Pledges, Vows and Pass this Note.
Pledges, Vows and Pass this Note was written by the Australian author Frank Moorhouse. Frank became a full time author in the 1970’s and won numerous awards including the Miles Franklin Literary Award. This short story was contained in the book Room Service written in 1985.
The traditionally culturally ascribed dominant representations of gender and their place in relationships are elements which are interwoven throughout the whole text. To be able to ascertain who was speaking by being there and listening to an oral conversation is the easiest way to understand text and connotations. In my initial reading I had to decide who was speaking, the context and the stage of their life purely from the text. It was upon rereading the story and really focusing on the narrative that dominant gender stereotypes stood out. If there is to be a text that we have discussed in class that has feminist criticism dripping off the page then I believe this is the one. Feminist critics have stated texts generally categorise women in four roles and this story covers three of those ranging from a dutiful daughter to bad woman to nurturing mother (Moon 2007, 43). The young girl, who insisted she be home by a certain hour, didn’t want to have sex and the sex should be special. These are themes commonly associated with females in a dominant reading, representing the beliefs predominant in western culture (Moon 2007, 129)
Group discussion led to a difference of opinion on who was speaking what lines.
The disagreements can be affected by the communication each reader is receiving from the text. Every person in my study group constructed meanings too the text based on the tools or the application of a reading practice they brought with them. The females read the story with a resistant view that challenged the cultural beliefs upon which the story is based (Moon 2007, 129). Upon rereading this text I found myself positioned in my gendered role as a male who has indeed passed a girl a note asking if she liked me. I have kissed a girl for the first time and had sex for the first time. My cultural repertoire is shaped from growing up in a western country where it is allowed and seen as cute when boys and girls blow kisses to each other. In some cultures and religions this story contrast seems completely sinful in fact can be punished by death. I have in my life seen a woman arrested and had her children removed for having coffee with a man in his house who wasn’t her husband.
I struggled firstly with the sequential way the text was structured. Upon rereading this text I noticed there is a lot of gender representation. Stereotyped representations of masculinity and femineity are pervasive in the text by the roles and identities the characters portray (Moon 2007, 57) Through the use of representation and narrative I saw a pair of underclass children/youths/adults in a 1950’s setting. I would see it differently if I was in a strict religion where such acts have and still do lead to death.
Upon rereading I thought of the interesting structure of the text and its impact on the level of enjoyment that I gained from the story. Point of view describes the various ways of narrating a story 1st, 2nd or 3rd person or omniscient. Focalisation is the technique allowing the narrative to be presented from a particular point of view (Manfred 1996, 241). This text is written in the 1st person but juxtaposing two points of view to emote contrasting feelings for each character.
The teaching strategy I would employ for this story is a character analysis. Questions would consist of what types of people are the characters, what parts of the story made you feel sympathy, anger, judgement for the characters and in what ways has society formed your opinions on the characters (Kim, J. 2008). The students would then form groups and share their findings.
I enjoyed this story, I recognise it for its predictable and redundant pattern that becomes clearer as you reread. I believe I do bring a level of resistant reading through life experience than only my dominant gender belief stipulates. My mother went through the same process just before I was born and after having twelve moves by the time I was 16 we did roam the world but not always at will.
Reference List
Jahn, Manfred. (1996). Windows of focalization: Deconstructing and reconstructing a narratological concept. Style, 30(2), 241-267. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from Academic Research Library. (Document ID: 10574822).
Kim, J. (2008). A ROMANCE WITH NARRATIVE INQUIRY: Toward an Act of Narrative Theorizing. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 10(1/2), 251-267,304. Retrieved September 16, 2010, from ProQuest Education Journals. (Document ID: 1666787361).
Moon, B. (2007). Literary Terms, A Practical Glossary (2nd ed.). Western Australia: PK Print
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