Anti-Feminism - A Fowl Movement is An Essay Concerning the Novel "Wild Geese" by Martha Ostenso Taking The Anti-Feminist Theme Into Consideration

Essay by Bluesky1713High School, 11th grade May 2004

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Wild Geese, the classic Canadian novel by Martha Ostenso, is written from a very non-feminist point of view. To begin with, it can be seen throughout the novel that Caleb Gare doesn't give Lind Archer the time of day. Furthermore, it is the women on the farm who work the hardest and are treated the worst. Finally, it is Amelia who takes the blame for anything bad that occurs. The book Wild Geese shows us a narrow-minded view of the female sex.

Lind Archer, the new schoolteacher in Oeland who is boarding at the Gare's, is ignored completely by Caleb Gare. There are many cases of "Caleb's evident obliviousness of her" throughout Wild Geese. It is because she is a woman that she is treated this way. She is ignored and demeaned by a few male characters in this novel but especially by Caleb Gare.

Caleb's boot camp farm is kept alive and profitable only with the help of its female inhabitants.

Without Judith, Amelia, or even Ellen, the Gare farm couldn't operate. They are the backbone to the success of the farm. It is by these three women that most of the difficult and arduous labor is completed. With the exception of Martin, the son not favored by his father, women would complete all of the farm's work. Caleb was too cheap to even hire a hand to help out in the harvest, but instead relied on his trusty women to get the job done. Judith's "work was more satisfactory than that of any hired help he could get." Amelia was worked so hard that she appeared old beyond her years to the point that "She looked like an old, tired woman." Even the frail, dim-sighted Ellen did more work around the farm than her brother...