Gender Roles
Hemingway writes “Up in Michigan” in his classic masculine prose. His male characters are portrayed as very masculine, although Jim is described as not looking like a blacksmith. There is little dialogue from the males yet a lot of physical description. In fact, one paragraph shows how Liz objectifies Jim sexually, repeating the phrase "she liked it." Liz Coates is described as small, neat, and clean.
The gender roles in this story are very clearly defined. The final four lines, however, introduce a possible interpretation that Jim is emasculated, curled up in a drunken ball, possibly cold, and Liz takes off her coat and carefully wraps him up, and then she leaves him lying on the dock in the middle of the night.
The story utilizes stereotypical masculine and feminine gender roles, with Jim as not thoughtful yet active, and Liz as more perceptive but passive.
Read more about this topic: Up In Michigan
Famous quotes containing the words gender and/or roles:
“Most women of [the WW II] generation have but one image of good motherhood—the one their mothers embodied. . . . Anything done “for the sake of the children” justified, even ennobled the mother’s role. Motherhood was tantamount to martyrdom during that unique era when children were gods. Those who appeared to put their own needs first were castigated and shunned—the ultimate damnation for a gender trained to be wholly dependent on the acceptance and praise of others.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Modern women are squeezed between the devil and the deep blue sea, and there are no lifeboats out there in the form of public policies designed to help these women combine their roles as mothers and as workers.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)