Friday, February 17, 2012

Reader Response

I found the discussion in class today about Freeman's "Two Friends" fascinating. It got me thinking, "What would be the result of a study in asking the initial thought of the relationship of the women in the story?" I think it would be interesting on a psychological level as to whether the readers believed the women to be lesbians versus best friends. We already saw some of the many ways believing one or the other could skew a person's opinion of the characters, and if we take out any kind of sexual conotations at all, it may not make a difference. If anything, I really believe it would say something about who comes to what decisions about Sarah and Abby.

3 comments:

  1. Honestly, when I first started reading it I thought they were related. Then they started talking about Abby doing the man's work and carrying the purse and Sarah doing the women's work I started to think they were lesbians, but by the end of the story they seemed like sisters again. So, I think Freeman intentionally tried to change the reader's opinion throughout the story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I did consider whether or not they were lovers about halfway through the story, but when I paused to reflect on it I saw no strong evidence to suggest they were more than close friends, and prevented myself from jumping to conclusions. It does seem like their friendship borders on a more intimate relationship, but without any evidence beyond a vague feeling I dismissed it--especially because it didn't seem, to me, to have much relevance one way or the other.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Again, once we realize once and for all that we cannot know for certain if these two characters are sexually involved, we can move onto more productive conversations. What is this story saying about intimate relationships between women? About the need for a man to have a fulfilled relationship? About societal attitudes towards relationships (of any kind) between women?

    I am inclined to agree with Bennett--in some ways, the "are they lovers?" question isn't terribly important. At the same time, we don't want to dismiss (not sure if that's the right word) lesbian intimacy as insignificant. (Again, I don't think that's what anyone is saying.)

    ReplyDelete