This is just a prompt that I did, if anyone could review it or just provide comments on any part of it that would be great
Thanks in advance
“IN EXPLORING THE “ROUGH WORLD OF MEN”, RANSOM IGNORES THE WORLD OF WOMEN. DISCUSS”
David Malouf’s Ransom, a meditation on Homer’s Iliad, depicts the world of battles, heroes and Gods in ancient times. Although the world of women is not explicitly discussed, their world is explored through the actions of the women in Ransom. Indeed, he shows that the women have no real control over the dominant patriarchal society, yet they have power in their own spheres. The role of Hecuba, along with that of Thetis, has the power to create a “dual self”. The minor characters such as the daughter-in-law of Somax and the laundry women play a small yet vital role in Ransom, and in doing so, facilitates the exploration of the “rough world of men”.
Through exploring the actions of Thetis and Hecuba, Malouf shows that women serve as an important link between the men and their humanity. Indeed, Thetis provides a great deal of emotional support to Achilles, allowing him to escape into the “long soft swirlings of his mother’s hair” when the outside world becomes too much of a burden. However, she plays an even more important role towards the end of the novel, when Priam brings the ransom to retrieve Hectors’ body. Through the influence of the “fluidity” which accompanies her presence, Achilles is finally able to overcome his grief and regain his humanity. It is this influence that allows him to “feel tenderly vulnerable to all those emotions that belong to the sacred bond” between himself and Priam, and accept the ransom as well as his humanity. The influence of Hecuba on Priam, too, is notable. Although she is not one of the protagonists of Ransom, she allows Priam to become semi-human. In her presence, he is able to talk about his “doubts and foibles, and little shameful anxieties and fears”, becoming a man, rather than a king. Indeed, within her sphere, they are “two old people consulting together, seeking comfort in one another’s presence. Two children holding hands in the dark”. Hecuba and Priam are finely drawn in their roles as husband and wife, rather than king and queen, and this connects them to their humanity rather than their public faces. In this way, Malouf shows the impact that women have on the men in their lives, in that they are an important link between the “rough world of men” and the men’s humanity.
Although Hecuba and Thetis are powerful women, Malouf elevates the ordinary women, who might occupy only two or three lines of the novel. He shows them to be part of the beauty in the ordinary, and this is the central message of his novel. Indeed, the introduction of Somax’s daughter-in-law serves as a kind of introduction of Priam’s newfound interest in the ordinary things of life. Her griddlecakes allow him to picture the “good buttermilk” and her actions of “popping her fingers into her mouth when she burns them” arouse a newfound inquisitiveness in Priam. He fully develops his interest in the “incidental and ordinary”, and his “desire to fill out the picture, to see her more clearly, led to something unaccustomed indeed…curiosity”. Also serving the same purpose are the laundry women who are involved in the anointing of Hector’s body. Similarly, they allow Achilles to ponder his humanity. Although the “work they do (in the laundry) is women’s work”, Achilles is fascinated by it, as it represents the “last commerce with the world in the hands of women”. The sudden flashback to a scene of Achilles’ childhood serves as a reminder for him, of what he will go back, and their power lies within allowing him to think “unheroic thoughts” and gently let him face the aftermath of his death. Most importantly, Malouf describes the world of the laundry as being ruled by the women; after all “the women’s presence is stronger than his own. This is their world”. In doing so, Malouf effectively communicates that the women may not have much of a part in the “rough world of men”, but their significance in the small actions of life is tied to the beauty in the ordinary.
Women in Ransom also provide a lot of emotional support to the men, in times of dire need. Nearly all of the women play some part in upholding the men in their lives during trouble times. When Priam is in deep grief, for both the fate of his people and the desecration of his son, it is Isis who provides him with the answer to nearly all of his troubles. She allows him to feel “excited” about something, which he was not accustomed to in his formal role as a king. Indeed, by showing him the vision of the plain mule cart, she allows him to undertake a journey which not only helps him retrieve Hector’s body, but also transform himself, with the aid of Somax, and thus, helps him rediscover his humanity, which is something that he longs for. However, Isis is not the only woman to have this effect. Hesione plays an undeniable part in the events of Ransom. She rises above the expectations of Heracles; he thinks that she will choose “a mirror to catch her smile in”, or “a gaudy trinket”, even though she has just witnessed the slaughtering of her family. She shows almost no signs of trauma, instead absorbing her losses and trying to save whomever she can, and hence rises above Heracles’ condescending beliefs about women. Furthermore, the daughter-in-law and granddaughter of Somax, too, play a crucial role in his life. Although he has been walking around with a broken heart, he feels “a burst of joy” and tenderness when he thinks of them, recounting the small stories that involve them, and in this way, allow Somax to rise above his trauma.
Although Malouf thoroughly explores the world of men, through the events of battle and the feelings of male protagonists, he certainly does not ignore the world of women in Ransom. He shows the women to be an essential part of life, in that they allow men to reconnect with their humanity. Furthermore, they play a part in the overall message of Ransom, that is, how beauty exits in the ordinary. Finally, they also provide the men in their lives with emotional support and allow them to “go on. For all (their) losses”.
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