Vulnerability The Narrations of Female Subordination
female ’s body. It shows how the girls’ vulvas are being compared to apple strudel, a
kind of cake. This comparison is an explicit attempt to objectify female’s body as a
vulnerable entity which can be enjoyed like a piece of cake. This is done by equalizing it with apple strudel. This narration is intentionally used as a slur. Slur is
derogative word aimed to degrade others. Vulva as female genital has a significant meaning to female’s sexuality. The narration above shows the subjugation of female
sexualities by males. This subjugation is narrated through the objectification of female
’s body in a slur. This comparison to an inanimate object shows the stereotype of female
’s vulnerability in society. The narration of female’s vulnerability is also depicted explicitly by stating
that female’s body is indeed vulnerable. This paragraph below shows the narration of Marie La
ure’s fragile body in the novel.
The girl emerges from the bakery, steps neatly off the curbstone, and makes straight for him. The poodle squats to relieve itself on the cobbles,
and the girl veers neatly to her left to skirt it. She approaches Werner for a second time, her lips working softly, counting to herself
— deux trois quatre
—coming so close he can count the freckles on her nose, smell the loaf of bread in her knapsack. A million droplets of fog bead up on the fuzz of her
wool dress and along the warp of her hair, and the light outlines her in silver. He stands riveted. Her long pale neck seems to him, as it passes,
incredibly vulnerable Doerr, 2014: 412
It is said that Marie Laure emerges from the bakery to go back to Etienne’s house. In the bakery, Werner meets her and starts commenting in his mind about her
physical appearance. Marie Laure is depicted as a fragile and powerless girl. She is a tender girl with a vulnerable neck according to the narrator. Moreover, the word
“incredibly” in the passage above also shows the level of fragility which Marie has. This narration shows
how a female’s body has been narrated as fragile not only once. Tenderness is also an example of the elements which constructs female
’s gender and reflects the vulnerability of women. The tenderness which is commonly
associated to women by society is the soft gesture of female’s hospitality and
kindness. These behaviors show the soft side of human beings. There is nothing wrong to be a tender being. However, constantly associating females to tender
behaviors is a different matter. It will create a problem if tenderness in females is equalized with their inability to be tough individuals. Females can also be tough
figures with determination. An example of how tenderness is constructed can be seen from this narration below. This narration reflects the warm side of a human.
Eggs crack. Butter pops in a hot pan. Her father is telling an abridged story of their flight, train stations, fearful crowds, omitting the stop in Evreux, but
soon all of Marie- Laure’s attention is absorbed by the smells blooming around
her: egg, spinach, melting cheese. An omelet arrives. She positions her face over its steam.
“May I please have a fork?” The old woman laughs: a laugh
Marie-Laure warms to immediately. In an instant a fork is fitted into her hand. The eggs taste like clouds. Like spun gold.
Madame Manec says, “I think she likes it,” and laughs again. Doerr, 2014: 121
This narration tells the kindness of Madame Manec to Marie Laure and her father as guests. Madame Manec voluntarily services them by cooking foods and
continually laughs. Madame Manec’s laughs become symbolical in the novel because there are no laughs which endorse tenderness except hers or the laughs of some
female figures. There is no tender laugh from male figures. The impression created
is, then, it is only females who can produce soft and nurturing behaviors. Below
narration about the women’s responses to war might also help to explain.
To hear so many of them in a room together confuses and excites Marie Laure: they are giddy when they should be serious, somber after jokes;
Madame Hébrard cries over the nonavailability of Demerara sugar; another woman‟s complaint about tobacco disintegrates midsentence into
hysterics about the phenomenal size of the
perfumer‟s backside. They
smell of stale bread, of stuffy living rooms crammed with dark titanic Breton furnishings. Doerr, 2014: 248
This paragraph tells the fragility of feelings and the tenderness of Madame Hebrard and other w
omen’s. Madame Hebrard is shown as crying over a merely kind of sugar. The others are also depicted as people who engage in trivial things and are
easy to be emotionally distracted by them. These women are associated to be emotionally sensitive and tender. The narration shows how mentally vulnerable they
are in that condition. They are not described as having any toughness quality to face the complex problems because of their tender and fragile states as women.
Many women in the novel are also depicted as kind people who love to help others. The narrations about them embody the quality of female beings as tender
beings. There is a strong sense of softness in their behaviors. This passage below may also show how tender they are.
In the days following the death of Madame Manec, Etienne does not come out of his study. Marie-Laure imagines him hunched on the davenport,
mumbling children’s rhymes and watching ghosts shuttle through the walls. Behind the door, his silence is so complete that she worries he has managed to
depart the world
altogether. “Uncle? Etienne?” Madame Blanchard walks Marie-
Laure to St. Vincent‟s for Madame Manec‟s memorial. Madame Fontineau cooks enough potato soup to last a week. Madame Guiboux
brings jam. Madame Ruelle, somehow, has baked a crumb cake. Doerr, 2014: 320
The passage elaborates the hospitality of female figures in the novel following
the death of Madame Manec. Those women are narrated as giving so much help to Etienne and Marie Laure during their hardships. However, this help is narrated as
stuffs related to domestic works only. It is narrated that those women voluntarily support Etienne and Marie Laure with foods as well as accompanying Marie Laure
for Madame Manec’s memorial. It is as if after the death of Madame Manec there is no one who can give any tenderness to the family except them. This conclusion is
clearly narrated on the above depiction. Furthermore, the unavailability of narration depicting the help from the male figures during their lowest phase also strengthens
the conclusion. Another
depiction of women’s vulnerability found in the novel is their jobs as domestic workers.
The novel continually narrates that women’s jobs are related to their tender characteristic. Being domestic workers are the common description of
their jobs. Most women are depicted as domestic workers although at the end of the story Marie Laure is depicted as an intellectual woman working in the museum and
Jutta as a teacher. These later descriptions still do not answer the women’s
vulnerability problem. To start explaining the matter, below is an example of the narrations.
She hears Madame Manec stand and collect the bowls and her father exhale cigarette smoke as though it is very heavy in his lungs and he is glad to
be rid of it. Doerr, 2014: 129
This depiction about domestic works is very controversial by contrasting the activity which is done by Madame Manec and Daniel Le Blanc, the father of Marie
Laure. Madame Manec is depicted collecting the bowls while Daniel is depicted smoking. This contrast narration shows how Madame Manec is just a mere inferior
maid while Daniel is superior because he is the nephew of the house’s owner. It gives
an impression that Madame Manec is a female who only does domestic jobs to satisfy her employer. A housemaid is apprehended as a housemaid. She exists to do all the
domestic jobs in the house. A person who does a domestic job must be a female. Therefore, helping her to do the jobs is not an important matter or a priority for a
male figure of power like Daniel in this context. It does not matter whether Madame Manec is an old lady or not or Daniel’s status as somebody who needs a shelter.
Daniel can simply enjoy his cigarette while he watches Madame Manec cleans the dishes. Another continuation of this pattern can be seen from this narration below.
Hours wear out and fall away. Marie-Laure sets a full plate outside Etienne‟s door at night and collects an empty plate in the morning. She
stands alone in Madame Manec’s room and smells peppermint, candle wax, six decades of loyalty. Housemaid, nurse, mother, confederate, counselor,
chef
—what ten thousand things was Madame Manec to Etienne? To them all? Doerr, 2014: 320
The above narration is from the time when Madame Manec finally died from pneumonia. Etienne Le Blanc as the master
as well as Daniel’s uncle and the owner of the house is depicted as frustrated because of the death of Madame Manec. From
the above narration, the one who continues to serve and do the domestic jobs is Marie Laure. Although she is blind, she still manages to prepare the food for her great uncle.
This shows that the domestic jobs still fall to a female figure again. Madame Manec is depicted as a central figure in the house in doing the domestic jobs. She is
represented as a mother to all people in the house. She continually nurtures and supplies them with tenderness as well as doing the domestic jobs.
The depiction of a female’s obligation as a nurturer which is defined narrowly as doing domestic works also can be seen from the narration of other females who
join the gathering in Madame Manec’s kitchen. This narration below shows how they are obliged to nurture their grandchildren.
Two women leave, claiming obligations involving grandchildren. Others tug at their blouses and rattle their chairs as though the temperature of the
kitchen has gone up. Six remain. Doerr, 2014: 249
The women are narrated previously as having a meeting to decide what roles they should take during the war. These two women above are narrated as leaving the
meeting because they should do their job immediately. Their jobs are depicted as involving their grandchildren. Moreover, it is also stated that these jobs are their
obligation. The narration, then, may be interpreted that these women probably are domestic workers. They are narrated as having to handle their grandchildren since
their roles in war are perceived as not necessary. Thus, they can go leaving the room to do their obligation. Obligation means it has to be done or one would be held
irresponsible for dismissing it. Babysitting their grandchildren is probably the work that they do. Babysitting is a nurturance job. It can also be defined simplistically as
domestic work due to its strong natural connection to the house and the family.
Nurturing children is actually the job of both males and females. However, the narration above shows that this job is only exclusively exercised by females. The
narration of where they meet in the kitchen can also be a valid reason to add that this group of women is indeed inherently subordinated through their roles as domestic
workers.