Representations Of Masculinity And Femininity In Miguel...

Representations of Masculinity and Femininity in Miguel Street nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;It has been said about V.S. Naipauls novel Miguel Street that quot;One of the recurrent themes... is the ideal of manlinessquot; (Kelly 19). To help put into focus what manliness is, it is important to establish a definition for masculinity as well as its opposite, femininity. Masculinity is defined as quot;Having qualities regarded as characteristic of men and boys, as strength, vigor, boldness, etcquot; while femininity is defined as quot;Having qualities regarded as characteristic of women and girls, as gentleness, weakness, delicacy, modesty, etcquot; (Webster). The charcters in Miguel Street have been ingrained with the pre-†¦show more content†¦quot;Popos Wifequot; sounds no different than Popos tools or Popos car. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Popos wife leaves him, and this change affects him as well as how the other men look at him. Now quot;He smelled of rum, and he used to cry and then grow angry and want to beat up everybody. That made him an accepted member of the gangquot; (Naipaul 18). This even forces Hat to admit that Popo quot;is a man, like any of wequot; (Naipaul 18). This change makes him closer to the others, merely because he drinks and desires to beat up people. Later in the chapter he is sent to jail for stealing furniture, which upon his return, quot;He came back a hero. He was one of the boysquot; (Naipaul 21). Jail is yet another form of what makes a man more popular and more manly. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Morgan, the pyrotechist, differs from Popo in that he has 10 children. Morgan also beats his children regularly. But yet he is not well liked on Miguel Street. He is a tiny man, who tries very hard to be funny, but is only laughed at not laughed with. He is married to a Mrs. Morgan, a big spanish woman, who like Popos wife is only identified as being someones wife. One night, Morgan is caught by his wife sleeping with another woman. The fighting is heard by most on Miguel Street and they can see that Mrs. Morgan is doing the beating this time. She is heard saying, quot;Leave the light on. Come, let we show the bigShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pagestransmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. To obtain permission(s) to use material from this work, please submit a written request to Pearson Education, Inc., Permissions Department, One Lake Street, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, or you may fax your request to 201-236-3290. Many of the designations by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the