Women as Objects in A Woman on a Roof Essay -- Doris Lessing Woman on

Wo custody as Objects in A fair sex on a Roof Doris Lessings A Wo valet de chambre on a Roof allows us to understand how some custody view woman as mere objects for display and possession. Lessing shows how each of the phallic characters reacts and deals with rejection from a woman sunbathing on a near(a)by rooftop. We discover how third mens preoccupation with sex keeps them unaware of how their advances may be unwanted and ignorant of their actions possible consequences. All one-third men share the desire to get this womans attention. running(a) on a rooftop of a block of flats in the hot, hot, sun, these men research a diversion from the relentless heat. They whistle, yell, and wave at a near naked woman on a rooftop nearby, but the woman pays no mind to them. Their isolation on the rooftop and the womans relentless offense fuels the mens decent into a world of lewd behavior, thereby creating an atmosphere of harassment and rejection. They become taunted by this womans unfeelingness towards them. All three men have distinctly different attitudes towards the point they have created. Each has experienced rejection from women. In fact, each displays a direct of hardness that affects his attitude. They each react differently to the womans impassibility and each take his efforts to different levels. Tom, the youngest, represents a primary level, a man untouched by rejection. Stanley, the instigator, clearly at a secondary level to Tom, shows a man slightly touched by rejection. Stanley hates the blows of rejection to his manhood. Harry, on the former(a) hand, represents a final level where he considers the womans straw man trivial. He is long since married and possibly has suffered many indignities with regards to the scowls of women.... ...displayed lessons learned in their attitudes. They knew when to quit. Tom took his unbridled actions all the way because he knew no better. The men return to work the next day with a new animal magnetism on their minds. The weather has changed suddenly and is no longer attractive to sun bathers. Without the presence of the woman on the roof there are no sexual thoughts to preoccupy them. For Tom and Stanley, the consequences of their actions are forgotten and only explicit in their new levels of understanding. Works Cited Allen, Orphia J., Short Story Criticism. Vol 16. Ed. Thomas Vottler. Detroit, MI Gale Research, Co., 1990. Atack, Margaret., Short Story Criticism. Vol 6. Ed. Thomas Vottler.Detroit, MI Gale Research, Co., 1990. Leasing, Doris. A Woman on a Roof. The Harper Anthology Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York HarperCollins, 1981.