Eva’s ManWhile reading the novel Eva’s Man, written by Gayle Jones, an evident theme isestablished. This is a twisted story of love and betrayal in the engrossingpsychological portrait of Eva Medina Canada. The author intertwines recollectionof actual events and imaginativeness to expose an existence plagued by sexualand emotional revilement. It is a narrative which will definitely remain inone’s mind, long after the cover of the book has been closed. The apparenttheme in Eva’s Man appears to be ” a deepened exploration of the woman’sinner life: of the pressures, the cruelties, and the imposedexpectations”(bn.
com 1). In this book, Eva has more sexual knowledge then mostgirls her age. She grows up in an environment where she is sexually harassed bypeople whom she respects and is supposed to look up to. Eva turns out to be avery confused soul in her later years. The novel jumps from one story toanother.
It seems apparent that she is telling the story, because some of herstatements are facts and others are events she fantasized. In the present senseof the narrative, Eva is imprisoned for the peculiar murder of her lover, Davis,and recalling the events that lead up to his murder. . though in no particularorder. Though the story may seem bizarre, Eva actually falls into the clich? ofthe minds of women incarcerated for murder. For example, “women offenders aremore likely to kill a lover than other victim categories”(DOCS 1).
Davis wasEva’s lover; a freaky one at that. Another common characteristic of womenmurderers is a history of abuse. “It is estimated that from 40 to Arias 2 78percent of women who killed their husbands or boyfriends were abused”(DOCS 1). Davis was a very controlling man. He always denied Eva’s wishes and kept herin a locked up room like she was a dog. Furthermore, the age group to which Evafalls is just another similarity to the common attributes which are displayed.
“. . the average female incarcerated for murder was 35 or older. .
“(DOCS 2). Eva was 35 in this novel. In essence, the story seems to be an ironicallytwisted imitation of today’s statistics. It is the best way of showing thecruelties women face which directs to the theme of Eva’s Man. Another of thesubstantial objectives the theme of the novel tries to imply is the pressurewomen face in a male-dominated society. In the book, men are definitelyportrayed negatively.
Women have no mind of their own; men control them. The mensexually and emotionally repress the women in the book. An example of this isEva’s cousin, Alfonso. He constantly pressures her to have sexual encounterswith him and puts her down as well as makes her feel like he is her boss. . theultimate authority over her.
This happens with every relationship Eva, or anyother woman in the story, faces. Men say, “Jump!!”. Women say, “Howhigh?”. It’s absolutely pathetic and demoralizing. In addition to crueltyand pressure being imposed on women, another noticeable point of the book is toshow how imposed expectations can corrupt someone.
Eva was always expected to becourteous and respect everyone, and the fact that these people she was supposedto respect mistreated her polluted her morality and soul. Eventually she bursted,and ended up committing a heinous crime. It almost foreshadows the solecism ofmankind. All in all, Eva’s Man, by Gayle Jones, had a theme which proved to beclear and evident. . .
it is a view of feminism, and how women are badly treatedby men. The story carefully follows the depiction of a nice woman, turnedpsychopath, over the emotional and sexual abuse Arias 3 she has encounteredthroughout her 35 years of existence. The author twists reality and fantasy tokeep the reader interested and involved. A woman can definitely feel the senseof pain Eva went through, even though this particular feeling isn’t a goodone. It actually makes one despise men!! In nature, the theme of the story wasapparent yet somewhat discomforting.
