Anya's+reflection

Women, the citadel of the family, are continually portrayed as strong willed and replete with moral fiber in American literature. While European women may have been shown as dainty and fragile, American women were always the complete opposite. This characteristic is not a recent development, but one that has been noted throughout history. These tough women from literature raise children on their own, deal with pitiful men, and take the courageous route. Many people may see men in these types of roles, but I have seen women overtake men in every one of these categories. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, and The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, strong women are the central characters in each novel. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne must raise a child alone, live the life of an outcast, and bare extreme ignominy her whole life all while protecting the identity of the man who put her in this situation. In The Grapes of Wrath, Ma Joad holds together her slowly decaying family in the harsh times of migration during the Great Depression. In The Bean Trees, Taylor Greer escapes the inevitable fate of small town life and ends up improving the lives of everyone she encounters. These women, each one strong in their own sense, make up the American identity. Without them, the people around them would have fallen apart. The power they hold is seen most prominently in the women of these novels. Even Alexis de Tocqueville witnessed this quality in women back in 1835. He examined the strength of women through marriage, equality of the sexes, and education. I have observed, through these novels, that the American character is one of courage, strength, and sheer will power. The American character too often focuses on men, fortune, or ignorance, but I think the women should not be forgotten. They continue to forge ahead and now the number of women in college is equal to that of men. Women continue to speak out and Hilary Clinton was a close contestant for president. The American character of women is continuously being shaped and molded but is still one of immeasurable strength.

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