Task 4 Homework English Woman’s World

•What prompts Roy to admit that he must ‘give up’ Norma? Why does he find it so hard to do?  Giving the clothes away and admiring that they are not hit make it hard for roy to give up on Norma. During the police assault Roy doesn’t admit to the clothes being his until being pressured and for a minute he got to step out of his shoes and realise that they are actually not his, but his sisters that has passed away as a young girl.

•Focus on the passage where Norma explains the relationship between her and Roy. In your own words, explain how Roy’s ‘alter-ego’ came to be, and why Mary has tolerated it. Roy has dressed as Norma for many years, of his own volition. Can you explain why this incident with the policemen is so traumatic? – Essentially, Roy dressing up as Norma is in result of an incident that happened when he was younger, and an extremely personal and bitter sweet moment for him, and for the interactions with the police who essentially are representative of society to treat him like so, essentially feels like society is having a go at him. Mary’s support for Roy, is essential for him as she is the only one who more or less tolerates his behaviour and actions, however following society is not fully onboard with Roy continuing dressing up as Norma.

•Graham Rawle has been criticised for revealing the true identity of Norma so explicitly at this point in the novel. Do you think he was right to do so? – At this point in the novel I think that is right that Graham Rawle has started to reveal the true identity of Norma, in order to identify the essential problem or struggle which is arguably unclear throughout the novel until these reveals.

If the police are representative of law, order and authority, what does their behaviour suggest about society’s attitudes to gender? – Through the attitude of the police, who are representative of law, order and authority, it is safe to conclude that the police represent society and the almost distaste for people such as Roy. Through this we can identify the social hierarchy as well as gender roles and expectations.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *