Kesner 1 Matthew Kesner CAS 114B Professor Zelaya 24 April 2014 Equality In The Household In The Good Cripple

by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, the main character, Juan Luis Luna, is the son of a father who is known for his great success and wealth. Juan Luis Luna is abducted and tortured in order to gain a ransom from his father. The kidnappers forced Juan Luis to write letters to his father in order to gain ransom. When the first letter is sent to his father and there was no message or ransom back, Juan Luis gets tortured even more. This results in ligaments and outer extremities to be cut off and sent to his father to pressure him to pay the ransom. When Ana Lucia received a body part, she went straight to Juan Luis father and convinced him to pay the ransom to save her boyfriend. Without Ana Lucias persuasion and perseverance, Don Carlos Luna would not have paid the ransom and save her boyfriend. Guatemalan Society has been successful in educating girls and young women, thus making a major contribution to the social development of the village in a society that is highly male dominant(Tzej). Juan Luis Luna and Ana Lucias relationship moves from Juan being the dominant one to Ana due to circumstances. In The Good Cripple, there is an attempt to reverse the traditional male-dominant gender dynamics in Guatemala. Male dominance in the text presents the necessary tension for female roles to overcome male roles. Without male dominance, female roles could not overtake those roles and thus causes the fight against male authority. An example of this male dominance is Juan Luis going to a brothel. He thought no one would see him there but his father found out and confronted him. Not

Kesner 2 only was Juan going to visit the prostitutes, he was also talking to Don Carlos trying to get information out of him. He looked around to be sure they were alone, (Rosa 90) and then proceeded to do the things he should not have done as a married man. Going to brothels are frowned upon, yet Juan Luis went anyway. He still loves his wife but apparently, what she does not know will not hurt her. Ana Lucia knows that Juan Luis has been doing things she knows he should not be doing but she [did not] want to know anything (116). After returning from her trip with her male friend, she came running into Juan Luis arms like nothing had ever happened even though she knew something did. In this instance the male dominance is very present and Juan Luis can do whatever he wants without any consequences. Also, something to notice is that women are not allowed to be with any other man besides their husbands but Ana Lucia goes by her own rules and Juan Luis trusts her. Juans dominance allows Ana to rebel and fight for what she wants to do because since he was immobile, she had to do the things not a normal housewife would have done. Ana Lucia asserts her authority and takes over the household when needed to. Usually the women of the household would stay at home and do the cooking and cleaning. In the article Women Heading Households: Some More Equal than Others?" Ann Varley states that the womens duties are to upkeep the houses cleanliness. This is an example of how Ana Lucia has rebelled against the norm of womens roles. When Juan Luis was in danger and Ana Lucia had to take over, she kept the authoritative figure of the house in order to keep them safe. While she cleaned the house and prepared the food, Juan Luis would write his novels and regain strength. As Juan Luis started writing again, (113) Ana Lucia was right by his side supporting him all through it all. Throughout the novel, it demonstrates the idea of female empowerment happening within society through Ana Lucia. Ana Lucia is full of enthusiasm She [wants] to study

Kesner 3 anthropology at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin and take private classes in one of the Mayan languages (page 83). Ana Lucia is not the standard Guatemalan woman who is bound to the household, she wants to get a degree and truly learn something. The roles of women have truly changed and Ana Lucia is a great example of how women have changed and how they are becoming their own person with a voice.

In the article Women Heading Households: Some More Equal than Others? by Ann Varley, it explains that households are now being run by the women and not the men. Being the head of the household means you are a single decision maker representing members shared interests (Varley). It is said that there are two major methods to defining the meaning of the head of the household. One method is a person who controls the care and upkeep of the household or the other method is one who controls the authority of the household (Varley). Usually the female would follow the first method, which is to keep the house clean and do the chores. But in this novel, its expressed that Ana Lucia chooses the method of controlling the authority of the household. Ana Lucia does not control everything, Juan Luis still has dominance but Ana Lucia also has a say in every decision. Ana Lucia is not the usual housewife that cooks and cleans, she is more authoritative and sticks up for what she believes in. Ana Lucia has a say in her and Juan Luis life because their relationship is based off of equality. Since Juan Luis was immobile for a while, Ana Lucia had to take care of the household and keep them financially stable. Male dominance is present throughout the novel but Ana Lucia breaks up the male dominance and asserts herself. The female roles are becoming more prominent and independent yet still strong and intellectual. Ana attempts and succeeds to reverse the traditional male-dominant gender dynamics in Guatemala.

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Works Cited

Rosa, Rodrigo Rey. The Good Cripple. New York: New Directions Pub., 2004. Print Tzej, Santa Maria. "An Empowering Educational History." Guatemala Partnership 25 Years of Community and Sharing. Guatemalapartners, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.guatemalapartners.org/home/education/>. Varley, Ann. "Women Heading Households: Some More Equal than Others?" World Development 24.3 (1996): 505-20. 22 Feb. 1999. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. <http://ac.elscdn.com/0305750X95001497/1-s2.0-0305750X95001497-main.pdf?_tid=84de27aac58e-11e3-92b100000aacb35d&acdnat=1397670345_7646ec408acc8febd671abf8a57f5869>.