Hey, I've written an essay for This Boy's Life. It's unfinished because i didn't know how to rebuttal it, any ideas?
Thanks for your help in advance
The memoir contains few positive messages about American society in the 1950s. Do you agree?
Post-wasr American society was desperate to mask the trauma of the Great Depression and the casualties of World War Two, yet these façades, ultimately, proved damaging to some of the adults and the youth who were forced to conform. Tobias Wolff's memoir succeeds in bringing to light the defined gender roles that plauged society in the 1950s. It is also the never-ending and obscesive need to 'fit in' and confrm to social expectations that is explored in This Boy's Life. (Need another sentence for my final paragraph, the rebuttal)
The strict gender roles for both men and women in the 1950s were defined by social ideals that established the patriarchal sentiment. With this male-dominated society, weapons became "the first condition of self-sufficeny" that completed the "conventional (ideas) that appeals to boy". It is because of this dependancy that Jack "needed that rifle", the Winchester .22 "completed" the definition of "what a man should be". Arguably, it is this social expectation of "being a real Westerner" that plagued Jack, forcing him into a state of insanity as his "little store of self control was exhausted". These emerging societal ideas developed his greed for the "ecstasy of (his) power" through weapons. This idea of masculinity not only affected children but also encouraged the volatility of those who were already unstable. In order to conform to the social expectations of being a 'man', Dwight felt he had to clarify, and make prominent, his masculinity. His insistence on getting drunk at the Marblemount tavern after rifle club competitions, where Rosemary's "jacket was covered with badges and ribbons, but Dwight's jacket had none", is arguably, because of the social acceptance that men had to be the breadwinner, the successful individual of the household. It is also as he "drove fast", to the point where "the car began to fishtail" were attempts to further demonstrate his social superiority as a male and his fearlessness. Again, the patriarchal society expected men to be strong and able to conceal their emotions. Dwight is also subject to this as he would "only slow down for a breath after really close calls, and then laughing to show he wasn't afraid." Indeed, the social expectations of society are given life in a negative light in Wolff's memoir as they force individuals to conform to the strict definitions of masculinity.
1950s America placed emphasis on teenage culture and identity which also forced individuals to conform and fit in to a certain, acceptable idea of being a teenager. Arguably, Wolff subtly implies that in order to be accepted by others, you had to mask your identity. Wolff's choice of the pronoun "This" in the title of the memoir is decisive and assertive, indicative of his struggle to find himself. During this period of time, Wolff regards Jack as a different person, a "boy (that) moves always out of reach". His constant struggle to identify himself ultimately fails because, as the older Wolff recognises, "I did not know who I was, any image, no matter how grotesque, had power over me". As result of the restrictive expectations of society, Jack constantly tried to look 'cool'. As he and Taylor Terry and Taylor Silver would "practice looking cool", with "unlit cigarettes dangling from the corners" of their mouths, they still had been "claimed by uncoolness". Again, when trying to impress the "Ballard boys", in order to live up to the social expectations of being "crisp, erect" and "poker-faced", when asked if he smoked Jack replies, "Is the bear Catholic? Does the Pope shit in the woods?" as if the question was purely ridiculous. Social attitudes of the time placed strong links between being 'cool' and smoking cigarettes which, arguably, may be symbolic of achieving it. However, it is as Jack finally becomes cool when dressed for Hill, he "stuck his hands in his pockets, there back his shoulders and cocked his head". In this, there was a "dash of swagger, something of the stage cavalier" that may have surprised him. Despite Jack's accomplishment of being cool, older Wolff recognises it was all a façade as he realises he is not looking at himself in the mirror but an "elegant stranger" with a "doubtful, almost haunted expression". In this way, Wolff implies the negative message that American society masked the true nature of each individual.
(Still need another paragraph for rebuttal)
Thanks again for any help
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