ipl-logo

The Edible Woman

874 Words4 Pages

Eating is a fundamental part of life that most people undertake without any hesitations. But when a character named Marian needs to resolve some problems in her life; it ends in Marian losing her appetite. In The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood, Marian initially alludes to being an obedient person that lives her life fulfilling every expectation of her. She plays the role of a mother, a loyal friend and a submissive girlfriend whenever it is expected until she can’t recognize herself anymore. Slowly, Marian starts feeling exploited as she struggles to fulfill these roles. This leads to Marian feeling sympathetic towards the food which is imprudently consumed by others throughout the novel. Ultimately, Marian starts to identify herself with …show more content…

She only reaches for the dishes she needed instead of cleaning all the dirty dishes in the sink. Marian’s choice to “unearthed a long platter from the bottom of the stack plates” reflects the change in her (Atwood 316). The narrator uses this vocabulary to show that Marian is becoming selfish which is necessary for her in order to become a consumer. In contrast, the Marian described in initial chapters would clean all the dirty dishes in the sink even if it was Ainsley 's turn to tidy up. She would do so to because it would be mannerly and expected of her. Marian refusing to wash the old dishes symbolises her denial to be used by …show more content…

Marian “almost hummed with pleasure” when she made the cake (Atwood 316). This shows Marian’s acceptance towards becoming a consumer instead of doubting her morality. Marian “grinned into the mirror, showing her teeth” (Atwood 317) after brushing her hair out which the hairdresser had styled the previous day. This is powerful evidence of development in Marian’s character. This reflection illuminates several new changes in Marian. Firstly, she finally feels comfortable enough with herself to smile in contrast to the previous chapters when she “was embarrassed: she didn’t know how to” (Atwood 261) smile. Additionally, she is no longer disgusted at herself for consuming food for her

Show More
Related

Francie And Johnny Nolan's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

384 Words | 2 Pages

At this appointment, the nurse of Francie makes rude comments about the filth of the children to go along with the doctor. However, Francie notices that the nurse was actually once in a similar position of her family’s and has risen to a higher status. The following passage accounts for Francie’s thoughts during

Read More

Food In The Bluest Eye

668 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the book, Pecola sees people eating delicious foods that make her jealous because most of her friend never got to eat that candy or that very good piece of bread

Read More

Pickle Dish Symbolism In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

733 Words | 3 Pages

Mattie is panicked and worried when the pickle dish is knocked over and destroyed by the cat, and 3. Ethan is trying to figure a way out to repair or get a new pickle dish. Each of these represent different parts of Ethan and Zeena’s marriage and the relationship between the three characters. In Ethan Frome, the pickle dish is kept up high on the shelf so that nobody can get to it.

Read More

Late Night Chitlins With Momma Analysis

771 Words | 4 Pages

One generally invites one’s friends to dinner, unless one is trying to get on the good side of enemies or employers. We’re quite particular about those with whom we break bread.” (Foster, 9) Through the breaking of bread, or in this case the laborious cleaning, cooking, and finally the eating of chitlins is representative of a communion, between the almost sacred bonds between a mother and her daughter. Throughout the exposition of the short story, we constantly see that the other members of her family reject the chitlins for being “country” or smelling strange.

Read More

Omnivore's Dilemma Rhetorical Analysis Essay

1330 Words | 6 Pages

Relevance between Food and Humans with Rhetorical Analysis In the modern industrial society, being aware of what the food we eat come from is an essential step of preventing the “national eating disorder”. In Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, he identifies the humans as omnivores who eat almost everything, which has been developed into a dominant part of mainstream unhealthiness, gradually causing the severe eating disorder consequences among people. Pollan offers his opinion that throughout the process of the natural history of foods, deciding “what should we have for dinner” can stir the anxiety for people based on considering foods’ quality, taste, price, nutrition, and so on.

Read More

Meals In Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible

2664 Words | 11 Pages

Meals in literature often represent something bigger, bringing communities together in a form of communion. However, this is not the case; in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, the meals are ironic they help to show discord and strife among the characters of the book. She uses meals to foreshadow future events, reveal the flaws of the characters, and as the book progresses, allows for the reader to see character development. In novel, Kingsolver twists the normal connotation of a meal and makes it ironic in order to demonstrate the discord and strife that is commonplace throughout the book that shows the lack of community between the Prices and those they interact with for most of the book.

Read More

Geeta Kothari If You Eat Analysis

793 Words | 4 Pages

Article “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?” was published in 1999 in the Kenyon Review. The author describes her childhood life growing up with Indian immigrants. She feels a deep separation from not just her parents but her culture as well. Writer Geeta Kothari explores her personal identity through food. Kothari uses unique writing structure and personal stories to form a well-written piece.

Read More

What Is The Last Lesson In Mary Rowlandson's Captivity

1557 Words | 7 Pages

Food is an essential thing needed to survive. In A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson; Rowlandson faced many challenges that she had to overcome. During her captivity, her biggest challenge was finding food every day. Her captors’ food was different compared to the food she was used to in her Puritan society in Europe. This forced her to adapt to her captors’ eating habits if she wanted any food.

Read More

Morality In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

642 Words | 3 Pages

The dish was a wedding present given to the married couple. The shattering of the dish symbolizes the death of their marriage. In relation to the theme, the dish shatters during a romantic dinner between Ethan and Mattie, this ties in with morals. Ethan Frome obviously wasn't preoccupied with his crumbling marriage. To Zeena, the shattering of the dish meant the end of their marriage “[Zeena] picked up the bits of broken glass she went out of the room as of she carried a dead body.”

Read More

Cultural Symbolism In Madeleine Thien's Simple Recipes

1223 Words | 5 Pages

Madeleine Thien’s “Simple Recipes” is not mainly about the father cooking food and his treatment towards his son, instead, the author uses food to symbolize the struggles her immigrated family experienced in Canada. While it is possible to only look at the narratives that food symbolizes, the idea is fully expressed when the father is compared with the food. The theme of food and the recipes are able to convey the overall troubles the narrator’s family encountered. Although, food is usually a fulfilling necessity in life, however, Thien uses food to illustrate the struggle, tensions, and downfall of the family. Yet, each food does represent different themes, but the food, fish, is the most intriguing because of the different environment

Read More

The Gordon Lish Effect: The Bath Vs. A Small Good Thing

1785 Words | 8 Pages

This act is purifying for her as "it is as physical and overpowering as nausea that succeeds it, and the emotion and the sensation are as honest and undeniable as her recognition that her son´s death was not fair" (Facknitz 292). In this moment, the baker realises his mistake and after apologies to the parents offers them coffee and cakes. While eating he tells them about his own loneliness and desolation, sharing some kind of spiritual communion. As Raymond Carver said "The couple is able to accept the death of their child. That´s

Read More

The Wages Of Sin Analysis

943 Words | 4 Pages

Unfortunately, it’s in our human nature to form judgments on people upon gazing at them. Although it’s not something that can be diminished in us, it is something we can rightfully control. A recent incident happened at the bank where a man, who was on the heavier weight side, came into the bank using crutches to help him maneuver. A co-worker saw him and made a comment on his looks which lead me to reply saying it’s unfair to make impertinent comments on random people. It’s imperative to remember that we are unaware of what an individual’s circumstances may be; what if the person has certain health conditions that cause them to be a certain way?

Read More

Amy Tan Fish Cheeks Analysis

694 Words | 3 Pages

Once the dinner began, Amy got more and more embarrassed with her family as some of their actions are rude and gross to most cultures but not to theirs. “My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food”. Her father then reached across the table and poked into one of the fishes cheeks and said “Amy, your favorite”. This made Amy so embarrassed that she wished she would just disappear.

Read More

The Pickle Dish Symbolism In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

1006 Words | 5 Pages

Before Mattie used the dish, it was in the china closet never being used. This could symbolize Ethan and Zeena’s relationship before Mattie. It wasn’t really love that got them married. They never showed their love for each other in the story. The dish symbolizes how their relationship was never really ‘used.’

Read More

Ethan Frome Literary Analysis

738 Words | 3 Pages

Ethan’s initial response is to attempt to simply piece back the pickle dish with glue. The use of glue or “the easy route” to fix the broken pickle dish so Zeena won’t discover the accident, symbolizes Ethan’s thought process to try repairing their loveless relationship. Furthermore, Ethan is afraid to even tell Zeena that the dish has broken which shows the lack of communication and understanding in their relationship. Zeena’s response is much more dramatic, by intensely accusing Mattie of not only breaking her most prized possession, but also threatening her husband and their marriage. Zeena’s anger and resentment over the broken pickle dish actually illustrates her sorrow over her broken and unfulfilling marriage.

Read More

More about The Edible Woman

Related Topics

Open Document