Red Clocks: The Timeless Identities of Women
An important issue Leni Zumas brings to life in her novel Red Clocks is the pieces of identity that women can share across time, and how women today can act as the voices for those who didn’t have one in previous years. Though I would argue that this novel does not have a main character, Zumas provides Ro with a significant role in establishing this timeless connection through the way she relates with Eivor. Through Eivor’s biography, Ro will bring life and recognition to someone who wasn’t even remembered for her own societal title of polar explorer or scientist, let alone her personal identity. A personal identity is harder to find and preserve than a “societal title”, so if some women of history have been forgotten even in regards to their societal contributions, how much can we assume has been lost when we consider their deeper identities? Luckily time has moved forward in a way that may allow for the uncovering of what was once lost. Eivor did not play the typical female role of her time and Ro, the biographer, does not play the typical role of her time either. Yet, even for these two individuals with unique occupations and personalities, a similar, though of course not identical, person can be found somewhere on the greater timeline of women in history. Someone like Eivor can be given a voice and have some of her truth revealed through a somewhat kindred identity even though it took years. If this can be true for the women living on the fringes of society, hopefully this is the same for women in more conventional, though just as influential roles; mothers, daughters, and menders. Through the mothers, daughters, and menders of today so much more can be revealed about women across time for all that they were despite the limits placed on them. Susan shows that there is more hiding under the surface of those who were restricted to the title of mother. She speaks for the women who have felt unnatural or caged in the confines of motherhood. In the same way Gin, the Mender, offers up deeper insight to the “crone” stereotype in her desires to be left alone with nature. Mattie, as a daughter, wrestles with the decision of whether or not to become a mother while she is still such a daughter and hoping for a bigger future in which to develop herself outside both of these categories. All of these women maintain a societal role common to women throughout history. However, that doesn’t mean their true identities are any less worthy of investigation or that those who were silenced in the past don’t matter now. While each individual is their own, the voices of today can speak to the lost complexities of women who came before us. If you read closely enough you can see through the mother, the mender, the daughter, and the biographer a light -similar to the steady glow of a certain lighthouse- shed on so much of the deeper issues women have faced throughout time. The reveal of these non-surface level identities remind us and others that we are not confined to one role. This is what contemporary literature by women can do. This is how women with a voice today can break through the silence of yesterday and say, “I am more.” I will continue to explore this issue as we journey through these novels together .
2 Comments
Hali
3/22/2019 07:03:21 pm
I like the comparison of Ro and Eivor's identities here. I see why Zumas connected them the way she did, as they are both radical women of their time. Radical in that they do not subscribe to the expectations society puts on them, and they are not afraid to get what they want - even when it's difficult. Ro goes through countless invasive inseminations and Eivor risks her life for her research. Even if they weren't exactly successful, they were still brave.
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Judy C.
3/22/2019 07:10:57 pm
Alison, I like how you offer the imposed identities of our main characters--the biographer, the mender, the wife, and the daughter--as the surface of who they are and who they see themselves. These aren't false identities, but rather they are the ones that can overshadow the other parts of their puzzle as individuals and human beings. I loved your phrasing of the "lost complexities of women" because I agree that it's important to create that dialogue which reminds each other that people are comprised of so many different elements that the societal label will often overlook. If we remember the person, the network can grow as authentically and wholly as possible.
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