I found the most interesting form
of love between Esch and Manny. At first, I saw the relationship
between them as Esch having a kind of crush on Manny, on there not being much
more to that relationship. I justified this by thinking that whenever she cut
her hand and said she wanted Manny to notice her, which meant that they hadn’t
been involved with each other yet. Later, once they started having sex, it
became apparent that this had happened before. This disproved my conception of
the typical schoolgirl crushing on her big brother’s best friend.
At this point in the book, it’s
not made clear what kind of relationship they have. Do they just have sex every
time Esch’s brother smokes, or do they have a romantic relationship outside of
sex? Based off of her description of the scene, I got the impression that she anticipated
that he wanted to have sex with her: “I wanted to shut up, but it was my only
thought, so I spoke.” She asked why he wasn’t smoking with them because she
wanted him to be the one to initiate the sexual contact. This is clear when she described how she wanted to like the sweat off Manny's face but wouldn't, and drew an analogy to Greek female figures and their power of seduction. To me, this is the most powerful window into figuring out their relationship and Esch's feelings toward Manny.
Based off of her repeatedly bringing up Greek women who seduce men, it seems like her sexual influence over Manny - and his appreciation of it, especially in comparison to other boys she's had sex with - is a potent form of love to her.
You made some very interesting points about the way Esch views herself. On one hand I think she does sort of use sex with Manny and her brothers friends as self-gratification. She may feel as though she has some sort of influence over them…and she does. Each is the only female around their age group and thus she takes advantage, knowing that she has something that they want; she is only person who can satisfy their needs. If you only look at Esch's comparison to Greek goddess by the way she sort of conquers each of her brother's friends, then she is powerful. However, Esch's constant sexual relations with men can also be seen as a weakness that highlights her insecurities. She knows she good at sex so where beauty lacks she makes up for in that act.
ReplyDeleteI think that the teenage years are by far, the most important years of a young woman's life. Ideally, you would have a mother or older sister as a role model and confidant during these trying years. Not only does Esch not have a mother, she also does not have any other female influences in her life thus far, except for her dog China. She is completely surrounded by men. For this reason, I think that approaches sex with Manny just like a typical boy would. She says it was easier to go along with sex then to say no and she puts sex and swimming in the same sports category.
In our reading thus far its hard to say whether or not Esch would rather be treated like one of the guys, being included in their activities, or to be treated like more than just someone to have sex with. She wants more of a personal relationship with Manny but she doesn’t do anything to forward herself in that aspect of the relationship. I think she puts herself in a difficult place, making it difficult not only for her brother, but especially for herself.