Description of Women in Latino Literature - Essay Example

Latino Literature Angie Cruz is one of the renowned of all times and she has made it very far in the literature world having various effects on the different types of people that engage in reading her books. One of her most successful books goes by the name Soledad. Soledad is a novel that discusses many issues that contemporary women go through in society. It is important to analyze the different themes in terms of repercussions that the novel has. This is by indulging in an in depth analysis of the book and consequently understand the plight of women in the contemporary society. Soledad is the girl in the novel that takes up the lead role. She is portrayed as a highly rebellious girl who did not like being around her family. This was from the fact that she had just got to her teenage years and was thus finding it hard to comply with the wishes of her mother. It is normal for girls of this age to act in that manner; however, Soledad’s case was worse than that of the average teenage. Most of the issues that she had with the adults in her village was concerning the men in her life (Cruz 134). Individually, the description of women is also as that of beings that could not apply self-control. This notion arises from the fact that despite the amount of love that Madame had for her husband, the manipulative moves made by Vicomte eventually weigh her down and she ends up cheating on her husband. Another point is where young Cecile de Volanges gets corrupted by Marquise de Merteuil. She does not bear the inner power to refuse the offers made to her and she eventually falls into temptations. Another novel to focus on is Fanny Hill published in the year 1748. The most outstanding perception of women in the novel is that of tools of sex. This negative perception is portrayed from the high amounts of prostitution present in London. The major character in the story, Funny Hill, goes through a lot being a new girl in the big city of London. She is taken to a brothel where she gets to meet other girls who have already admitted to the lifestyle of prostitution from the high amounts of sex that they have with customers (Cleland 123). Individually, the perception of women is that of beings that lack self-respect. This is from the fact that those expressed in the erotic novel have vigorous sex with any financially stable person for a price. This extends to a great deal even to a point where there is lesbian sex going on in the brothel. The Nun is another novel to review in focusing on the societal view of women. In this novel, the outstanding theme and concept is that of religion and the description of the manner in which parents force the female gender at a young age to carry out various activities characterized as societal norms. In the novel, the story depicted is that of a woman forced to enter a convent in an early age so that she could carry out various holy duties (Diderot 72). This novel portrays women as a weak sex that carries out duties upon order and does not have the ability to make individual decisions. Further revelation in the text is at the point where the nun does various sexual favors at the convent among other unethical behaviors. The novels show the treatment of women in the 18th century and the various traits that they portrayed. It is important to understand the past position of women in society in an effort to provide a better future for them in terms of equality. With this, there is the assurance of greater development in society. Before the war had become serious, the nurses were given a bulk of injured patients and instructed to cure them within a given time span. This was influential, as it would help them prepare both psychologically and physically for the type of work that they would be doing in the fields. When the war would get harder and the enemy groups getting close, there would be many casualties and thus the need of competence on the side of the nurses to help cure soldiers fast. Upon healing, the soldiers were required back on the field to continue with the war so as not to lender their side shorthanded due to lack of soldiers. The nurses also had basic training of how to use a compass and a radio alert. This was important because not every time could the soldiers manage to bring back the wounded soldiers to the camp base. With the compass and the radio, the soldiers in the field could make radio alerts to the nurses. The radios had different signals through which they had an open line of communication. They would ask for assistance and give the required directives and bearings (Neel 37). The women on the other hand with the basic training of compass use could follow the directives and carry the basic medical requirements needed for fast aid and set off towards the place they were required. As mentioned, to go to the field, the women nurses had to bear basic training. Some of the army officers had the power to choose the people to go out to war as nurses and take them through training. The training of being a nurse came much after the basic survival training process in the field. This training involved activities such as marching and weapon handling. Many young girls applied for these positions in an effort to get a break from the monotony experienced in their houses that was cooking and washing (Neel 84). The nurses in the field went through a very hard time in their efforts to treat the casualties. This is due to the lack of proper medical working artillery. In those earlier days, the medical equipments were very poor and could not heal or cure the patients in quick form unlike the contemporary days. However, the nurse tried their best to ensure that all their soldiers were on their feet working hard. Another problem that the women nurses faced was the type of medicinal allocation that they were carrying out. This is because the available medical equipments were for training people in bulk just like their general training. The nurses had other severe problems in the carrying out of their practice. This is due to the type of weaponry used by the soldiers at the time. Not only did the soldiers use guns and other usual assault equipments but also used chemicals in an effort to make the rivals suffer a lot. One of the most common bombs that the soldiers used was the acidic bomb. This kind of bomb was made of phosphorus and Napalm. This kind of bomb that upon inflicting on the skin of the soldiers could cut deep. The phosphorus burns the skin as deep as the bone. The nurses thus had a very difficult time trying to recover such patients and many are times that patients died in their hands (Neel 113). Emotional problems were the most witnessed on the side of the nurses as compared to the physical problems witnessed by the actual soldiers. This is due to the fact that the women were witnessed to bear a kind and gentle heart that was easily touched on the sight of injured and hurt people. Some of the nurses were very resistant to treat the soldiers because they feared the extent at which the injuries went. In such situation or rather at the sight of the coward side of a nurse, there was the following of various instructions that included going through the harsh orientation process all over again. The orientation process for the nurses was one of the most feared parts of the job description due to what they went through. There is the recalling of one nurse remembering some scissors thrown to her and receiving orders that she should be more competent and stop gazing around while the patient in question was bleeding out. The nurses had a difficult time as they were exposed to numerous diseases some of which were airborne thus making them weak and sick too. This was very detrimental to the winning of the war because the soldiers would continue dying with no one in particular to assist get back to war. The nurses also came across the treatment of diseases that they had not come across before in their line of work. An example of the disease is tuberculosis and many of the soldiers died from it as the nurses were yet to come up with the cure to the disease. Nurses of the Vietnam wear went through more misery that the nurses of the previous wars (Gurney 31). This is due to the advent of technology that had them face much more serious injuries from weapons of high technology. Due to the inability of the nurses to handle the high influx of wounded soldiers, the United States started shipping in more of their nurses to help calm the situation. However, the nurses that were shipped in did not have any training on the battlefront and if they had, they did not have over 6 months training in place and hence suffered a great deal. Many of the soldiers due to stress and other associated factors, some of the soldiers began abusing drugs and it was not long before a group of them became drug addicts. This was very detrimental to their fighting skills as they became weaker and weaker and hence some nurses got the specific job of becoming psychiatrists (Gurney 57). The organization of nurses that covered all the nurses’ issues around the Vietnam War was referred to as the Army Nurse Cops that was started around April of 1956. The organization trained some of the illiterate nurses on the way to perfect their skills out in the field. The nurses were in attachment form the mother organization in the United States referred to as Military Assistance Advisory Group. The organization started well but as the war became tougher and tougher, so did their field of operation. There were around 5000 nurses deployed to serve in the specific areas. On the issue of nurse leadership, this responsibility was taken by the most experienced category of nurses. Colonel Anna Maehays and Mildread Clerk were the heads of the Army Nurse Cops. The first position ever taken by a female in the war was that of a nurse consultant. This was a position that was inside the office of the chief surgeon. The position was temporary though later in 1966, the position was influential and thus was made a permanent one. The main duty of the chief nurse was to assist the surgeon when there was a large influx of sick people. She was also in charge of overseeing all nurse activities. The standard operation procedures had to run through her for cross checking. There was a category of nurses that was very contentious was that of married couples. In the Vietnam War, different nurses had different squads of fighters. This was influential for the optimal performance of work. However, one of the rules that run the war was that married couples could not get same fighting squad. This is because when an injured officer could make his way to the camp with a serious condition, the attention of the respective wife could be deterred. The nurse could pay more attention to the husband that would deter her from making legit decisions (Caylor 73). In situations where this could not be changed, the only way to deal with such situations was by asking the army soldiers and the wives to separate for a temporary period to assist each of them make decisions that were not only beneficial to the family but to the whole fighting group. Some nurses despite the constant warnings given, could not follow instructions. This is one of the reasons leading to some of them falling pregnant while in the job. Such women were put into the next flight back to the United States. Despite all the conditions experienced in the Vietnam, some of the most talented women nurses though pregnant could not be let go and thus had to bear their children in Vietnam. This was important, as no skills were willing to be wasted. Despite the fact that there were women soldiers in the war, nurses were also very important in the defeat of the rival. One of their characteristics that they had to get when joining the Association of Nurses was basic fighting skills. This skills did not just waste but at some time they came to be very effective (Quinn 341). There were several times that the nurses could be ambushed at their basis of operations and their security guards beaten up by the rivals. The rivals did this in an effort to get the women nurses and rape them. However, due to basic training, not many nurses were taken away. They could use their training tactics to an advantage over the tired and worn out soldiers putting them down instantaneously. The women nurses were also able to defend their injured casualties as they continued healing. The army colonel also asked for the assistance of the nurses to watch some of the specific places that the soldiers of the rival group were passing through. They could go dressed up in their nurse uniforms and pretend to be of the same team as their rivals. This was some form of spying that done for their soldiers. Through this, they could be able to attain valuable information that they passed on to their soldiers in a coded form (Davis 64). Most of the fighters from the opposite group could also go to them in need of help and for the grant of their last wish before death, could pass all the relevant information to the nurses in an effort to get the required medication. This was one of the tactics the used to retrieve information from the soldiers. This was important also, as the nurses were able to acquire some of the medical equipments that they did not have from the rival teams and thus the improvement of their working facilities was in order. This tactic was the best used by the nurses and was quite appealing. Some of the women who cared a lot went out of their nursing profession and carried weapons and food at times that they found many casualties making their way to the health centers. Their instincts told them that their men out there were running out of resources and could thus use some refilling and aid. The nurses carried weapons and took them to the soldiers out there. Also for the regain of energy, the nurses could persevere the hard conditions and manage to prepare some meals for the soldiers (Murphy 43). Some of the survival tactics involved enabled the women to learn more medicinal procedures and could get medicinal herbs from which they drew juice and put into the meals that they either they gave the military women to take to the men or even in worse conditions took the meals to them directly. Work Cited Cruz, Angie. Soledad. New York: McGraw Hill Publishers, 2008. Print. Quinn, Mary. Women at War. New York: Cengage Learning. 2009. Print. Caylor, Jennie. End of Tour Report, United States Army in Vietnam. London: Oxford University Press. 2008. Print. Read More