Abusive Father

This quote comes from the narrator/main character of Meridel Le Sueur’s The Girl. “You never forget your father, I said, he is like dead eye sockets looking at you” (37).

I chose this quote because it captures many of the themes that are present throughout Le Sueur’s The Girl. First, this quote shows the male domination over females throughout the story. This male dominance is shown through multiple stories of verbal and physical violence towards women, including the relationship between the narrator and her father.

Second, the poor relationship between the father and the daughter might explain the narrator’s fearfulness, shyness, and innocence towards both men and the world around her. This helps Le Sueur tell the story in a very unique and creative way. The Girl takes place with a group of rough and rowdy patrons spending much of their time raising some sort of havoc in the legal and illegal nature. The author’s bullied, apprehensive state allows for the reader to explore the characters and the storyline from an interesting angle. The story would be much different if was told by someone such as Ganz, the brute, aggressive muscle of the book.
Lastly, this quote is important because the narrator’s relationship with her father is very much a product of the turbulent times she is living in. The story takes place in the middle of the depression. Jobs are scarce, people are on edge and angry. There is a desperation and meanness in the air. The story is filled with characters fighting off their pasts, attempting to deal with the present, while hoping for the future. It is clear that the main character, the relationships she builds, are a by-product of her environment.

One more important thing about this quote is that it is exemplifies another abusive relationships that has begun to show up in many of our readings in this class. In A Report to an Academy it is Red Peter and his abusive supervisor/trainer. In Theatre of the Oppressed there is the story of the illiterate woman realizing she was holding onto love letters from her husband’s mistress instead of important documents. Conflict and abuse seem to be a major part of most of the stories we have read and this offers another example from a new perspective.