Main Female Characters in Alice Munros Wild Swans and Charles Bukowskis Fooling Marie - Book Report/Review Example

A Comparison of the Main Female Characters in Alice Munro's Wild Swans and Charles Bukowski's Fooling Marie By just looking at the one canreadily surmise that the female characters are depicted differently since one is from a female's point of view while the other is from a male's. However, this assumption is not going to be proven correct because there are many other factors to be considered like the author's background and experience as well as the milieu the work is produced. Both stories are autobiographical in nature. Both are greatly influenced by the kind of lives the writers lived. For instance, the setting of Wild Swan is in a regional, small town of Canada. According to reviews "Munro's fiction is nearer to autobiography than fiction." Munro, however, said it is "autobiographical in form but not in fact." (). Moreover, "she has explained in various interviews that her stories are not autobiographical, but she does claim an "emotional reality" for her characters that is drawn from her own life" (). Charles Bukowski's Fooling Marie is also a reflection of his lifestyle and experience. As a child, he was often beaten by his father who vents his frustrations on his son. When he was older, he was introduced to race track and it became a vital part of his life. He was also involved with several women of different kinds. Finally, "with a stable relationship and steady royalties in the low six-figure range, Bukowski became a home owner, albeit in a middle class neighbourhood in San Pedro. He now had a swimming pool, a hot tub, and drove a black BMW he paid cash for to the track" (). Munro is an educated writer and widely accepted while Bukowski is named 'psychologically unfit' and not recognized in the United States. The former has a more complicated style but the latter is indeed "a man that could be read by anyone of any class or educational background" (). In this paper, I would like to show the similarities between the female characters of the stories Wild Swans and Fooling Marie. Despite their being written by two different authors of two different backgrounds and experiences, the female characters are similar in many ways. The following are the points of comparison: they are both adventurous and confident; both are feminine and self-satisfied; and they are victims and victors at the same time. They are adventurous and confident Rose can be considered adventurous and confident because she dares to travel alone. Despite the many warnings Flo gave to her, she is not afraid. "Well, I'm not scared," said Rose provokingly. "There's the police, anyway"(2). She is just too glad be away and on her own. "She had a window seat, and was soon extraordinarily happy. She felt Flo receding, West Hanratty flying away from her, her own wearying self discarded as easily as everything else" (5). When the passenger beside her begins to make pass on her, she did not stop him. It appears that she is still sexually inexperienced but she allows him to explore her private parts because she wants to venture beyond what could happen. "But there was more to it than that. Curiosity. More constant, more imperious, than any lust. A lust in itself, that will make you draw back and wait, wait too long, risk almost anything, just to see what will happen. To see what will happen" (12). After the incident and when she is by herself in Toronto, she remembers what Flo said about Mavis. "She thought it would be an especially fine thing to manage a transformation like that. To dare it; to get away with it, to enter on preposterous adventures in your own, but newly named, skin" (17). Here, her adventurous nature is more heightened. Victoria, on the other hand, has a definite objective in her mind when she approached the man at the race track. She knows how to pick her prey. 'Tardon me, sir, but I've lost the first two races. I saw you cashing in your tickets. You look like a guy who knows what he's doing. Who do you like in this next race" She appears to be an expert in the 'trade' she is in. She is outspoken, bold and adventurous. "Victoria let out a very sexy, "Oooh . . ." She leaned over to look at his program, touching him with her arm. Then he felt her leg press against his" (2). She sees to it that her message is transmitted clearly. She knows how to flatter a man and really lure him. "Ted leaned over, felt her cool pink lips up against his ear."You're a ... magic man ... I want to ... fuck you . . ." (3). She is straightforward and direct to the point. They are feminine and self-satisfied Although there is no explicit description of Rose, it is implied that she is attractive. The name Rose is symbolic of something beautiful and desirable yet thorny. The man would not be interested in her if she is not appealing. She knows what she wants - these are things that would cater to her femininity. "For herself Rose wanted to buy hair-remover to put on her arms and legs, and if possible an arrangement of inflatable cushions, 'supposed to reduce your hips and thighs She also planned to buy some bangles, and an angora sweater. She had great hopes of silver bangles and powder-blue angora. She thought they could transform her, make her calm and slender and take the frizz out of her hair, dry her underarms and turn her complexion to pearl" (6). She wants to look good and attractive. She is no ordinary girl for she is able to win an essay contest that gave her the money she is going to spend for these items. "The money for these things, as well as the money for the trip, came from a prize Rose had won, for writing an essay called "Art and Science in the World of Tomorrow"(6). The very description of Victoria shows that she is very attractive and that she knows it. "She was a strawberry blonde, about 24, slender hips, surprisingly big breasts; long legs, a cute turned-up nose, flower mouth; dressed in a pale blue dress, wearing white high-heeled shoes. Her blue eyes looked up at him" (1). She uses her fine features to lure men and gain money from them. When Ted complimented on her appearance, she shows her confidence in her looks. "You've got the most beautiful body I've ever seen," said Ted. "I don't doubt that," she said, smiling" (4). Such confidence is seldom expressed by most women. They are victims and victors at the same time The incident at the train may not be what Rose really wanted. She is a victim of a man's lustful exploit but she enjoys it. Although she did not like the way the man treats her physically, she is overcome by her own sensuality. This is an avenue in which the things she imagines about sensual things would materialise. "Then she said to herself, What if it is a hand That was the kind of thing she could imagine" (9). This must be the very reason why she was hesitant to tell the man to stop and remove his hand from her upper thigh. She has been curios about such things even before. "She would sometimes look at men's hands, at the fuzz on their forearms, their concentrating profiles. She would think about everything they could do. Even the stupid ones" (10). The man may be taking advantage of her defenselessness but silently she wanted to be exploited. "She had a considerable longing to be somebody's object. Pounded, pleasured, reduced, exhausted" (10). She is experiencing something new and she did not mind it and she even enjoys it. "His stubborn patient hand was able, after all, to get the ferns to rustle and the streams to flow, to waken a sly luxuriance" (13). She is a victim but at the same time she is able to experience through this stranger something that she only imagined. "She could not believe this. Victim and accomplice she was borne past Glassco's Jams and Marmalades" (14). She felt more pleasure and ecstasy than abuse in the end. "She bit the edge of her tongue" (15). This incident makes her experience something she has been imagining about and at no cost at all. Victoria obviously stands for a victor. She may be a victim of circumstances, like having to use her body and have sex with a man in order to gain money but she does it very well that the man is literally empty-handed when she is over him. She may not really enjoy what she is doing for she inflicts pain to the man who in turn hurt her. "He felt her teeth dig into his lower lip, the pain was terrible. Ted pulled away, tasting the blood and feeling the wound on his lip. He half rose and slapped Victoria hard across the side of her face, then backhanded her across the other side of the face" (4). However, she must have planned her act very well or have mastered her trade because she is still composed after the act. "Victoria came walking out of the bathroom still looking cool, untouched, almost virginal" (5). Ironically, what Ted thought about women is what really happened to him and Victoria. Sex is only a means for Victoria to get what she really wanted. "They didn't really know that making it was not a glorious experience, but only a necessary one" (6). After making sure that the man is not looking, she makes her exit. "Then Ted realized that his clothes were gone. His underwear, his shirt, his pants, his car keys and wallet, his cash, his shoes, his stockings, everything. On another impulse he looked under the bed. Nothing And as he did he saw two words scrawled on the dresser mirror in pink lipstick: "GOODBYE BUDDHA!" (7). Victoria takes everything from Ted and even leaves him literally bare and helpless. Conclusion The female characters in these stories are not really held at a high regard. They are even depicted as stereotypes - women as sex objects, created for men's pleasure. The men in the stories do not show respect on women in general. However, it is interesting to know that deep inside a woman's frail and helpless image is one vital person who is able to enjoy life and live normally, if not victoriously. These are stories of revelation. The autobiographical way of presenting fiction makes it an effective way of taking the reader into the plot, making the reading of the story a personal experience. Munro has a more complicated style but the use of the first person point view brings it closer to the reader. Bukowski's style of simple and down-to-earth presentation is indeed reader-friendly, one quality that makes him attractive to a large number of readers, educated and not, young and old, and belonging to all walks of life. Both stories are interesting, worth reading and distinct in themselves but I like Fooling Marie better, I had a good laugh after I first read it. Works Cited: "Alice Munro Biography." Argot Language Center. (26 October 2007) Alice Munro Biography (adapted from the Meyer Literature site). (26 October 2007) "Charles Bukowski." The Beat Page. (26 October 2007) Hopwood, Jon C. IMDb Mini Biography. (26 October 2007) Read More