Thousand Acres Essay -- essays research papers

A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley, is a story of incest, ignorance, and the imperialistic voice of the almighty man. Ignorance of being lead by a man, particular views of Rose and Ginny, and domesticated to believe that "When we are good girls and accept our circumstances, we're glad about it. . .When we are bad girls, it drives us crazy" (99). The imperialistic voice usually comes from the omnipotent Larry Cook, Rose, Ginny, and Caroline’s father. And the incestuous relations only entangle this dysfunctional family. The eldest daughter, Ginny, is the most loyal and idolizes her father. The second eldest daughter, Rose, is linked to her father through Ginny, who keeps her from losing faith in him. Rose questions whether the loyalty that Ginny shows her father makes her obedient or if her reluctance to judge him proves her ignorance. Rose has two daughters, Pammy and Linda, who are also first hand witnesses to the episodes of the Cook family trauma, but remain dormant to what goes on around them. Caroline, the youngest daughter has left the one thousand acres of land they grew up on to become a lawyer. Caroline is married to Frank Ras, whom also is a lawyer and they do not have any children. The book is narrated from Ginny’s viewpoint. Ginny is married to Ty and they don’t have any children, but Ginny secretively keeps trying. Ginny also has an extramarital affair with Jess Clark, son of Harold Clark the neighbor and best friend of Larry Cook. Jess has just returned to Zebulon County from the food corp. Given the basic character summary, one of the themes or recurrent ideas that was present throughout the whole book was domination. This domination concept was usually brought to life through the character, Larry Cook, over issues like farming, food, appearance or anything else that didn’t sit well with his expectations in life. Being that domination is not something tangible, conflicts such as the above mentioned were used to develop the theme idea into a concrete representation and also illustrate the effects that the domination theme had on the women of Zebulon County. The whole farming conflict begins when Larry Cook impulsively decides to distribute his one thousand acres of farmland to his three daughters and Caroline, the youngest daughter... ... with his opinions. In this male-dominated culture, it’s as if women are material possessions and the place of women is dependent on men. And at first, the women accepted this. Ginny remarks, "of course it was silly to talk about my point of view. When my father asserted his point of view, mine vanished" (176). And so did her dignity. Larry Cook, Farmer of the Year! In conclusion, the above conflicts portray the domination overtones and the effect that the domination had on the women. Larry Cook seems to be a jack of all trades. He is portrayed as being a god, a businessman, and a farmer. But Larry lacks when it comes to the being, Larry Cook, the father. He is so strict about having things done a certain way with little variations that it blinds him to the wants and needs of those around him. Initially the novel, Ginny suppresses her voice and remained an obedient figure. She has been cultured to believe that a woman has to rely upon the masculine authority figure. As Ginny’s character develops, she begins to break through the mental chains of masculine dependency and start a new life for herself without regret.