John Steinbeck: The Murder

3 Pages 809 Words

Feminism vs. Steinbeck
In the short story “The Murder”, written by John Steinbeck, there are many questions wondering if this is a story of feminism. This story shows us the image of a “woman” is looked down upon, or treated less as a person. John Steinbeck seems to portray the Jelka in this story as an animal, or a possession of some sort. Although this story portrays a traditional marriage of Jelka’s culture of love, it portrays a feminist view.
The narrator shows us that he thinks of Jelka as an animal. He uses imagery to get his across to how Jim treats Jelka. Jim “patted her head and neck under the same impulse that made him stroke a horse” (4). Jim may not do this on purpose but eventually it leads to that. Jelka is always there by his side, just like a dog would be at its owner’s side. “She learned her husband as she learned passages of Scripture”(4). This quote makes one realize that she is learning her husband, rather than understanding, like a dog might learn commands from its owner. Eventually, Jim, like the narrator, comes to think of Jelka as an animal and a possession. Another example of this is when Jim gets mad at Jelka and her family. Jim says that she will see her cousin family and they will speak “their language like ducks the whole afternoon”(5). Any analogy could have been used in that line, but the narrator chose an animal. He could have gotten away with a “gibberish” language, a “nonsense” language, etc.
This story is written so that the audience can get an equal view of both characters. Both people are described. Not once in this story is Jim portrayed like an animal. This was meant to show the reader that Jelka is flawed; in this case her flaw is being a woman. What Steinbeck wants to make the reader know is that Jelka is less than human due to her culture. If this story were written in first person then the point the narrator...