Gossips and Their Role in Human Life - Essay Example

Gossips and Their Role in Human Life Human psychology represents numerous peculiarities of people’s life driven by certain temperamental attributes. In particular, female nature is largely associated with appetite for thoughts and deeds free of logics. At least, such an impression comes out from men’s perception of women, which does not lack a dose of skepticism and is resulted from stereotypical thinking. Still, everyday experience of direct or indirect interaction with women gives a proof of the latter’s predisposition to some incapable for explanation practice of so-called innocent groundless conversations about everything and everybody from their inner and outer circle, which very often gives birth to gossips. Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man” introduces females’ gossips in their negative and even somewhat destructive for people’s comfort character, which is only able to stimulate human mental activity. To begin with it must be said that settings of Eudora Welty’s work perform a vivid picture of numerous beauty salons for women all over the world in a point of a typical situation for such a context when a hairdresser, a manicurist or a stylist interacts with his or her client both in professional way and through discussions of any possible themes. Surely, this practice cannot be considered as permanent one, but under conditions of living in a small town women very often use services of the same beauty parlor the whole life. Rather than anywhere else, masters of beauty salons become those persons who are able not only make women attractive but also assist them with different issues and questions through input. Naturally, such an atmosphere adds to gossip sharing. And talks between Leota and Mrs. Fletcher are the case in point. The two women are engaged into a conversation during which Mrs. Fletcher gets to hear that ladies in the town spread the news of her pregnancy. The newcomer Mrs. Pike and another woman allow themselves to talk with their masters within the salon as well as outside it about private life of Mrs. Fletcher whose real state even cannot be supposed due to such miserable and non-obvious proofs as loss of hair and visit to the drugstore. One way or another, such an activity as gossiping is seen by Leota as ordinary and non-harmful one, since she notices her habit to fill in pauses with some phrases just to make talk. In fact, the woman even does not catch the idea of possible negative consequences of those chitchats due to the fact that she perceives her female companions as “…somebody didn’t mean to harm in the world” (Welty 438). However, Leota understands the hollowness of gossips emphasizing “What people don’t know don’t hurt nobody… ” (Welty 439), without regard to their stable negative impact for people’s comfort at any rate. Consequently, she feels free at hearing Mrs. Pike’s betting of Mrs. Fletcher gestational age: “… lady’s three months on the way” (Welty 440). So, without any evidences in support of their words both Leota and Mrs. Pike go in for bruiting being guided by their so-called holy motives. Undoubtedly, the origins of gossips or rather to say predisposition for their spread must go under analysis for the whole understanding of the issue. The question is human literacy in general and women competence in particular. There seems clear that Leota’s speech is full of elementary errors, which give the reader a lively idea of her academic background. As for the case of Mrs. Fletcher who is associated with the victim of gossips, she is characterized with a well-bread speech, self-composed spirits and probably a social training that does not enable her active part in supporting of gossips about people. Anyway, this small attribute may help in viewing of the whole picture of the situation, in which Mrs. Fletcher has found herself and which puts her to moral inconvenience with its main aspect of emotional tension. The third main character of the gossip story is Mrs. Pike appearing in the conversation in indirect way through representation of Leota. Taking into consideration the issue of female gossiping it turns to be entirely possible that the beautician has concocted Mrs. Pike’s participation in it just to show her innocence in the eyes of her client. But backing to the primary notion of Mrs. Pike contribution to the spread of gossips of Mrs. Fletcher’s pregnancy, the latter’s emotional response to the news of the main gossiper’s (Mrs. Pike) planned departure is quite understandable. It is rooted in emotional discomfort of Mrs. Fletcher caused by knowing that people discuss her private life due to the words of the chatty women, and Mrs. Pike is one of them. In such a context, Mrs. Fletcher’s feeling of relief is natural, if to consider it from psychological aspect. Moreover, in this connection the woman’s irritation of Billy Boy, the three-year-old son of Mrs. Pike may be counted as transference of negative treatment from his mother to her son, as personification of the gossiper. The response of Mrs. Fletcher to hearing of gossips about her personal life comes out according to her desire of opposition to chatty groundless words of the women, since her principle sounds like “Women have to stand up for themselves, or there’s just no telling” (Welty 444). Quite literally, the victim of gossips tries to argue against those news exemplifying objective facts from her life, but in fact they sound as poor arguments for Leota and cause only discomfort for Mrs. Fletcher. As we can see, gossips may bring positive emotions only to those persons who create and spread them, while so-called victims of gossiping suffer from emotional and moral lacerations. Evidently, the title of Eudora Welty’s work, Petrified Man, may bear a particular message in terms of gossips as well. If to imagine a situation of a woman’s visit to a beauty salon, it depicts a female’s sitting position with her head being constantly in such a head posture convenient for a master who handles a brush and scissors during the process of haircutting. This refers to a position in which a petrified man in the travelling freak show sits: “All he can do, he can move his head just a quarter of inch. A course he looks just terrible” (Welty 441). Actually, the same actions are operated by ladies during their stay in the armchair of a hairdresser, which do not only execute his or her primary professional duties but also plays a role of a companion in conversation. Now, after analysis of Mrs. Fletcher’s situation, it goes without question that workers of beauty salons may serve as circulators. As for the role of their clients, they turn in those petrified men, as they just sit freezing and listen to true and untrue stories presenting by their masters. Surely, there is no harm from true stories if only they are not secret. But in the case of untrue ones, they very often appear to be simple gossips with no positive effects for people. In the last analysis, the author’s moral sounds in the closing phrase of Billy Boy, that is, “If you are so smart, why ain’t you rich?”(Welty 447), which may be estimated as a call to stop gossiping for the benefit of women. One way or another, these words of the three-year-old boy reflect the whole miserableness and disappointments of the life of some females who are involved in invention and spread of gossips. Indeed, women with successful personal and professional life just have no time or desire to be engaged in such an ignoble business as tattling. That’s why all their power and efforts are directed at achievement of beneficial objectives, not hollow ones, which are able to give only training of tongue muscles as a minimum and imagination as a maximum. All things considered then Eudora Welty’s “Petrified Man” provides the vivid example of gossiping in action by the means of representing all essential aspects of the issue, including origins, process of development and spread, and aftereffects for people. By the example of Mrs. Fletcher’s state of pregnancy in the eyes of her female town fellows the author underlines the role of beauty salon in spread of gossips among ladies and at the same time gives the particular prescription for negotiation of that very women’s state, which may contribute to birth of tattles and further worsening of females’ disappointed position instead of moving towards success. Works Cited Welty, Eudora. Petrified Man. 1939. Read More