Michal Golis (330988)

prof. Mgr. Milada Frankov, Csc., M.A.

AJ54013: Britsk spisovatelky na pelomu tiscilet
29th April 2014

Have the Men Had Enough A Commentary

Have the men had enough? When it first appears in Forsters book the question simply
expresses grandmas concern for the men she has always taken care of. Have they eaten
enough or are they still hungry? However, when the completely innocuous question from the
books title is placed in a different context it assumes radically different connotations. Have
the women had enough? Enough running the household while trying to take care of their old
parents, enough sleepless nights of having to attend to them, enough hopelessness, exhaustion
and desperation.
While Forster does not really get involved in the Feminist debate by overtly
advocating the issues of emancipation of women or accusing the British society of being
patriarchal or discriminatory, the very fact that she is posing such a question can be
interpreted as a way of female empowerment, questioning pre-conceived Western beliefs
about gender roles and family structure. The core of the books attention, however, is not
centered around the questions of gender roles. What Have the Men Had Enough primarily
focuses on is the place of the elderly, senile and dying in the British society and family. It is
both an intimate and moving portrayal of an ordinary familys desperate efforts to deal with
the situation of a grandmothers increasing physical and mental deterioration as well as an
unflinching critical look on the failure of the British social system to take care of its old
people.

What makes the questions posed by the book so poignant and provocative is the fact
that they are not presented by an impersonal 3rd person narrator nor through the cold and
rational lens of the books male characters but by young Hannah who, in spite of her doubts
and second thoughts, takes care of her grandmother and shows strong feelings towards her.
Hannah is furthermore speaking in the present tense, reflecting her active concern for the
present moment and future unlike her aunt Jenny, the books second narrator, whose chapters
are narrated strictly in the past quite passively and unquestioningly accepting everything as
it comes. By choosing Hannah as the books narrator Forster does not position herself in the
role of a moralist who has all the answers but, conversely, shows the ambivalence and
complexity of the questions she poses, which makes their asking all that more imperative.
Why dont more people kill themselves when they get old? Why do relatives not kill old
people more? What is the point of keeping old people alive anyway? Havent the women had
enough as well as the men? (13-14)
Even though these questions have probably crossed the minds of all of the books
characters, Forster portrays a number of different attitudes towards and ways of coping with
the situation which the family members assume. As her sons Stuart and Charlie are not
willing to deal with their mothers condition, preferring instead to pay for professional care,
the bulk of responsibility lies on the women in the family Bridget, Jenny and Hannah. While
Bridget is probably the only member of the family who truly loves grandma, both Jenny and
Hannah show genuine care about her wellbeing. In the end, in spite of their profound personal
differences and disagreements the family is united by the tragedy they all have to face in one
way or another.