Constructs In Horace Mccoy's They Shoot Horses, Don T They?

Gloria Beatty: Defying Gender Constructs

In Horace McCoy's They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Gloria Beatty leads a trail of cynicism; with every turn, she sparks conflict. Through encouraging Ruby to get an abortion and voluntarily sparking conflict with others, McCoy paints Gloria as a female who challenges traditional gender constructs––a motherly, ladylike demeanor. McCoy paints Gloria as unladylike so as to not only convey Gloria’s discontentment in Los Angeles’ illusion but also to argue that Los Angeles was not a locus of hope and opportunity for extras like her trying to get into the picture scene within the entertainment industry during the tumultuous depression.

Looking to make their way into the picture industry, Robert and Gloria

As Gloria gloomily examines the future, she states, "Suppose I do have a kid? You know what it'll grow up to be, don't you? Just like us" (119, implying loads. Such a statement offers insight into where she stands and Robert. She comes to terms with the likelihood that if she were to birth children during the tumultuous Depression, her child would grow up in the Los Angeles’ challenging times in which she and Robert find themselves; she would be subject to and molded into Los Angeles’––and the United States’–– economic despair during the 1930s. The quality of life and upbringing of Gloria’s child would not be dictated by what Gloria wishes for it but rather by what the United States economy allowed for. The lack of a stable source of income would constrict what Gloria could provide for not only herself but her child as well. Moreover, this statement implies that, if Gloria were to birth children, it/they would fill her same shoes, an undesirable pair to say the least. Gloria fears that the economic turmoil into which her child would be born would mold them into becoming the very extra and quitter Gloria has become, as demonstrated by her consciousness giving way to her willpower––she becomes a victim of the spectacle, once in control but now being dragged by it as she lifelessly holds onto Robert's belt. Therefore, she is suggesting that the 1930s Los Angeles is

She gives us a sense of where females belong during this tumultuous period; she, like Robert, has no place to go but to engage in the spectacle, the dance marathon. Its outcome is one for which she longs: death. Her bleak outlook serves to convey that Los ANgeles is an illusion, a place housing no hope for extras like her during the Great Depression. For example, Gloria gives up on her dream of becoming a star in Hollywood's film industry, helplessly stating, "The hell with pictures. I wish I was dead." (95). She becomes “sick of looking at celebrities and doing the same thing over and over again” (76); she comes to realize that Hollywood’s entertainment industry is not as glamorous as illustrated in the magazines she had read prior to arriving in the supposed locus of hope. She is tired of the damned Los Angeles and thus comes to seek a way out of what she once considered to be her last hope, a life in Los Angeles that could not have been any worse than the one she had led in Texas. In contrast, Robert believes that the American Dream is within reach. In response to Gloria asking Robert what he would like to do after the dance marathon ends, he shares that he wants to live the "life of an ordinary man, to raise kids and buy a home and a car, all with camera angles to