Use of Feminine Figures as a Metaphorical Reference: an Analysis Between “Towards the Last Spike” and Such Is My Beloved

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Pratt’s “Towards the Last Spike” and Callaghan’s Such is My Beloved use feminine figures by means of a metaphor as a way to illustrate a broader importance to the text. The use of having a feminine figure helps the author prove their point even further, whereas if the character were male, it would not have the same affect. This is partly due to stereotypical cultural norms that are usually associated with the “typical” traits of what a woman should be: feeble, weak, and vulnerable. Both authors, on the other hand, go against these traits and show these characters as strong, will-minded individuals. Pratt’s portrayal is in the form of a female lizard whom although has had her land taken away from her, she will soon rise again, taking back what is hers, while Callaghan’s portrayal is in the form of two female sex workers, Ronnie and Midge, whom evokes sympathy towards Father Dowling, and to the reader, but soon defy these emotions with scenes later on in the novel. While Callaghan’s Such Is My Beloved and Pratt’s “Towards the Last Spike” both portray femininity in a conventional way; it is both narratives which set the stage for how each female figure is suggested as this weak, vulnerable individual, but soon defy this premise and move away from this stereotypical notion. This paper will begin with the use of having feminine characters in “Towards the Last Spike” followed by Such is My Beloved, continuing on with a comparison between the two texts on the use of vulnerability and how the female characters defy this premise. In Pratt’s “Towards the Last Spike”, the quality of femininity is first seen throughout the section entitled, “Number Two” where the land is personified and provided a voice. This voice is given to the female lizard. The lizard is meant to represent the Laurentian land surrounding her allowing the reader to identify and sympathize with the reptile

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