Compare the degree to which Mansfield creates negativity around her portrayal of the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher.Examine how her choice of language supports this view.
Mansfield creates negativity by showing the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher as very controlling, power-hungry men, who are constantly trying to make others inferior and slave-like. This is shown by the way that these two men speak to others. Herr Brechenmacher speaks to his wife as if she is his slave and should obey his every demand, "come fasten this buckle". The Boss also speaks to others as if demanding a slave around, "Bring me some fresh blotting paper". This is also shown by the items which the two men posses. For the Boss she puts emphasis on the size of the item's in his office "great green-leather armchair", showing that he needs big items to feel important and powerful. For Herr Brechenmacher she shows his importance and power by the clothes he wears, and the quality of them compared to his wife's.
The choice of tone that Mansfield uses also creates this negative portrayal of these men. She uses quite a sarcastic tone whenever she mentions an item that the Boss or Herr would be proud of. She mocks Herr Brechenmacher's shinny buttons, saying that they were "shining with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possibly posses". Mansfield is showing that Herr believes this is true, that his buttons are shining with enthusiasm. However, by using a sarcastic tone she is showing us that this is not the case, Herr Brechenmacher just has a big ego and is trying to be superior and official. Mansfield also mocks the Boss when she talks about his "pearly sausages glowing so softly in the tilted copper pan". She is showing that the Boss also has a big ego, and tries to flaunt his power by putting out his nice possessions. They are not actually pearly sausages in a copper pan, but she is making a contrast how they look like them and are not in fact powerful possessions.
Katherine Mansfield uses strong adverbs, dialogue, a tone of sarcasm and superiority and a great deal of self importance in the male protagonist, to create negativity around her portrayal of the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher. Both Herr Brechenmacher and the Boss have little care for other characters, believing that they are the most powerful, dominant and respected men; it is their world, others just live in it!
Herr Brechenmacher shows dominance as Mansfield uses strong adverbs such as ‘strode’ and ‘flung’ to suggest his powerful actions. She uses a tone of sarcasm as she speaks of him in his outfit, ‘He stood in the kitchen puffing himself out, the buttons on his blue uniform shining with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possibly possess.’ Here it is as though Mansfield is mocking Herr Brechenmacher’s pride in his appearance, his poor wife after all, was sent to dress in the dark! Mansfield also uses description to show how even though Herr Brechenmacher desires control of his wife and life; he has lost his control over his rather overweight body. For example, Mansfield writes of Frau Brechenmacher’s efforts to get her husband looking neat and tidy, even though his trousers are, ‘Straining at the waist buckle.’
The Boss is also a character who shows off and boasts however in this story he does so about his office. Mansfield writes, ‘As a matter of fact he was proud of his room; he liked to have it admired, especially by old Woodifield.’ This truly reflects her negative attitude towards men and their love of praise. The Boss is portrayed as mighty and strapping by the author who shows this through the dialogue which the Boss uses to interact with other characters. For example when the Boss speaks to Macey he says, ‘Bring me some fresh plotting paper, and look sharp about it.’ This shows how he looks down upon his assistant and does not think the need to be polite to someone of Macey’s ‘status.’ The tone of superiority is shown here and this reflects upon Mansfield’s portrayal of men in her short stories.
Mansfield shows the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher to be superior to all, (in their own opinions) and they prove this by ruling the lives of others. Herr Brechenmacher controls his children, but mainly his wife through physical and mental abuse and the Boss controls old Woodifield, Macey and even the little fly which he eventually kills.
Mansfield creates a similar degree of negativity around her character of the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher by describing their size in comparison to others. In ‘The Fly’, the Boss is repeatedly described as “stout” “thick” and “fat” these all give impressions of his considerable size and rotund figure. However, Woodifield is likened to a “baby,” to being “frail” and “quavered”. The choice of language all have connotations of slightness and smallness, and is contrasted against the Boss’ large size. This symbolizes the power balance between the two ‘friends’. The contrast in size symbolises how the boss domineers over Woodifield and derives “deep solid satisfaction’ from intimidating this small vulnerable figure. Mansfield thus creates negativity around the boss for delighting in exploiting such a pitiful figure. Whilst again, in ‘Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding’ “the father” or the Herr is described as needing repeated “straining” and a number of “little pulls” to fit into him into his uniform. This implies the Herr is of a considerable gate and overweight. Whilst the Frau is referred to as “little” in contrast to him, and likened to a child when interacting with the Herr. Once more the “little” and concept of a “child” create an air of smallness and vulnerability around the Frau. So when she is directly contrasted to the Herr in the next sentence after describing his girth, it symbolizes how he is the dominant one in the relationship. The sizes represent he power balance. This again creates negativity around the Herr as he is seen to eat most of the food, and thus is gaining strength from weakening the Frau. Thus both characters exude negativity through their preying off the more vulnerable.
Mansfield also creates negativity around the characters by demonstrating how they abuse the roles of their relationships. Woodifield is deemed the Boss’ “friend” and yet commands him to “drink it down..don’t put any water in it.” This use of imperatives creates a forceful, commandeering feel to the words. In a similar vien he orders Macey to “bring me some fresh blotting paper” and once again the imperatives create a dictatorial tone. The link of the imperatives ties the two statements together and shows how both the ‘friend’ and the subordinate are treated the same by the boss. Thus showing how the Boss thinks as little of his friends as he does his subordinates. This creates negativity as it violates the expectation of respect and equality friendships should have. The Herr enters “stamping” and proceeds to announce “nothing’s ready,” after it has been established (through the use of the adjective “terrible”) that the getting ready process has been quite an ordeal – with much being done. This shows the Herr’s lack of interest and concern for the Frau as he doesn’t bother to ask her how she has been and simply expresses his pre formed opinion. Furthermore, the Frau describes her love life with the Herr by her feeling like “a child who expected to be hurt” when the Herr enters the bedroom. The use of “hurt” shows the physical pain the Herr inflicts on the Frau, and thus shows his abuse of her. The use of “child” conjures up a sense of vulnerability and makes the suggestion of the rape that follows even more heinous as she seems childlike and powerless to stop him. So once more the Herr violates the expectations of concern, interest, love and respect that marriage is supposed to be based on. Thus the Boss’ and the Herr’s pollution of friendship and love conjures negativity around them as it shows how they can degrade something as special as friendship and love.
Mansfield’s two characters, the boss and Herr Brechenmacher, are described negatively to a great degree. Their controlling, abusive and misogynistic personalities stir an unsympathetic response and a lack of positive connection from the reader for these two males. A big part of the negativity created towards these characters comes from Mansfield’s personal tone coming through the narration. When describing them, the author often uses a sarcastic tone. This allows the reader to both see what the characters think of themselves, as well as how distorted and wrong this perception is. As the Herr displays his uniform to his wife, “the buttons on his blue uniform shin(ed) with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possess.” This shows the immense pride the Herr feels at his uniform and the authority he believes he has because of the power having a uniform brings. However, the ironic truth is that he is only a postman- allowing Mansfield’s attitude towards the character’s overblown confidence to come through, with the use of sarcasm. In comparison, when the boss gives his friend Woodifield the whiskey, “he lovingly shows (him) the label.” This expresses the boss’ idea of self-importance and the fact that he thinks he is kind to his friend. While the rest of the story only reveals that the boss is anything but kind, especially in this case, when he ignores the possible effect of the whiskey on Woodifield’s condition. The truth of the circumstance allows Mansfield to yet again use the sarcastic tone and show what she thinks of this man. Additionally, the verbs Mansfield uses for the men in their dialogue increases this negativity. Marching into the house for the first time, the Herr “cried” his first line of disrespect to his wife. This verb portrays a negative sense of power, as if he is shouting around the house and at his wife without listening to her, in lack of respect. In contrast, when the boss “cried” that he knows “a bit more than the ladies”, the disrespectful content of the line is supported in the description of its delivery. The use of the word also gives a sense of arrogance and projection because of the confidence in his ideas.
To create negativity around her portrayal, Mansfield uses imperatives in the dialogue of both the boss and Herr Brechenmacher's characters. This helps to create a sense that these two men believe themselves to be in a powerful, dominant role as they order the other, seemingly weaker characters in the story, around. This helps to create an undesirable persona for both the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher, which create negativity in the mind of the reader. Herr Brechenmacher speaks to his wife in commands, he tells her to “dress in the passage.” This is demeaning to Frau’s character as it implies that her husband believes that she doesn’t need to look nice and he doesn’t care about what she looks like. He again orders her to “come along,” this again show how the use of an imperative emphasises Herr’s detachment to his wife as he bosses her around like a slave. These imperatives are used to create a sense of sympathy toward the Frau and therefore a degree of negativity towards her husband. The boss, too, uses imperatives when he addresses Macey, ‘bring me some fresh blotting paper,” this shows the bosses superiority towards Macey as he is able to command him to do anything. The boss feels the need to control the people/ characters around him and he does this through his dialogue (i.e. the imperatives). Mansfield uses this to create negativity towards this character; and also subsequent characters such as Herr Brechenmacher, as the reader feels more inclined to side with and feel sympathy toward the underdog that is being push and ordered around. In this case Macey.
Katherine Mansfield's protagonists, the boss and Herr Brechenmacher are portrayed to be boar headed chauvinists in both their physicality and dominating personalities. Herr B. is ridiculed by Mansfield by poking fun at the fact that in however many years he has been a postman he has let himself go. We know this because in helping him prepare for the wedding he and his wife are attending, the Frau is straining at the waist buckle when she tidies him up. The boss however is although another large man is portrayed more positively, but from a characters perspective, Mr Woodifield. In Mr Woodifield's stream of that we find the the boss is, stout, rosy, five years older than he, and still going strong, showing that although Mansfield may dissaprove of the fat men, society wasn't always so agreeable.
Also both characters have very self centred and egotastic natures. The boss is manipulative in his pursuit of power and admiration, creating a persona in which his peers and hopefully his superiors, buy into. While to his inferiors, or those not important enough to fuel his ego through their respect and praise, he dominates and treats as servants. "I'll see nobody for half an hour, Macey," said the boss. "Understand? Nobody at all." Herr B. on the other hand has no time for creating personas and illusions of grandness. He quite simply acts as the dictator of the house. He comes home with unreasonable demands and exspectations of his family. His ego is lacking in the importance that it needs because his job as a postman is obviously very unforfilling, his marridge is obviously not one of love and his personality leaves no immediate traces of any positive traits. And so uses his family (as he doesn't have any love for them) as the solution to lack of power and self esteem.
Mansfield portrays a sense of negativity in both The Boss and Herr Brechenmacher, simply by referring to them as "The Boss" And "The Father". By doing this she dehumanises them, taking any empathy the reader could feel for the characters and transforming it into a feeling of almost fear. She also uses imperatives to create a negative feeling towards the characters. We see this when Herr Brechenmacher wants to dress in the room himself, telling her "You go and dress in the passage." This portrays a controlling and also selfish personality, qualities even more present in the Boss. When talking to his employees the boss constantly use's imperatives, to show his power and dominance. For example, when the boss talks to his assistant Macey, "bring me some fresh blotting paper"..."And look sharp about it". This again portrays the boss as controlling and superior. Negativity is also shown through the positions the characters hold, and how they abuse their power in those positions. The Boss is constantly speaking down to Macey and Woodifield , telling Woodifield that the whiskey "wouldn't hurt a child", a very condescending statement/cliche to tell an adult. Although he refers to at least Woodifield as a "friend", this treatment of him shows that he probably treats all people with this air of inferiority abusing his role, not only as the boss, but probably also as a father .
It is this role of father that Herr Brechenmacher abuses very readily. ALthough he provides for his family, and would be considered a very capable father social standards of the time, he is clearly abuses the power he holds as head of the family. We see this through the treatment of Frau Brechenmacher when he returns from work, "Now, then, where are my clothes?....What are you doing? You're not dressed. You can't go like that", already assuming that she hasn't prepared anything and almost insulting her. We also see a much more violent abuse of power at the end of the story, where Mansfield suggests that rape will follow. Finally we see the negativity of the characters through Mansfield sarcasm when she refers to symbols of their importance. In the Boss's case she metaphorically refers to his prized electric heating as "five transparent, pearly sausages glowing so softly in the tilted copper pan." In an even more aggressive mockery she refers to Herr Brechenmacher as "puffing himself out, the buttons on his blue uniform shining with an enthusiasm that nothing but official buttons could possibly possess." The irony of this is of course that he is only a postman and holds little too no power in society. With this mockery, Mansfield takes away the power and unhuman features of the characters and shows them as what they truly are, Mortal, Selfish and pathetic people.
Some really insightful comments particularly about the portrayal of male mysogyny!! An extra challenge is to weigh up the degree of sympathy. I think part of the answer lies with the power they continue to have and how much"humanity" she allows them to have.Perhaps she allows us to see inside the Boss a little and see that he has i.e. the limited point of view influences our view! I look forward to other postings!
Mansfield creates negativity by showing the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher as very controlling, power-hungry men, who are constantly trying to make others inferior and slave-like. This is shown by the way that these two men speak to others. Herr Brechenmacher speaks to his wife as if she is his slave and should obey his every demand, "come fasten this buckle". The Boss also speaks to others as if demanding a slave around, "Bring me some fresh blotting paper". This is also shown by the items which the two men posses. For the Boss she puts emphasis on the size of the item's in his office "great green-leather armchair", showing that he needs big items to feel important and powerful. For Herr Brechenmacher she shows his importance and power by the clothes he wears, and the quality of them compared to his wife's.
ReplyDeleteThe choice of tone that Mansfield uses also creates this negative portrayal of these men. She uses quite a sarcastic tone whenever she mentions an item that the Boss or Herr would be proud of. She mocks Herr Brechenmacher's shinny buttons, saying that they were "shining with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possibly posses". Mansfield is showing that Herr believes this is true, that his buttons are shining with enthusiasm. However, by using a sarcastic tone she is showing us that this is not the case, Herr Brechenmacher just has a big ego and is trying to be superior and official. Mansfield also mocks the Boss when she talks about his "pearly sausages glowing so softly in the tilted copper pan". She is showing that the Boss also has a big ego, and tries to flaunt his power by putting out his nice possessions. They are not actually pearly sausages in a copper pan, but she is making a contrast how they look like them and are not in fact powerful possessions.
Katherine Mansfield uses strong adverbs, dialogue, a tone of sarcasm and superiority and a great deal of self importance in the male protagonist, to create negativity around her portrayal of the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher. Both Herr Brechenmacher and the Boss have little care for other characters, believing that they are the most powerful, dominant and respected men; it is their world, others just live in it!
ReplyDeleteHerr Brechenmacher shows dominance as Mansfield uses strong adverbs such as ‘strode’ and ‘flung’ to suggest his powerful actions. She uses a tone of sarcasm as she speaks of him in his outfit, ‘He stood in the kitchen puffing himself out, the buttons on his blue uniform shining with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possibly possess.’ Here it is as though Mansfield is mocking Herr Brechenmacher’s pride in his appearance, his poor wife after all, was sent to dress in the dark! Mansfield also uses description to show how even though Herr Brechenmacher desires control of his wife and life; he has lost his control over his rather overweight body. For example, Mansfield writes of Frau Brechenmacher’s efforts to get her husband looking neat and tidy, even though his trousers are, ‘Straining at the waist buckle.’
The Boss is also a character who shows off and boasts however in this story he does so about his office. Mansfield writes, ‘As a matter of fact he was proud of his room; he liked to have it admired, especially by old Woodifield.’ This truly reflects her negative attitude towards men and their love of praise. The Boss is portrayed as mighty and strapping by the author who shows this through the dialogue which the Boss uses to interact with other characters. For example when the Boss speaks to Macey he says, ‘Bring me some fresh plotting paper, and look sharp about it.’ This shows how he looks down upon his assistant and does not think the need to be polite to someone of Macey’s ‘status.’ The tone of superiority is shown here and this reflects upon Mansfield’s portrayal of men in her short stories.
Mansfield shows the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher to be superior to all, (in their own opinions) and they prove this by ruling the lives of others. Herr Brechenmacher controls his children, but mainly his wife through physical and mental abuse and the Boss controls old Woodifield, Macey and even the little fly which he eventually kills.
Mansfield creates a similar degree of negativity around her character of the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher by describing their size in comparison to others. In ‘The Fly’, the Boss is repeatedly described as “stout” “thick” and “fat” these all give impressions of his considerable size and rotund figure. However, Woodifield is likened to a “baby,” to being “frail” and “quavered”. The choice of language all have connotations of slightness and smallness, and is contrasted against the Boss’ large size. This symbolizes the power balance between the two ‘friends’. The contrast in size symbolises how the boss domineers over Woodifield and derives “deep solid satisfaction’ from intimidating this small vulnerable figure. Mansfield thus creates negativity around the boss for delighting in exploiting such a pitiful figure. Whilst again, in ‘Frau Brechenmacher attends a wedding’ “the father” or the Herr is described as needing repeated “straining” and a number of “little pulls” to fit into him into his uniform. This implies the Herr is of a considerable gate and overweight. Whilst the Frau is referred to as “little” in contrast to him, and likened to a child when interacting with the Herr. Once more the “little” and concept of a “child” create an air of smallness and vulnerability around the Frau. So when she is directly contrasted to the Herr in the next sentence after describing his girth, it symbolizes how he is the dominant one in the relationship. The sizes represent he power balance. This again creates negativity around the Herr as he is seen to eat most of the food, and thus is gaining strength from weakening the Frau. Thus both characters exude negativity through their preying off the more vulnerable.
ReplyDeleteMansfield also creates negativity around the characters by demonstrating how they abuse the roles of their relationships. Woodifield is deemed the Boss’ “friend” and yet commands him to “drink it down..don’t put any water in it.” This use of imperatives creates a forceful, commandeering feel to the words. In a similar vien he orders Macey to “bring me some fresh blotting paper” and once again the imperatives create a dictatorial tone. The link of the imperatives ties the two statements together and shows how both the ‘friend’ and the subordinate are treated the same by the boss. Thus showing how the Boss thinks as little of his friends as he does his subordinates. This creates negativity as it violates the expectation of respect and equality friendships should have. The Herr enters “stamping” and proceeds to announce “nothing’s ready,” after it has been established (through the use of the adjective “terrible”) that the getting ready process has been quite an ordeal – with much being done. This shows the Herr’s lack of interest and concern for the Frau as he doesn’t bother to ask her how she has been and simply expresses his pre formed opinion. Furthermore, the Frau describes her love life with the Herr by her feeling like “a child who expected to be hurt” when the Herr enters the bedroom. The use of “hurt” shows the physical pain the Herr inflicts on the Frau, and thus shows his abuse of her. The use of “child” conjures up a sense of vulnerability and makes the suggestion of the rape that follows even more heinous as she seems childlike and powerless to stop him. So once more the Herr violates the expectations of concern, interest, love and respect that marriage is supposed to be based on. Thus the Boss’ and the Herr’s pollution of friendship and love conjures negativity around them as it shows how they can degrade something as special as friendship and love.
Mansfield’s two characters, the boss and Herr Brechenmacher, are described negatively to a great degree. Their controlling, abusive and misogynistic personalities stir an unsympathetic response and a lack of positive connection from the reader for these two males.
ReplyDeleteA big part of the negativity created towards these characters comes from Mansfield’s personal tone coming through the narration. When describing them, the author often uses a sarcastic tone. This allows the reader to both see what the characters think of themselves, as well as how distorted and wrong this perception is. As the Herr displays his uniform to his wife, “the buttons on his blue uniform shin(ed) with an enthusiasm which nothing but official buttons could possess.” This shows the immense pride the Herr feels at his uniform and the authority he believes he has because of the power having a uniform brings. However, the ironic truth is that he is only a postman- allowing Mansfield’s attitude towards the character’s overblown confidence to come through, with the use of sarcasm. In comparison, when the boss gives his friend Woodifield the whiskey, “he lovingly shows (him) the label.” This expresses the boss’ idea of self-importance and the fact that he thinks he is kind to his friend. While the rest of the story only reveals that the boss is anything but kind, especially in this case, when he ignores the possible effect of the whiskey on Woodifield’s condition. The truth of the circumstance allows Mansfield to yet again use the sarcastic tone and show what she thinks of this man.
Additionally, the verbs Mansfield uses for the men in their dialogue increases this negativity. Marching into the house for the first time, the Herr “cried” his first line of disrespect to his wife. This verb portrays a negative sense of power, as if he is shouting around the house and at his wife without listening to her, in lack of respect. In contrast, when the boss “cried” that he knows “a bit more than the ladies”, the disrespectful content of the line is supported in the description of its delivery. The use of the word also gives a sense of arrogance and projection because of the confidence in his ideas.
To create negativity around her portrayal, Mansfield uses imperatives in the dialogue of both the boss and Herr Brechenmacher's characters. This helps to create a sense that these two men believe themselves to be in a powerful, dominant role as they order the other, seemingly weaker characters in the story, around. This helps to create an undesirable persona for both the Boss and Herr Brechenmacher, which create negativity in the mind of the reader.
ReplyDeleteHerr Brechenmacher speaks to his wife in commands, he tells her to “dress in the passage.” This is demeaning to Frau’s character as it implies that her husband believes that she doesn’t need to look nice and he doesn’t care about what she looks like. He again orders her to “come along,” this again show how the use of an imperative emphasises Herr’s detachment to his wife as he bosses her around like a slave. These imperatives are used to create a sense of sympathy toward the Frau and therefore a degree of negativity towards her husband.
The boss, too, uses imperatives when he addresses Macey, ‘bring me some fresh blotting paper,” this shows the bosses superiority towards Macey as he is able to command him to do anything. The boss feels the need to control the people/ characters around him and he does this through his dialogue (i.e. the imperatives). Mansfield uses this to create negativity towards this character; and also subsequent characters such as Herr Brechenmacher, as the reader feels more inclined to side with and feel sympathy toward the underdog that is being push and ordered around. In this case Macey.
Katherine Mansfield's protagonists, the boss and Herr Brechenmacher are portrayed to be boar headed chauvinists in both their physicality and dominating personalities. Herr B. is ridiculed by Mansfield by poking fun at the fact that in however many years he has been a postman he has let himself go. We know this because in helping him prepare for the wedding he and his wife are attending, the Frau is straining at the waist buckle when she tidies him up. The boss however is although another large man is portrayed more positively, but from a characters perspective, Mr Woodifield. In Mr Woodifield's stream of that we find the the boss is, stout, rosy, five years older than he, and still going strong, showing that although Mansfield may dissaprove of the fat men, society wasn't always so agreeable.
ReplyDeleteAlso both characters have very self centred and egotastic natures. The boss is manipulative in his pursuit of power and admiration, creating a persona in which his peers and hopefully his superiors, buy into. While to his inferiors, or those not important enough to fuel his ego through their respect and praise, he dominates and treats as servants. "I'll see nobody for half an hour, Macey," said the boss. "Understand? Nobody at all." Herr B. on the other hand has no time for creating personas and illusions of grandness. He quite simply acts as the dictator of the house. He comes home with unreasonable demands and exspectations of his family. His ego is lacking in the importance that it needs because his job as a postman is obviously very unforfilling, his marridge is obviously not one of love and his personality leaves no immediate traces of any positive traits. And so uses his family (as he doesn't have any love for them) as the solution to lack of power and self esteem.
Mansfield portrays a sense of negativity in both The Boss and Herr Brechenmacher, simply by referring to them as "The Boss" And "The Father". By doing this she dehumanises them, taking any empathy the reader could feel for the characters and transforming it into a feeling of almost fear. She also uses imperatives to create a negative feeling towards the characters. We see this when Herr Brechenmacher wants to dress in the room himself, telling her "You go and dress in the passage." This portrays a controlling and also selfish personality, qualities even more present in the Boss. When talking to his employees the boss constantly use's imperatives, to show his power and dominance. For example, when the boss talks to his assistant Macey, "bring me some fresh blotting paper"..."And look sharp about it". This again portrays the boss as controlling and superior. Negativity is also shown through the positions the characters hold, and how they abuse their power in those positions. The Boss is constantly speaking down to Macey and Woodifield , telling Woodifield that the whiskey "wouldn't hurt a child", a very condescending statement/cliche to tell an adult. Although he refers to at least Woodifield as a "friend", this treatment of him shows that he probably treats all people with this air of inferiority abusing his role, not only as the boss, but probably also as a father .
ReplyDeleteIt is this role of father that Herr Brechenmacher abuses very readily. ALthough he provides for his family, and would be considered a very capable father social standards of the time, he is clearly abuses the power he holds as head of the family. We see this through the treatment of Frau Brechenmacher when he returns from work, "Now, then, where are my clothes?....What are you doing? You're not dressed. You can't go like that", already assuming that she hasn't prepared anything and almost insulting her. We also see a much more violent abuse of power at the end of the story, where Mansfield suggests that rape will follow.
Finally we see the negativity of the characters through Mansfield sarcasm when she refers to symbols of their importance. In the Boss's case she metaphorically refers to his prized electric heating as "five transparent, pearly sausages glowing so softly in the tilted copper pan." In an even more aggressive mockery she refers to Herr Brechenmacher as "puffing himself out, the buttons on his blue uniform shining with an enthusiasm that nothing but official buttons could possibly possess." The irony of this is of course that he is only a postman and holds little too no power in society. With this mockery, Mansfield takes away the power and unhuman features of the characters and shows them as what they truly are, Mortal, Selfish and pathetic people.
Some really insightful comments particularly about the portrayal of male mysogyny!! An extra challenge is to weigh up the degree of sympathy. I think part of the answer lies with the power they continue to have and how much"humanity" she allows them to have.Perhaps she allows us to see inside the Boss a little and see that he has i.e. the limited point of view influences our view! I look forward to other postings!
ReplyDelete