I found it interesting how Monique Truong didn't mention or give hints on the sex of the character until page 483 where she writes, "Worse, he is a questionable cook."
it also dawned on me that "Live in Cook" and "Night Thoughts" we're very similar because both stories did a male/female role switch.
it also dawned on me that "Live in Cook" and "Night Thoughts" we're very similar because both stories did a male/female role switch.
I honestly thought the cook was a female! Until the end when they asked the question of circumcision! I was very confused thought the reading! I wonder why being drunk was normal for the people in Benglin.
ReplyDeleteSay more about the "male/female role switch" in both stories. What made the reading confusing? The point of view? The language?
ReplyDeleteAbout the male/female role switch:
ReplyDeleteIn "Night Thoughts" the character is a male who is experiences all the domestic violence and feelings that you would naturally think a woman would be feelings and experiencing. He's apart of a book club, he wants more from the relationship... more feeling and emotions and he is also the stay at home dad. Any person today in our society would think that it would be the woman who stays home, takes care of the kids, joins a book club ans asks their spouse for more attention or emotions. The male in our eyes are percieved to be more dominant, more controlling. Ella was the one who is out working, bringing home the money and providing for her family. She is the one abusing her husband and taking advantage of the things he does for.
In "Live-in Cook", Monique Truong doesn't give any hints on the characters sex. Instead, the character goes on about how long they've worked for households, how long they've been living in Paris. The thoughts of Bihn are deep. He analyzed all the different kind of people he had worked for. Personally, I would think that a woman would be really nit-picking and closely analyzing people better and more often than a man would. To me a man is more one-minded; tend to think about what's right infront of them instead of digging deeper into the person and/or situation. I feel that a woman would be more analytical.
You make several valid observations here but when you write " any person today in our society would think that it would be the woman who stays home...", don't you think this maybe a bit of a generalization? Aren't there women and men who no longer follow and/ or conform to traditional gender roles? Also, I don't quite follow what you are saying about Binh in the second part of your post? Are you saying he is not feminine because he is not analytical enough?
ReplyDelete