Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Topic Regarding The Big Money: I am interested in observations regarding Dos Passos' treatment of gender--be sure you read the "Margo Dowling" narrative as well as the last on "Richard Savage," if this interests you as well. I believe Dos Passos's depiction of sex has been little analyzed: the practicalities of birth control and stds, the issue of sexual violence, of the sex trade etc. Dr. Perry
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This remark seems feeble, and obvious, but I wonder if the constraints of the time period actually make it more graphic.
ReplyDeleteWe can think of Faulkner (but we shouldn't because in his novels sex is never sexy) or Hemingway. In A Farewell to Arms, the erotic moments of Katherine and Fredrick occur between the lines in the endless space of white. He can't show it, but we are free to imagine.
When Margo is raped by Frank, the violence must occur beyond what we can see, as it does in Greek tragedy, and I must admit these pages had me squirming with discomfort as a result.