Short Story Loman By Jean Toomer
The short story “Becky” by Jean Toomer utilizes female imagery to illustrate gender roles and societal expectations during the 1920s. This type of imagery and its impact on the reader’s understanding of this relationship during this time frame is significant because many aspects of gender roles are still relevant today. One of the first bits of female imagery that contributed to the relationship between race and gender in this short story was “taking their [Becky’s community’s] words, they filled her, like a bubble rising - then she broke.” This image speaks volumes about the relationship between gender during this time period. The image of Becky taking their words insinuates that she had no choice in hearing the harsh words about her character
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The sun sets on the western horizon - a scene of beautiful colors and light. The eastern horizon, contrastly, is dark and reflects the light of the sunset - it does not produce any light of its own. This female imagery emphasizes the effect of the immense ostracism Becky was subjected to because of her choice to be involved with an African American man. She had no chance to flourish and make something of her life because of society’s response to her choice to engage in a relationship that generally was not accepted by society. Not being able to flourish academically or career-wise because of who I love scares me every day. Though I know it’s been nearly a century since this was written, I’m still terrified that I’ll go into an interview for a job and will ultimately be denied because I’m engaged to an African American. Ultimately, this image symbolizes women’s battles, especially during this time period, with male suppression of women’s desire to flourish and do things that went against societal expectations.
In “Becky,” Jean Toomer uses female imagery to highlight stereotypes and societal expectations of women during the 1920s. “Becky” is a perfect example of how limited women were and ultimately, what happens when women don’t conform to societal expectations. Despite being written nearly a century ago, women still face these stereotypes and societal expectations every day; however, there have been long strides in combating these expectations. We’ve come a long way since “Becky” but we’ve got even further to go to break free from these
The sun sets on the western horizon - a scene of beautiful colors and light. The eastern horizon, contrastly, is dark and reflects the light of the sunset - it does not produce any light of its own. This female imagery emphasizes the effect of the immense ostracism Becky was subjected to because of her choice to be involved with an African American man. She had no chance to flourish and make something of her life because of society’s response to her choice to engage in a relationship that generally was not accepted by society. Not being able to flourish academically or career-wise because of who I love scares me every day. Though I know it’s been nearly a century since this was written, I’m still terrified that I’ll go into an interview for a job and will ultimately be denied because I’m engaged to an African American. Ultimately, this image symbolizes women’s battles, especially during this time period, with male suppression of women’s desire to flourish and do things that went against societal expectations.
In “Becky,” Jean Toomer uses female imagery to highlight stereotypes and societal expectations of women during the 1920s. “Becky” is a perfect example of how limited women were and ultimately, what happens when women don’t conform to societal expectations. Despite being written nearly a century ago, women still face these stereotypes and societal expectations every day; however, there have been long strides in combating these expectations. We’ve come a long way since “Becky” but we’ve got even further to go to break free from these