). Elaine states that: “It’s a game. There was never anything about me that needed to be improved. It was always a game, and I have been fooled” (CE 229). Afterward, she manages to climb out of the ravine and begins stumbling home, meeting her frightened mother, who