The Bouquet And Gimpel The Fool

The three stories to be discussed in this essay are “The Bouquet” by Charles W. Chesnutt, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “Gimpel the Fool” by Isaac Bashevis Singer. It’s interesting to dissect these pieces of literature to see how they reflect the time period they were written in, by whom they were written, and if the stories they read have any abnormalities outside what is expected.

So first up is “The Bouquet”; I sympathized mainly for the young girl named Sophie. Society’s faults stunted her growth as an individual, and kept her from bonding with those she desired relations. The whole culture surrounding her took away most of the attributes that make oneself human- such as love, happiness, and human connection.
Because of this, I believe that Chesnutt sought to prove something through his story about how the injustice reigned gratis. An example of this would be when Miss Myrover was speaking to her in public, though no one around, was a blessing and getting to hold her teacher’s books was a privilege. Though slavery was abolished in the area, cultural rituals do not simply die without active resistance plus time- and racism still diverges our society to this day. However, some of my sympathy is given to Miss Mary Myrover. For even though she was white, she was still just a woman with little to no money in the South. She indeed had it better than Sophie by a league or so, but she never knew true privilege. Due to this, I wish that she were less caught in her societal caste as to talk to Sophie outside of school similar to if she were any other white person, because she could empathize with oppression. Looking at this story with a Marxist perspective is appropriate since it depicts the inequality of both class and race, as in the story, it reads, “They're free now, mother, and perhaps they'll work better if they're taught something. Besides, it's only a business arrangement, and doesn't involve any closer contact than we have with our servants."
"Well, I should say not!" sniffed the old lady. "Not one of them will ever dare to presume on your position to take any liberties with us. I'll see to that."
This text shows how the mother implies the class divide, as the black people were required to work for them. Feminist theory could also be applied because it shows, a bit weakly, that there were not very many jobs for women in the South at the time, “The reason Miss Myrover's course created some surprise was not, therefore, the fact that a Southern white woman should teach a colored school; it lay in the fact that up to this time no woman of just her quality had taken up such work.” Similar to Sophie, Jane, the protagonist in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, didn’t have a strong sense of self either; or if she did, it slowly corroded within the duration that she was married to John, the physician.
She loses herself, as I would imagine Sophie to do after a lifetime of oppression. Jane saw a woman in the wall, and then became her. She took on that identity, and in her mind, then became free of ruling and imprisonment. All of my sympathy for any of the other characters in this work went solely to Jane. Her obvious mental instability made the story difficult for me to read- not because it’s what’s wrong with her, but what’s wrong with professional medical abuse, which especially back then was an ongoing problem in addition to today. I almost wonder if Gilman was trying to speak out facetiously through the story about how mistreatment of the mentally ill is a phenomenon that will continue to take place in the future. Furthermore, Jane was ill, and having been mistreated in her circumstance only made her existing condition and also the unpleasant topic for me worse. Looking at this story with Feminist theory in mind would be fitting, as her husband dismissed her voiced needs because he believed he knew what was best for her and she did not. I interpret this selection of the text as sexism; though I’m sure he loved her very much, he was still controlling and believed she couldn’t think for herself for she was a woman. Psychoanalytic Criticism may also be applied, as
her actions and thought patterns were heavily influenced by her sickness, "Better in body perhaps--" I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word. "My darling," said he, "I beg of you, for my sake and for our child's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as a physician when I tell you so?"- (5.16 – 5.17)
Additionally, I believe as part of this criticism in particular, Gilman implies that we, as a society, need to learn how to treat the ill better and to unlearn internalized ableism. “Gimpel the Fool” by Isaac Bashevis doesn't feature a white woman as the protagonist, but a man of color.
I'm not completely sure how I feel about this story, but I'll try my best to articulate. I empathize for Gimpel, as he is worthy of pity, but I do dislike the common misogynistic theme throughout the tale. Elka, Gimpel's wife, is subject to a specific type of mockery that differs from Gimpel's in the way that she is a woman and not “gullible” as he is said to be. I still wonder what Bashevis's message was supposed to portray; that the world is unfair perhaps? That one cannot change others' perception of themselves because certain people will believe anything they want to? It's difficult to say, but the story itself does cover a range of ridicule and confusion. Additionally, I liked the ending- I feel like it tied the whole deal up pretty
neatly.