Theme Contrast between ‘the Round House’ and ‘Tess of the Durbevilles’

Theme Contrast between ‘the Round House’ and ‘Tess of the Durbevilles’

Introduction

In the book The Round House, we see several plotlines with the justice theme. Different characters are seeking justice and revenge for the wrong done to them or mistakes they perceive to be done to them. Additionally, in the book Tess of the Durbervilles, the theme of justice is dominant throughout the book. It appears in many ways, the injustice of the people working on the farm and in a relationship. The theme attitude towards women is evident in the two books. The book recommends how women are supposed to be treated with respect and purity. However, men defy these recommendations and abuse them because they are perceived powerless.

Justice and Revenge

The theme is represented differently in the two books. Justice in the text appears in many forms; first, legal punishment may be given for the proven crimes. Second, there may be a privately handled justifiable retribution. Third, justice might be in the form of revenge motivated by the desire to inflict pain on the victim and have them suffer.

The first case scenario where justice is used is when Geraldine Coutts is raped. In this case, all three forms of justice are applied. The victim’s husband and son want the rapist to be found and punished. Bazil is determined to have justice served to his wife through the legal means despite being in agony. He opts to show a little faith in the legal justice; however frustrating it is.

The victim’s son Joe is determined to find evidence and information on his own but becomes frustrated about how broken the judicial system is. His frustrations inform his desire to have the rapist dead and begin to follow his path to administer justice. While pursuing his path to achieve justice, he feels a poison growing inside of him, which transforms desire for justice to obsession for revenge. His passion for revenge intensified when his mother’s rapist walked free. Joe said many times that all he ever imagined was killing Linden Lark. The poison became intense and eventually planned and murdered Lark. Later, Joe’s actions haunt him and feel like he may have become a wiindigo, as barbaric as the man he killed. His community came to his defence applying another form of justice, the traditional justice for dispatching wiindigoos which characterised Joe’s action as justifiable. Lark was guilty of the offence he committed. Killing him was wrong, but it was the wrong that served ideal justice. Besides, the actions were necessary given that Lark was not prosecuted within the existing framework of the law.

There is a distorted form of justice that is played out by Linda Lark. He has a perceived way of injustice. He believes that the Indian has caused his family suffering and injustice since they have no standing under the law and have continued to diminish the white man. Also, he has suffered rejection from the Indian women causing him much humiliation. He then believes he can achieve justice by making the inflicting pain and suffering on two Indian women. The roundhouse is the symbol of the sacred nature of women and a place for justice and reason. However, Lark defies that when he kidnapped and murdered Mayla Wolfskin, who rejected him. He then attacks and rapes Geraldine whose husband had ruled against his family, forcing them to bankruptcy. Lark believed he was getting the justice that the world denied him, but the world sees his action as revenge.

In the book Tess of the Durbervilles, the theme of justice is paired with fate and pride. The rural class have little justice, but they cannot think about such things. People work long hours at Farmer Groby’s farm not thinking about how just or unjust is their lords. The power to think about such comes with, money and leisure and they don’t have that.

Additionally, Angel portrays justice and fairness during her courtship with Tess. Angel is aware that Tess is powerless due to her gender and economic status and therefore treats her justly. Further, Angel abandons Tess unjustly which haunts him. Angel is weary and anxious when she thinks about being fair wondering if he had treated Tess fairly. It is, however, a different matter altogether if these thoughts redeemed him. Tess feels she received a rather unfair and unjust treatment which added to her many difficulties. Eventually, Tess writes to Angel telling him that he is a cruel person and that she will try to forget him.

 

Attitudes towards Women

The two books show how women are supposed to be treated in different ways. First, the theme of attitudes towards women is well elaborated in the book The Round House. It is a physical reminder that women are sacred and should be treated with respect. The marriage between Bazil and Geraldine is a prime example of how women should be addressed. Also, the relationship between Zeila and Cappy is an immature but sincere example.

In the book ‘Tess of the Durbervilles’, the theme of attitude towards women is well illustrated. Tess has strived to maintain her purity, but after meeting Alec, she is under constant attack. The book hints this from the first time we are introduced to Tess. When we first meet her in the book, she is wearing a white dress with a red ribbon. The white dress represents purity, while the red ribbon represents sexuality. When Tess meets Alec, Alec tucks flowers in her dress and strawberries(red colour). All the red symbols convey the threat of purity.

In both books raping is a dominant mistreatment of women as part of men’s attitude towards women. In the book The Round House, every other relationship in the book contradicts this idea. Linden Lark beat and raped Geraldine. Mayla suffers sexual abuse at the hand of the governor and then sent away to raise her child. She was later kidnapped and killed by Linden Lark. Sonja, Joe’s aunt, was abused by her former manager. It is through these characters that the writer drives the massage of the epidemic that is the abuse of Native American women. In every three Native American women, one is a victim of rape with the rapist being a non-native.

In the book Tess of the Durbervilles, Tess learnt of the threats to her purity, but she is defenceless. She told implored that she did not want anybody to kiss her after which big tears began to roll down her face. Also, her mouth was trembling in her attempt to cry. Eventually, Alec goes ahead and rapes her. It shows that men see women as sexual objects. Tess is now at a loss and has no idea how best to address the matter. Purity is a social issue, a driving force in the novel.

The theme of attitude towards women is connected to marriage. The book The House Around, there are a number of the successful marriage that represented respect and as sacred. In the book, we see Angel, Alec and Tess all wondering if Alec is Tess rightful husband. According to their tradition, the only way Tess could regain her purity is to be married by the very man who broke it. Tess is also considering it out of fear; she fears her clothing could expose her impurity as it happened to Queen Guinevere.

In conclusion, both books themes are a representation of the issues affecting society today. The two ideas go hand in hand in most cases. For instance, if a woman is sexually abused, she will fight to have her justice served. The society still views women as powerless despite the constitutional progress over the years. Women are treated as sexual objects in many parts of the world. The numbers of rape cases have been on a high throughout the years. Despite progress, the justice system, justice is yet to be served to many victims of rape, especially minors. There is a need to readdress our commitment to finding a cure in our societies.