Reading journal about a book - Essay Example

Notations of Important Ideas in Club Dead “Bill had become almost as necessary to me as water; and not entirely because of my deep feelings for him” – Does this indicate that Sookie has a strong emotional need for male companionship and protection or just someone to justify her strength and capability? What gender does this envision?Where exactly does Sookie’s sexuality play into her gender performance as this seems to underpin much of how she views relationships and her relevancy within the vampire clique?

A substantial focus of her life. Sookie seems to hold onto a strong sense of morality and ethics. What serves as the foundation for this?Sookie grabs Eric’s hand as though “it was a lifeline”. Is she a strong person or really just emotionally-weak, choosing to give a more aggressive and self-sufficient persona to others?Sookie is constantly second-guessing herself and mulling over things excessively. How does this translate into gender for this character? Is this normal for a woman?Sookie keeps romance novels in her suitcase.

Is this an obsession, a method of building identity in an environment that requires strong-willed and dominant individuals?What does Sookie’s blood and other vampire reactions to it have to do with gender roles and how does this translate into her role within the clique?Sookie reinforces that being comforted by Eric is important for improving her negative emotional states? How should this interpret the legitimate persona of Sookie?A Discussion of Club Dead One of the main complexities of the book is Sookie’s character, illustrating a deep need for emotional and sexual gratification by others which confuses her identity and how she should be perceived in the story.

While others are deeply concerned about her well-being, which Sookie clearly appreciates, she questions herself regularly and over-analyzes scenarios with a deep concern that she might betray, offend or otherwise harm others. Sex is a major theme which Sookie seems to equate with acceptance and approval, yet in some ways it seems to be a mockery to this character. She is duplicitous, for sure, and this impacts what she chooses to give to others when describing death, friendship, betrayal and other concepts.

From a gender perspective, there is little method by which to clearly classify what type of gender persona she really is enacted; or desires to enact. Her obsession with cuddling and physical embrace seems to be the only method by which she finds comfort in her own identity. When she is more aggressive and assertive, she keeps it to her thoughts, such as stating that she is mad at another person, but chooses not to express this openly. She seems to internalize many of her conflicts, making it so that others in her social environment remain unaware that she is so duplicitous and complex.

In one situation, she says of Alcide, “screw him” to show indifference, yet she dreams of making love to Alcide secretly. It seems she wants others to believe she is self-sufficient, confident and strong, but in reality it is the need for romance that drives the majority of her motivations. Far from discussing the storyline in-depth, it is Sookie’s complexity of character and personality and how it chooses to present itself to others that makes the story so compelling in terms of gender identity and gender performances.