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Things Fall Apart Rhetorical Analysis

Decent Essays

From the first chapter, I found it particularly interesting when the narrator says, “she was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate” (page 8). So right from the first chapter we get an idea of the kind of society they are in, one that is mostly about money equating to power. The bracelet being a chain shows how imprisoned not only her but other women feel in that society, how they must be constantly dolled up, and if they can’t do it all themselves then that’s when they go get married (page 13). The bracelet is this constantly reminder that she, and women, are not free individuals but prisoners of society. The need to be pretty and fancy for others to see worth shows this idea of social expectations, or even social determinism. …show more content…

Furthermore, on the bracelet-manacle simile, I found it interesting that Lily Bart is 29 years old and despite doing her best to stay pretty, she is still unmarried. That bracelet-manacle is sealing her fate as someone who will be governed by a patriarchal, objectifying, materialistic society. Her stubbornness not to get married shows how she represents women wanting to break the real manacles of society. Just by her being in Seldon’s room alone shows that she does not want to listen to the social norms. The fact that this is such an obvious issue shows that this is clearly a critique of the corruption of society. Society, as a whole, was about being your best and clearly getting consumed by the materialistic aspects of power. Lily Bart represents trying to be independent and yourself all the while being restricted by

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