Lange UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research XI (2008)
dangerous if women write patriarchal novels, because women readers may think that all women feel that way, and
again submit to gender stereotypes.
Finally, the way in which novels are perceived by readers depends on the sex of the author. Males have often
been thought to represent universal experience. Judith Keegan Gardiner quotes another critic, Carolyn Heilbrun,
who states that “women novelists assume ‘only a man can stand for the full range of human experience, moving
through action and quest to achievement or failure’” (185). This stereotype can be very damaging to women authors
as they may feel as though they are incapable of writing stories about life and meaning, and may not attempt it. If
readers believe these stereotypes, they will have pre-judgments about the text and the author’s abilities, and gender
roles will never evolve. Another detrimental stereotype is that male authors are assumed to write about truths and
meanings, while female authors are assumed only to describe experiences. If this were true, I would argue that
women have never been allowed to live the kinds of lives in which truths could be discovered. In many novels by
men in which the search for meaning is the focus, the male protagonist is independent and goes out into the world
alone to discover what life is and what meaning it holds. Women, who have lived subservient experiences, are
taught to put others first, especially their husbands and children, and if a woman doesn’t then she is considered
incomprehensible for “abandoning” her family. If woman is not encouraged – or allowed – to lead the kind of life
that fosters the discovery of truths, she will never be able to create her own meaning, or meaning that others might
accept as their own (i.e. readers).
This research has helped to give me an overview of feminist theory, as well as allowed me to be more critical in
revisiting the novels that I have chosen to study. I was more aware of the presence of gender ideologies in the novels
and was better able to critique the authors’ use of feminist ideas.
THE NOVELS
The four novels that I chose for this research project are She’s Come Undone, La Femme du Mari Inconnu (The
Wife of the Unknown Husband), The Joy Luck Club, and Une Si Longue Lettre (So Long a Letter). She’s Come
Undone was written by Wally Lamb, an American man, in 1992. It tells the difficult life story of Dolores Price, who
struggles with obesity, abandonment, and rape, among many other things. It is told from the first-person-female-
perspective. La Femme du Mari Inconnu (The Wife of the Unknown Husband) is a short story written by Edgar
Okiki Zinzou, a man from Benin, in 1995. La Femme du Mari Inconnu portrays Cicavi, a poor young woman living
in rural Benin who is offered in marriage to a stranger by her mother in exchange for a large sum of money. She is
abandoned by her new husband and realizes that she is pregnant. It is written in the third-person-female-perspective.
The Joy Luck Club is a novel written by Amy Tan, a Chinese-American woman, in 1989. This novel interweaves the
life stories of four best friends who left China during World War II and their daughters. There is a strong theme of
mother-daughter bonding. It is written in the first-person from many different female perspectives. Une Si Longue
Lettre (So Long a Letter), is a novel written by Mariama Bâ, a Senegalese woman, in 1979. In this novel,
Ramatoulaye is a Senegalese woman writing a letter shortly after her husband’s death to her best friend who has
moved to the United States. A few years earlier, Ramatoulaye’s husband married a second, much younger wife (as is
allowed in the Muslim faith), who also happens to be a friend of their daughter. He abandons Ramatoulaye and their
children, but she stays married to him.
There are some similarities in the texts from both male and female authors. In all of the works tragic events
occur in the women’s lives. These include rape, abandonment, divorce, forced marriage, and war, and many happen
because of actions by men. Despite the difficult lives of the female protagonists, all of the novels and the short story
have positive or hopeful endings. Another similarity is the occurrence of generational differences, especially those
regarding women’s issues. The older women in the novels tended to agree with traditional ideas of gender, while
younger women expressed more contemporary ideas. All of the authors displayed sympathy toward their characters
and the female condition, and finally, in many of the situations, the women either deal with their problems
themselves or ask for help from other women. Overall, the representations of women presented by male and female
authors from U. S. and African cultures were positive.
There are many differences in the works, as well. The first is cultural difference of both the authors and the
characters. The stories take place in different parts of the United States, Africa, and China. In addition, the mother-
daughter relationships are stronger in the novels written by women. In Tan’s Joy Luck Club, there is a cultural bond
between mother and daughter because of their Chinese heritage, as well as a spiritual bond for the daughter who still
feels connected to her mother even after her death. In Mariama Bâ’s Une Si Longue Lettre, the daughter is loyal to
her mother over her father after he marries a second wife. Edgar Okiki Zinzou’s La Femme du Mari Inconnu
presents an overall positive relationship between the mother and daughter, although the mother does give her
daughter away to be married to a wealthy man. Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone also contains positive female
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