People in Hell Just Want a Drink of Water

Hi! This is Cathy Lee.

One thing that was apparent in the story was the continual reduction of characters to stereotypical gender roles. Male characters are imbued with stereotypically masculine traits such as violence and physical capability. Given that agricultural work and the handling of livestock require heavy physical labour, able-bodied male children are viewed as “money in the bank” (p. 653), or as investments and units of labour rather than human beings with limitations. Furthermore, acts of violence such as “[kicking] the frost out of a horse” (p. 653) and Ras’ unwanted sexual advances are normalised and seen as “masculine urges”, rather than abnormalities. On the other hand, girls are seen as physically inferior, and therefore “neglected” (p. 657), and not as prized as boys are, as they have less worth in a traditionally male-dominated industry that values hard labour. The notion that female characters are seen as weaker compared to male characters is also supported in the implication that husbands, while talking to their wives about sensitive issues, usually "[spare their] feminine sensibilities" (p. 667) They are also likened to commodities – Jaxon finds “plenty of what he [needs] on his travels”, referring to women available for sex. 

What was jarring to me was the nonchalant nature of the violence in the story. Mrs Tinsley (although seen to be remorseful after the incident), throws her "crying infant into the water", simply because the infant was wailing, a common characteristic of babies at that age. Additionally, when Ras' genitalia is severed, his reaction when the subject is brought up is to laugh (p. 666), instead of seek medical help for the infection he now has, or react negatively. Finally, the story ends on a chilling note: the suggestion that the horrific events that have occurred in this story are still present in today's society.