Gender Bias in Cat in the Rain, and Sweat - Essay Example

The first part analyses Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston while the second Cat in the Rain by Ernest Hemingway.

To start with, the author of the text is a man. This is easy to tell since the work has been written from the third-person perspective. This simply means that he is sharing experiences that are foreign to him. The author uses simple sentences and a limited description of objects, people, and events. This is common among men who are unable to express their feeling accurately using words. His reference to the imagery of the American wife clearly shows the author is a man as all other men do in American society (Hemingway, 695). The description of how she went out to look for the cat shows the caring and compassionate nature of the woman while her husband accompanies her although he is unwilling. This shows that the author is a man since he captures her husband’s reaction.

The author explains how the woman is attracted to the hotel keeper who is described as being serious, mature, and cold. The author captures the manly features that attract the woman to the hotel keeper. He states that the woman is interested in fine things, romantic dining, long hair, and a cat (Hemingway, 695). He describes these things as being foreign to him and could have described them better if he were a woman. The author vividly points out her husband’s interests and this could only mean that he is a man as well.

This text clearly shows the plight of an African-American woman who works hard cleaning laundry for white people. From the beginning of the text, it can be seen that the author is a woman from the way that she describes Delia as being a hard worker and providing for her husband Sykes. On the other hand, her husband is depicted as being lazy and does not treat her well too (Hurston, 697). He once played a trick on her by placing the bullwhip in her laundry. He was well aware of the fact that Delia was scared of snakes. This shows that he is simply inconsiderate and childish. Additionally, he knew that Delia detested doing laundry for the “white folks” and instead of empathizing with her, he mocks her. This goes ahead to prove that the author is a woman since she focuses on the negative traits of the man. Her husband even had an affair with a younger woman and physically abused her, however, she found her strength in church. When Sykes moved the rattlesnake to their house, Delia is fed up after going through so much physical and mental torture.