Yarmouth HS Daughter of Fortune

My Musings: 200-300

I was at first irked and then amused by the comment by Eliza that “It is tedious to be a man, but being a woman is worse still” on page 277. If this statement is taken out of the context of the letter in which she says this, the reader notices that just two pages later that Eliza speaks of the entrepreneurial disadvantages of men and the economic opportunities for women, essentially destroying the logic behind this statement. However, it turns out that Eliza is speaking of the “art” of pretending to be a man…I had a whole long thing on this, but then I realized that it was essentially what is said on page 279 by Eliza herself. How do you guys think Allende portrays women in contrast to men in Daughter of Fortune in any different or unusual ways?

Something that I am noticing is that Eliza, in becoming an entrepreneur at various points in her life, is really not accomplishing the same things that women such as Paulina or Ah Toy are accomplishing with their business ventures. In the “sugar-coated reality” of Valparaiso, Eliza’s dreams faced the obstacle of a lifestyle planned by her parents; in California, Eliza’s dreams were inhibited by issues of financial security. Eliza is not so much simply following any norms of sorts set by a new generation of women (Paulina, Ah Toy, Joe Bonecrusher), but the facts are that her inclination to help others still plays second fiddle to financial security.

So is Eliza’s story still a great story, regardless of whether or not what she accomplishes as a woman in the 1850’s is not a direct result of any of her own desires? Is she simply someone on a different, higher level, whose earthly successes pale in comparison to her maintenance of morality and “inner peace”? Or, from another perspective, should she have done more on that higher level? One of the qualities that Eliza herself unconsciously generates in this section of the book specifically is a sort of mystique; “They [traveling companions] were amazed by the beardless youth with a woman’s voice who read the Holy Scripture every evening…some became his protectors, ready to beat up anyone who did” (273). We can’t charge Eliza with the duty to become a slave to society; we can’t force her to use that mystique to turn all of that energy focused on protecting her into coordinated attacks on more real threats. Still, can we consider affecting someone’s personality and outlook on life enough, or should Eliza have developed for herself and others more concrete opportunities to help others and to save others? She merely complains about the institution of slavery, and her charity, just like her business interests, is mostly a series of odd jobs. Tao Chien and Eliza are quite literally given the same starting point and resources in America; Tao Chien turns his motivation and talent into an operation to save young prostitutes. Interestingly enough, when discussing the issue of prostitution, Eliza continues to use the word “you” when speaking to Tao about what needs to be done. She asks questions like “What are you going to do?” or makes statements such as “You have to stop the traffic”. Admittedly, she does end up helping in Tao’s work and is undoubtedly interested in his work, but it would not be unreasonable to ask for her to add a little more than just herself to the operation. As previously suggested, she could have looked to do more in the way of recruiting some of her old companions. She gave reason for Babalu the Bad to save her and Tom No-Tribe from the fire, why not try to recreate that goodwill on a larger scale?

Returning to reality, am I expecting too much of someone who is only 18-20 years old? Her trip across California isn’t exactly a spring break vacation, she doesn’t have the luxury (privilege, right?) of parental support…the list goes on. But still, …

I have read the entire book, so my perspective may be a bit different than Mikala’s and David’s
My thoughts up to page 200:

While it is indisputable that Allende is not making some grand novel-essay tailored to answering the two essential questions, I agree with Mikala that Allende is overloading on the quantity of characters in this book although not at the expense of the quality of the descriptions. While characters such as Joe Bonecrusher, Ah Toy, Paulina, and, of course, Eliza are not “dead ends,” Allende uses four (!) characters, admittedly with different attributes, to show that women can be successful in the business arena. Judging by the kind, smiling picture staring back at me on the back cover of my copy of Daughter of Fortune, I don’t imagine Allende to be some sort of overzealous feminist who feels the need to hammer angrily the same messages about female capabilities into my head. That said, an author would generally create characters with different attributes for the sake of demonstrating the power of the conglomeration of all of their abilities, something that Allende doesn’t ever pursue in writing Daughter of Fortune. Thus, four characters (and one could stretch this category to Miss Rose with her business pursuits), all aligned under the same theme, is probably a bit excessive on the part of Allende.

One of the advantages of having such a multitude of female characters is that Allende does cover the entire spectrum of characters with regards to almost any issue; here, I’ll focus on morality and treatment of others. While Miss Rose clearly thinks herself superior to the servants, a telling sign rises to the surface when she is going after Michael Steward for Eliza. Allende notes that (paraphrasing) Miss Rose was indifferent to the concerns of her “friends” or “acquaintances” who frequented her house every Wednesday; in fact, Miss Rose wanted to “refresh” the entire guest list. The differences are clear when one compares Miss Rose’s treatment of high-class citizens to Eliza’s crunch-time decision to save the servants from a tongue-lashing from their master in her farewell note. As we read further into the book and consider more about what Eliza gains from her experience in California, we must realize that to a certain degree Allende already had a venerable character in Eliza. Morality will certainly be put into relief in the midst of so many ventures that truly risk everything, and Allende is probably setting us up to examine whether or not Eliza’s compassion for others is lost in her “quest for love.”

Based off of the way I just phrased the reader’s dilemma, it seems as though the answer to the question will be a resounding “no.” While this analysis may seem like too much of the after-the-fact analysis that it is, I think it is important to consider alternatives. Appropriately, given one of the examples I used in the miserable writing prompt today and endless hours spent reading analyses and watching the movies, a Star Wars example came immediately to my mind. I was going to consider Anakin Skywalker’s “turn to the dark side” while following his heart’s desire, but the Anakin Skywalker-Eliza Sommers analogy is probably not going to work well for me. The truth of the matter is, however, that one can get burnt out. One can get distracted and “transform” into someone else, just as Joaquin Andieta went from next Chilean guerilla leader to California gold-hunter in a matter of moments. At this point in the book, does anyone think it possible for Eliza to lose sight of morality in California?