The witches in Aunt
Maria follow some conventions of witches, but I would not go so far as to
call them stereotypes or archetypes of witches. These witches are not overtly witches,
and do not identify themselves as witches. Had I not known that the topic of
this week’s readings was witches I may not even have labeled them as such. I would
have thought they were normal humans who dabble in sorcery.
Their powers and influence is much
more subdued. The effects of their powers are ethereal and gently permeate the
town. There are no physical manifestations of where their powers come from.
Aunt Maria doesn’t have a cauldron in her basement where she brews up potions and
concocts spells to keep her influence over the town. It seems the witches’
powers in this novel are more of an extension of social manipulation. It’s
masked in their normal speech and action.
The book also shows a hierarchical
structure in the town. Aunt Maria’s friends are all her disciples that do her
bidding, pleasantly masked in etiquette. The control over the town could also
be seen as a warped extension of etiquette. The other notable point is that the
men and women still have their roles. The men drive the cars and shoot the guns
and push Aunt Maria around in her wheelchair, doing what they are supposed to
do, while the women pull the strings. The conventional gender roles are still
in place, but the power is all placed with the women.
What this novel seems to say about
women and women with power is that women derive their influence through social
manipulation. The book heightens this by turning it into a sinister means to
achieve the aim of total control in the town. The book opens with this, showing
Aunt Maria manipulating and guilting the family through the phone and then in
person. The book also points out that all women have this “power.” When the
family first arrives Mig picks up on what Aunt Maria is doing and does the same
to Chris to have him bring luggage inside.
It creates a stark contrast between
the way men and women achieve things. The men are brash, they say what they
mean and mean what they say. This is what leads to Chris being turned into a wolf.
He can’t hold his tongue and barks at Aunt Maria, saying he intends to compromise
her authority. Mig, on the other hand, knows she must be subtle. She writes her
feelings down but does not say them. She masks her intentions and lies, which
is the only way to defeat Aunt Maria.
Great piece, loved the in-depth explanations of the symbolism and characters, major and minor. Maybe show some more emotion and depth into your writing? Not too much, it is otherwise a fine essay.
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