Critical Discourse Analysis on Girls at War

By. Intan Nur Charina (146332049)

Dian Natalia S (146332009)
Melania Prischa Mendrofa (146332035)
1. What ideologies does the short story express?
The short story expresses the ideology of sexism where women are considered as secondary
or subordinate to the men. This ideology can be seen throughout the plot, especially in
Nwankwos attitude toward Gladys. In the opening scene, it can be seen how Nwankwo
scorns the womens seriousness and enthusiasm to join the war. The womens marching and
demonstration are teased and equated to the little kids march, as if women are powerless and
feeble to do anything in the war. It is as if that war is mens business that has nothing to do
with the women. In his first encounter with Gladys, Nwankwo has already asserted his
authoritative judgment that Gladys will not be needed in militia. From this it can be seen
Gladys is discriminated in public domain due to her sex, as if womens place is only
restricted in private sphere like home or school in Gladys case. In his second encounter with
Gladys in the Awka check-point, Nwankwo shows his admiration for Gladys devotion in
doing her work. He impresses with Gladys total submission under military order. The way
Gladys does her work is asserting the authority of the masculine. In his third encounter with
Gladys, Nwankwo notices Gladys degradation from innocent girl into debauched woman
based on his observation on the way Gladys dresses herself. Hastily, Nwankwo judges
Gladys as a mistress kept by a powerful man. He deplores what happens to Gladys, but still
he takes advantage from Gladys condition. He objectifies Gladys into sexual object which he
can use to satisfy his sexual pleasure. After getting sexual pleasure from Gladys, Nwankwo
broods over the moral degradation of Gladys. He deplores for terrible fate to befall whole
generation due to women debauchery. From this, it can be seen that Nwankwo holds the
masculine stereotype that there is no role other than motherhood or wifehood for women. At
first he judges the degradation as Gladys personal flaw, but later he realizes that Gladys is
just reflecting the degraded society during warfare time. As the authority figure, he then feels
duty-bound to redeem Gladys form her debauchery. This duty-bound redemption of Gladys
can be seen as a part of Nwankwos attempt to reassert his decaying moral superiority as a

man and authority. As depicted in the story, due to the hardship of warfare Nwankwo himself
becomes corruptive. For example it can be seen when he uses his influence as an official to
obtain some food, unfortunately under the eyes of a starving crowd who mock and taunt him.
Nwankwo realizes his own degradation, but he tries to repudiate the fact and find the
justification for it that he has to feed his wife and children who are completely dependent on
him. With this justification, he differentiates himself from his authority fellows who he
condemns for their moral degradation. Therefore, as he tries to reassert his decaying
masculinities and moral superiority, he feels duty-bound to redeem Gladys from her
debauchery. Nwankwos attitude toward Gladys shows the stereotype on the inferiority of
women. It is believed by men that during hardship or warfare, it is the women who are likely
to be the victims and easily to be morally degraded, and it is their duty to guide and direct the
women into the proper way. In the context of nation, women chastity and obedience to the
male is very important to secure the patriarchal interest on the women role as biological
reproducers of nations members. This subservience is enforced through prescribed role of
motherhood and wifehood.
The ideology of sexism can also be seen in the ending of the story where Gladys sacrifices
her life to save the military boy. In one hand, the ending shows the moral superiority of
Gladys. Despite, Gladys debauchery, she still has nobility in her heart to save the boy even
by risking her own life. In the other hand, the moral superiority is proven by following the
masculine stereotype of women as selfless and self-sacrifice. Different from men, women are
considered having superior moral if they are selfless and self-sacrifice.
Besides sexism, there is also ideology that shows the white superiority. In the party scene, it
is depicted that there are two white Red Cross people who join the party. When one of the
white men had drunk too much already, the drunk man expressed his anger on his white
friend futile death that he has died for unworthy people in the party who are ignorant of the
warfare suffering. From his anger, it can be seen how the lives of white men are highly
valued as if it is worthier than the lives of the black men who also has sacrificed their lives in
war.
2. What capitals does Nwankwo have?
As a male and Minister of Justice, Nwankwo has symbolic capitals through which he can
exercise his power and domination toward Gladys. Due to his symbolic capitals as authority,
he also has social capitals. His social capitals involves formal network of acquaintance and

recognition which gives returns through contacts, support and representation. The exertion of
his social capitals can be seen in the scene when he uses his personal contacts to jump the
queue and get preferential treatment. Besides that with his social capitals he is accepted into
the military social circle and has privilege to enjoy the party and carefree lifestyle of
bachelors.
3. How is Gladys attitude to Nwankwo?
Gladys does not show genuine respect to Nwankwo because of his hypocrisy and sexism.
Whenever Nwakwo is hypocrite in showing off his moral superiority, Gladys responses it
with silence. This can be seen in the scene when Nwankwo declares that he had sworn never
to dance as long as the war lasts. From Gladys negative response in form of silence, it can be
interpreted that Gladys doubts Nwankwos comradeship. If his feeling of fellowship and
sympathy for the soldiers, he will not come and have fun at the party. Gladys also gives
negative response to Nwankwo, when he gives sexist comment on Gladys girl friend who
tries to make a profit during warfare by selling beauty products. After being silent for a
while, Gladys revolts that it is the men who are responsible for it. Women beautify
themselves to fulfill mens expectation. Mens acceptance means the survival of the women
during the hardship of warfare.
4. How is Nwankwos attitude to Gladys?
Nwankwos attitude toward Gladys is exploitative because he needs Gladys to affirm his
moral superiority and masculinity. Nwankwo is exploitative toward Gladys in two ways:
first, he objectifies Gladys as sexual object or prostitute to satisfy his sexual pleasure; second,
he thinks of Gladys as morally inferior who needs to guided and redeemed by him. Both of
these exploitations are important to assert his moral superiority and masculinity not only over
Gladys body, but also her moral.
5. How is Nwankwo different from Gladys?
They are different in sex, social position and gender role. These differences lead to gender
inequality and masculine domination over the female. As a male, Nwankwo perceives
himself as morally and physically more superior than Gladys which he misuses to exploit
Gladys.
6. How does the author portray their relationship?
The author depicts the double standard in which Nwankwos affair with Gladys is considered
as something normal and sexual prowess of man, whereas the fact that Gladys is a mistress or
prostitute is highlighted as moral issue in the story.

7. What linguistic features does the author use to support the ideologies?
There are many sexist descriptions throughout the story. The sexism can be seen in the
linguistics features, such as word choice and the syntax. Some of them are:
a. That was in the first heady days of warlike preparation when thousands of young men
(and sometimes women too) were daily turned away from enlistment centres(p.35)
The addition of (and sometimes women too) after the thousands of young men and the
way it is treated with bracket is sexist because the women is given secondary importance
or less important addition in public domain like warfare.
b. He had seen plenty of girls and women marching and demonstrating now He didnt
doubt that the girls and the women took themselves seriously, they obviously did. But so
did the little kids. (p.35)
By comparing womens enthusiasms on warfare with the little kids enthusiasms, it is
clear that the intention of the speaker is to mock and sneer at womens participation in
warfare.
c. He had a wife and four children living in the remote village of Ogbu and completely
dependent on what relief he could find and send them. (p.36)
In this sentence the sexist term is use to describe woman based on the gender role wife.
Syntactically, the wife becomes the object or possession of Nwankwo. This sentence also
emphasizes the total dependency of the women toward men.
d. You were always beautiful, of course, but now you are a beauty queen (p.36)
She wore a high-tinted wig and a very expensive skirt and low-cut blouse. Her shoes,
obviously from Gabon, must have cost a fortune. In short,...she had to be in the keep of
some well-placed gentleman. (p.36)
This description of Gladys is sexist because it merely focuses on Gladys physical
appearance or the way she dresses herself. The adjective used to Gladys is always
beautiful instead of other adjective to refer to her personality. Gladys personalities are
totally ignored. It is through physical appearance that Nwankwo concludes that she is a
mistress of powerful man who can provide her with luxury.
e. I dont even know who asked me to come out today. (p.37)
Speech spoken by Gladys is a stereotypical for women that oneself is represented as the
recipient of actions.
f. He pulled her to him and kissed her.she yielded more and more and then fully
(p.37-38), He kissed her lips and eyes and mumbled something about victims of
circumstances. (p.40)

Gladys is represented as acted upon or object by Nwankwo. The word choice of kiss is
only used to represent mans action upon girl. When the woman gives response to the
kiss, the word kissing back is rarely used; the word used instead is yielded. The word
choice of victim is clearly sexist because women are seen as weak and inferior than men.
g. He drove off a little later to look in at the office and she busied herself in the kitchen
helping his boy with lunch (p.38)
There is a stereotypical division of sphere. The office is associated with masculine public
sphere, whereas the kitchen belongs to feminine private sphere. The helping boy is also
feminized and possessed by his master due to his low social status.
h. The man gave her fifty dollars (p.38)
This sentence is sexist because the man is represented as the actor, whereas woman is
represented as the recipient.
i. It would seem her powerful boy friend had wangled for her a flight to Libreville to
shop
This sentence is sexist because the man is represented as the actor and he is described
with adjective (powerful) that emphasizes his superiority than the woman. The woman is
represented as the beneficiary.
j. Great! said Nwankwo as they drove away, she will come back on an arms plane
loaded with shoes, wigs, pants, bras, cosmetics, and what have you, which she will sell
and make thousands of pounds. You girl are really at war, arent you? (p.38)
Nwankwos comment is sexist because he identifies women with beauty products and
mocks her materialism or loves for money. The tag question used here is affective tag
which invites the listener to comment on the speakers assertion. This tag question is used
by Nwankwo who feels that he is in control of the conversation.
k. even these girls who come here all dolled up and smiling, what are they worth? Dont
I know? A head of stockfish, thats all, or one American dollar and they are ready to
tumble into bed. (p.39) that although the man had been rude and offensive what he
had said about the girls was unfortunately the bitter truth, (p.39)
This speech is very sexist for seeing women body or sexuality can be commoditized in
low price.
l. He had his pleasure, but wrote the girl off. He might just as well as have slept with a
prostitute. It was clear as daylight to him now that she was kept by some army officers.
(p.40)

Gladys is objectified to give pleasure to Nwankwo and is labeled as prostitute who

provides the service. In the second sentence the use of passive sentence is used to
highlight the object position of Gladys as a mistress of men.
m. What a terrible fate to befall a whole generation! The mothers of tomorrow. (p.40)
The word choice mother is ideological because it prescribed women role as mother.
There is no possible respectable role for women other than as mother as biological
producer of nations member.
n. Difficult as things were, he thought, a girl who had something to eat would be spared, not
all, but some of the temptation. (p.40)
This sentence emphasizes the moral inferiority of Gladys to resist temptation. Even
though, Gladys is provided with enough food, it does not guarantee that she can resist
debauchery.
Ideology on the white superiority
a. Why should a man, a decent man, throw away his life. For nothing! Charley didnt
need to die. Not for this stinking place. Yes, everything stinks here (p.39)
The speech is racist and also sexist in the way how the speaker emphasizes the gender
and the character of the spoken subject through repetition. The emphasis shows that the
life of white man is more valuable and is not worth to be wasted in vain for the life of the
unworthy black men. The degradation of the black men is emphasized indirectly by
objectifying them as stink things.
Transitivity Analysis
The Systemic Functional Grammar analysis is also used to describe the linguistic features
used in the short story. The analysis involves the transitivity and modality analysis.
However, the analysis is limited to important quotations from the short story which
particularly depicts the interaction between Nwankwo and Gladys in the short story. The
analysis is used also to examine how the characters involved perceive each other and
judge each other as well as the way the characters generally perceive their world.
The analysis of the important parts is described as follows.

She had to be in the keep of some well-placed gentleman.

She

had to be

in the keep of some well-placed gentleman.

carrier Attributive: circumstantial

Attribute
The process shows that Gladys (she), as the carrier, was described by a clause which
has relational processes in terms of its ideational function. The relational process
involves the state of being (including). The attributive process involved in this clause
assigns the quality of the carrier (Gerot and Wignell, 1994)..
Based on the modality analysis, the analysis which shows the speakers attitude,
including probability and judgment, it is shown that Nwankwo shows his attitude by
quite strongly predicting that Gladys was some well-placed gentlemans mistress.
This shows how Nwankwo judges Gladys by her sexuality.

You are beautiful. Now you are a beauty queen.

You
are

beautiful

Carrier

Attribute

You
Token

Attributive: Intensive
are
Identifying: intensive

a beauty queen
Value

The relational processes involving the attributive and identifying processes show
how Gladys is described through her quality (by the attributive process) and
identity (established by the identifying process).
The attitude shown by Nwankwo from the clauses shows how he judges Gladys in

terms of her appearance (sexuality).

Too many girls were too easy those days.
Too many girls
were

too easy those days.

Carrier
Attributive: Intensive
Attribute
The relational process which is shown in this clause emphasizes how the carrier
(too many girls) is attached to the quality of being too easy. The girls are decribed
with an intensive quality.
Nwankwos statement here indicates his judgment about the girls through his
perspective. The use of a strong emphasis on the quality of easy shows how girls

are generalized as having a low quality in the perspective of the opposite sex. This
strengthens the sexist perspective from Nwankwo.

Men

are

funny.

Carrier
Attributive: Intensive
Attribute
On the other hand, the men are also described by Gladys using relational process.
The men are attributed with the quality of funny.
With this statement, Gladys seems to show an attitude of showing resistance by
expressing her judgment about men.

The man gave her fifty dollars.

The man
gave

her

fifty dollars

Actor
Material
Recipient
Goal
Material processes are processes of material doing. They express the notion that
some entity physically does something- which may be done to some other entity
(Gerot and Wignell, 1994). The material process above shows that the man is the
actor who does something. On the other hand, her (the girl) is positioned as a
recipient of an action done by man.
The way the sentence is structured by the speaker shows the attitude which
strengthens the dominance of men over women, in which the man (which
represents the men in general) is put in the beginning of the sentences as the actor
which does something.

She was kept by some army officer.

The passive sentence above is constructed from the active form of: Some army
officer kept her.
Some army officer

kept

her.

Actor
Material
Goal
The sentence shows that the actor of the clause is some army officer (which
represents men), whereas her (women) is positioned as the goal of the process.
The sentence contains a certainty by the use of declarative sentence. The modality
analysis in this clause shows the judgment of the speaker as well. The sentence is
constructed in the passive form. The object of the sentence is emphasized as the

subject. There is a strong judgment of she in terms of her sexuality. Again, this
strengthens the sexist perspective.

Gladys was a mirror reflecting a society.

Gladys was
a mirror reflecting a society that had completely rotten
Token Identifying Value
From the relational process above, it is shown that Gladys is identified as a value
which represents women in general. However, the fact that Gladys is a mistress
becomes the basis which reflects the rotten society.
The speaker of this clause shows his attitude and judgment which considers
Gladyss sexuality immoral and it reflects a rotten society. This also emphasizes
sexism as the ideology that is contained in this short story, in which the women
are judged mostly by their sexuality, and that the sexuality of women define the

society in general.
There must be some men at the center of it.
There must be
some men

at the center of it

Existential
Existent
Circumstance: place
The clause is described using existential processes. Some men are the existent
which are believed to be the center of power, which enables something to happen.
By analyzing the modality of the clause (the use of must), it is shown that the
speaker strongly believes that some men have done things which cause something
to happen.
The possibility and judgment that the speaker shows through his attitude confirms

the sexist ideology in which men are considered the power behind any events.
You
are
different from all the girls.
Carrier
Attributive: intensive
Attribute
Gladys is described by this relational process which shows her quality as to be
different from other girls.
The sentence shows the judgment of the speaker (Nwankwo) towards Gladys.
However, his judgments are often much influence by sexist perspectives, because

mostly Gladys is judged upon her appearance and sexuality.

We
are proud
of you boys.
Senser

Mental: Affection

Phenomenon

The sentence contains mental process as its ideational function. The senser we
which represents the society in general shows the mental affection as to feel
proud. However, the phenomenon of which the senser is proud of is boys in
general.
By this statement, it is indicated that boys are the first gender which is considered
as a more superior gender. Thus, the boys are the one who have the power to do
something, to struggle and fight in the war. By this, women are placed in the
second gender, which is powerless and unable to change something, but to be the
victim of the situation.