Out of all the members of the Bundren family, Dewey Dell's situation really impacted me the most. Like Mr. Mitchell said in class, I can see how Faulkner adding her story was very risky during this time period because women's issues were never really discussed. However I respect him for contributing her story because it really does show the reader a lot about the status of women during that time and how they were treated.
Dewey Dell's lack of sex education from her family can definitely be seen as one of her main flaws. Unaware of the dangerous of unprotected sexual intercourse, she blindly lets Lafe take advantage of her because she felt she had to do it. For one thing, I find Lafe a repulsing character for knowing how much Dewey Dell's reputation he put at risk and still pressuring her to have sex. I feel so sorry for Dewey Dell and think it would be unfair for the Bundren's to be angry at Dewey Dell for her actions because they never properly educated her in the first place.
Once Dewey Dell found out she was pregnant, she was desperate to find a doctor to illegally get an abortion. So while the Bundren family was on a journey to the big city, Dewey Dell was on a secret journey to find a doctor with the "thoughtful" $10 Lafe left her. The first time we encounter Dewey Dell asking a doctor to help her, she won't even refer to her situation as being pregnant, but as the "female problem." When the doctor finds out she isn't married, he flips out at her and tells her to take that $10 to get a marriage license. This shows the reader how much of a big deal her premarital pregnancy is and how much the doctors would have to risk in order to help her because it is so frowned about in their society.
When the Bundren's arrive at Jefferson, Dewey Dell tried one last time to find a doctor to help her and finally found a man who claimed to be able to help her. He gave her some "medicine" and told her he would perform an operation at night in the basement to "help" her. Though its obvious Dewey Dell is skeptical, she is so desperate to find a cure she goes through with it despite knowing it was sketchy. Once again, Dewey Dell is clearly taken advantage of and is raped by the illegitimate doctor. Because the man sees Dewey Dell as a trashy farmer girl who is desperate for any type of cure, he thinks its ok to take advantage of her because she isn't important. This situation shows how poorly women were treated in this society and how precious it is to keep a good reputation because essentially that was all they really had.
Though the issue isn't as severe, women are still taken advantage of and abused in our society today. We can use Dewey Dell as an example that even though policies have changed, having someone to educate women on safe sex is very important for teaching them to have their own boundaries and respect their bodies.
The only thing I think that we need before we get a real image of Lafe is a chapter from his perspective. In my mind, he does not seem to be the predator that McGowan is. It was more on a whim and not so much forced. Obviously it is awful that he sends Dewey Dell with only $10 and like the merchant says she should really find a new guy. However, I don't think it can be stressed enough how different of a society it was than ours. We are so accustomed to a lot of basic rights and in this time most of those were not even heard of.
ReplyDeleteI like your short comment about how important reputation is in this novel. Early in the book, we get many different neighborly points of view on the Bundrens, and it is obvious they have a terrible reputation as a completely dysfunctional unit. It seems like each time they encounter a new person, they form a negative reputation about the Bundrens based on their first sight of them, which is a group of raggedy boys and a girl in a raggedy wagon that smells like death. This makes me think that maybe part of the reason Anse just decided he was going to pursue the new Mrs. Bundren was because she has seemingly no pre-dispositions about him since they lived fairly far from where she was, and the only interaction they've had is the exchange of a couple shovels.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like MacGowan is just constantly looking for opportunities to rape people. When he sees her in the store there's no hesitation, he knows exactly what he's going to do. He's like "Here's another cute, stupid country girl, looks like I'm getting some tonight." The lack of thought he puts into this and the ease with which he carries this out makes it seem like Dewey Dell isn't the first one he's done this to-- maybe it wasn't the exact same situation other times, but some way of taking advantage.
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