A Typical Victim of the Patriarchal Society —An Analysis on the Female Charac…

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 宁夏大学外国语学院/陈俊汀 李文军

【Abstract】 Death in the Woods is one of the famous novels ofSherwood Anderson, who is a distinguished writer in America,and now it still wins great popularity in the whole world. Inthis novel, the author depicts the protagonist Mrs. Grimes’

miserable life incisively. This paper endeavors to analyze thefemale character in the patriarchal society from the following twoperspectives—social background and marriage life, and naturallycomes to the conclusion that the protagonist Mrs. Grimes finallydied because of the oppression of the patriarchal society.

【Key words】 Death in the Woods; female character; patriarchalsociety

1. Introduction

Sherwood Anderson is noted for his novels in America andWilliam Faulkner considered him as “the father of the Americanwriters of his time.” Sherwood Anderson has exerted greatinfluence on William Faulkner, Hemingway and any other famousAmerican writers, and he plays a very important role in thehistory of American literature.

Death in the Woods is one of the representative works ofSherwood Anderson, and the plot of the novel is concerned withthe protagonist Mrs. Grimes’ role transition from a servant at aGerman farmer’s home to the wife of Jake Grimes. In the novel,Mrs. Grimes is probably destined to meet her doom. When shewas a little child, she was abandoned by her parents and was soldto a German farmer. However, she was treated badly there—theGerman farmer wanted to rape her and his wife often found faultwith her deliberately. Later, she got married with Jake Grimes,who was a tough. Nevertheless, although her role has changed,she still hasn’t changed her miserable life. After her marriage,she had to feed the whole family. She was unfortunate enough tohave such a terrible husband and such a bad son. Although sheworked with toil and sweat, she still had to suffer the pain thatcame from her husband. Ultimately, she died lonely in the woodsat a snowy day.

This paper aims to give a detailed analysis of the femaleimage under the patriarchal system from the following threeperspectives—social background, marital status and the specificsurroundings, and reveals that patriarchy exerts ruthlessoppression on women, and thereby gives a detailed explanationof feminism which is presented in the novel. In the patriarchalsociety, women are regarded as men’s appendage, and womenare obedient to men. Under the patriarchal system, women totallyhave no right to seek for parity that they deserve. In reality, theydon’t have the equal rights in occupation, income and maritalstatus, and they are always discriminated by men. They are thevictims of the patriarchal society.

2. The Victim of Social System

Sherwood Anderson lived in the late nineteenth and theearly twentieth century—it was a time when American societyexperienced the transition from the agricultural society to theindustrial society. In this period of transition, a substantialamount of farmers lost their lands and they had no other choicebut to go to cities to find new jobs. Consequently, a kind ofsocial phenomenon appeared—the young laborers swarmedinto cities, while the old women were abandoned in the desertedrural areas. In the meantime, with the fast-paced developmentof science and technology, people’s values of life and moralityhad changed. However, the new values had not been formed yet.

People felt very confused and had no clear aims and objectivesfor themselves. They were just like ice-cold machines, workingaimlessly. The whole society presented an appearance of gloom.

It was because of such a social system that lots of women just likeMrs. Grimes became the prey of the patriarchal society. Just asMohanty said that the oppression of women had become a globalphenomenon.

Mrs. Grimes, the heroine in Death in the Woods, lived insuch a gloomy and indifferent society. At the very beginning ofthe novel, the author Sherwood Anderson described that “Allcountry and small-town people have seen such old women, butno one knows much about them.” And even when Mrs. Grimescarried a heavy load on her back, “No one gave her a lift. Peopledrive right down a road and never notice an old woman likethat.” From these descriptions, it is not difficult for readers tofind that people, especially men, paid little attention to those oldwomen.

Initially, Mrs. Grimes had not had her own name. After hermarriage, she was allowed to have her husband’s surname.

When she was a little child, she was abandoned by her parentsand became a “bound girl” . “She was a bound girl and did notknow where her father and mother were. Maybe she did not haveany father.” It was at this time when she began to become thevictim of the patriarchal society.

When she was young, she was sold to a German farmer. Sheserved at the German’s farm as a servant. She fed her masters and also fed their stock. However, although she worked with toiland sweat, she was still bullied and teased by the German and hiswife. “At the German's place she had cooked the food for theGerman and his wife. The wife was a strong woman with big hipsand worked most of the time in the fields with her husband. Shefed them and fed the cows in the barn, fed the pigs, the horses andthe chickens. Every moment of every day, as a young girl, wasspent feeding something.” Moreover, the German farmer wantedto rape her, and threatened her not to tell the truth to others. Mrs.

Grimes was too obedient to her master to pursue her right. “Shetold Jake a lot of stuff, how the German had tried to get her, howhe chased her once into the barn, how another time, when theyhappened to be alone in the house together, he tore her dress openclear down the front. The German, she said, might have got herthat time if he hadn't heard his old woman drive in at the gate…The German managed to sneak off to the fields without his wifeseeing. He told the girl he would kill her if she told.”

Fortunately, when she was treated badly at the German’sfarm, Mrs. Grimes met her husband—Jake Grimes. It was JakeGrimes who helped her flee from the German’s farm. Mrs.

Grimes was touched by Jake Grimes’ “heroic acts” andmarried him willingly. After her marriage, she began to have herown name—Mrs. Grimes, which meant she had her own identityin this society. However, happiness did not last long. Mrs. Grimesstill failed to get rid of the oppression of the patriarchal system.

3. The Victim of Marriage Life

After her marriage, Mrs. Grimes still led a miserable life.

There had no true love between Jake Grimes and Mrs. Grimes.

In her marriage life, Mrs. Grimes never got the respect from herhusband. The relationship between them was unfair, and she neverenjoyed the right that she deserved.

In the novel, the author Sherwood Anderson described Mrs.

Grimes as a hard-working and thrifty woman. She did not haveanyone to rely on in this world, so she had to depend on herself.

She needed feeding something to make a living. “She had toscheme all her life about getting things fed, getting the pigs fedso they would grow fat and could be butchered in the Fall.” Andeven when it was very cold outside, she still had to take the eggsaway in time. “In the Winter the hens laid few enough eggs.

They huddled in the corners of the barn and she kept watchingthem. If a hen lays an egg in the barn in the Winter and you do notfind it, it freezes and breaks.”

In addition, Jake Grimes achieved a dominant position in thefamily, while Mrs. Grimes had no other choice but to submit herselfto her husband’s authority. Her husband was actually a tough.

After getting married, Mrs. Grimes began her “feeding”

career again! She fed her husband. She fed her son. And shealso fed their stock. Just as the author described in the novel,“Then she settled down to feed stock. That was her job…Thenshe married Jake Grimes and he had to be fed. She was a slightthing, and when she had been married for three or four years, andafter the two children were born, her slender shoulders becamestooped.” Sadly, although she worked hard to feed the wholefamily, she was still bullied and cold-shouldered by her husband,even by her son! She was always beaten by her husband and wasalways ordered by her son. “When the son grew up he was justlike the father. They got drunk together. If there wasn't anythingto eat in the house when they came home the old man gave his oldwoman a cut over the head.” Her son had an affair with a woman.

One day, when her son brought the woman to the home, “the sonand his woman ordered the old woman about like a servant.”

However, although she was treated badly, she always keptsilence. She had no rebellious spirit. Even when her husbandfought with her son, Mrs. Grimes just “stood aside trembling.”

“She had got the habit of silence anyway—that was fixed.”

From the above analysis, it is not difficult for readers to findthat in the patriarchal society, women, especially the women justlike Mrs. Grimes, became very indifferent to everything. Althoughher rights were trampled by men, Mrs. Grimes still kept silenceand were insensible of everything. All these factors led Mrs.

Grimes to be the victim of the patriarchal society.

4. Conclusion

Death in the Woods is a thought-provoking short story. Inthe traditional patriarchal society, women were always obedientto men. They did not have the same rights just as men do, andwere discriminated by men. They were unable to get rid of suchan unfair situation, and had no courage to rebel against this unfairsocial system. However, women should be brave enough toreject all the oppression and imparity, and take an active role inchanging their fate.

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作者简介：

陈俊汀，宁夏大学外国语学院在读硕士研究生，专业：

英语语言文学，研究方向：英美文学。

李文军(1973-)，男，汉族，宁夏固原人，副教授，山东大学英语语言文学博士，宁夏大学外国语学院硕士生导师，研究方向：从事英美文学及翻译研究。