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Sylvia Plaths poem Daddy and Joyce Carol Oates short story Where are you going, Where are you been? Question the typical womans role in society. Daddy explores the authors relationship with her father, using analogies to emphasize his power over her. Where are you going? Where are you been? portrays the main characters world as being highly dependent on men and their decisions. Hence, a reoccurring theme of both literary pieces is a gender power imbalance and the influence of patriarchal values on womens lives.
The morbid description of men in the pieces aids in portraying them as unresponsive, careless, and at the same time extremely powerful compared to the female characters. In Daddy, Sylvia Plath compares her father to a shoe, a restricting object that did not let her breathe or Achoo (Plath, 1992, p.1). Already the analogy introduces a negative male trait that has evidently limited her freedom. Moreover, the word Daddy itself creates a power gap between the father figure and the child addressing him; yet assuming the author is not a child, this word is specifically used to infantilize the speaker.
Joyce Carol Oates demonstrates a different form of power imbalance through the description of Connies father. He is barely present for any of the conflicts and events in the story: he didnt bother talking to them (Oates, 1991, p.1). The fathers of her friends appear only to drive them around while staying sleepy and pleased (Oates, 1991, p.2). Although minimal effort is made to take part in their families lives and show interest in their loved ones, the mens absence is normalized and ignored. Furthermore, the female characters are highly dependent on their husbands and fathers to complete daily tasks, demonstrating the influence of a patriarchal society on a womans life.
The grandness of the father in Daddy is further emphasized through the child-like language and no set rhyme scheme, which ultimately lowers the maturity level, and, therefore, the credibility of the female speaker. The poem contains many instances of repetition, starting from the first line, while the rhyming throughout the piece does not follow a specific pattern. In the end, this writing style offered a sense of reading a nursery rhyme, which once again signifies a contrast between the speaker and her father. Although no description of the daughter is offered, the style of the poem, as well as the mentioned feelings of limited freedom, suggest a miserable life to which the patriarchal values have evidently contributed.
Connies visual portrayals, along with her characterization, are reflections of a patriarchal society, as she becomes ideal for reckless and manipulative relationships with men. More than that, her adolescent life is solely based on boys and romance. The values that society prioritizes are adopted by the character to the point where her only interests in life are related to pleasing and communicating with boys. Connie repeatedly chooses her male acquaintances over female friends, as it seems far more mature that way. At the same time, mentally, she remains a young girl trapped under restricting social constructs.
The influence of patriarchal values on womens lives is clear from the multiple war analogies in Plaths Daddy. The speaker compares her relationship with her father to one between a Jewish person and a Nazi during the Second World War (Plath, 1992, p.2). Furthermore, she provides details: Not God but a swastika, your Luftwaffe, and brute heart to accentuate the image of her father as a fascist (Plath, 1992, p.2). Evidently, the speaker feels trapped, dominated, and restricted in her freedom. In that way, the child-like writing style, along with the harsh analogies for a father, aids in exploring the negative effect a power imbalance can have on a person. Still, the speaker notes that Every woman adores a Fascist, signifying that not only is the violence normalized, but it has also been taught to be loved and appreciated by women (Plath, 1992, p.2). The power imbalance negatively influences the daughters mental state, but the generally acceptable reaction to such relationships remains neutral.
Finally, another aspect of the theme is explored through the manipulative ways a male figure contributes to Connie leaving her childhood behind in Where are you going, Where are you been? As the adolescent spent her teenage years engaging in various interactions with boys, even her final step into adulthood was exploited by presumably a much older Arnold Friend. The story accentuates all of the main negative points of living in a male-dominated world. Having no responsible father figure and, therefore, standards for a good man, Connie is then faced with violence and possibly sexual exploitation from the mysterious Arnold Friend. The stories devastating ending illustrates the consequences of young girls growing up in a world with powerful and manipulative people.
In that way, the two literary pieces demonstrate the theme of power imbalance rooted in gender inequality and the influence of such issues on womens mental and physical states. The poem Daddy explores a confined relationship between a father and a daughter, as the speaker depicts the fathers evil nature through analogies and war references. On the other hand, Where are you going? Where are you been? reveals a dark story about a young girl becoming a victim of the manipulative patriarchal motives of society. In both pieces, the authors reflect on the social trends of their historical era and emphasize the importance of change.
References
Oates, J. C. (1991). Where are you going, where have you been? The Ontario Review, Inc.
Plath, S. (1992). Daddy. HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
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