Moral, social and cultural challenges stemming from the unanticipated nature of encounters bring about change, enabling us to take a different perspective to look at ourselves and the world. Both Kathy Lette’s short story Hate at First Sight and the novel 1953 by Geoff Page explore the issues of gender roles and prejudice, and how encounters change the indivduals’ responses to these challenges as they gain enhanced awareness of themselves and their respective settings and environments, hence broadening their understanding of the world.
The traditional role of a woman as the subordinate of the man has been accepted as a norm, but encounters with new people and environment serve as catalysts to challenge these views. Set in a rural town in the 50s, 1953 portrays women as secondary to men and disloyalty is not tolerated. Stan does not allow his wife Peggy to work ‘She could have kept her job of course/but that would say I couldn’t keep her/the casserole on low and slow,/ready when I’m home at seven.’ Not only does this demonstrate the suppression of Peggy’s self-worth due to Stan’s pride, but the assonance also creates a sense of flow, order and righteousness, suggesting that a woman should be devoting and performing a submissive role to her husband. Peggy’s affair with Eddie tests the town’s tolerance of a woman’s expected loyalty to her husband, presenting moral challenges Peggy has to face. Peggy feels ‘the plot built up against her…’: the ellipsis builds up anticipation and tension, prompting Peggy to address the problem. Rejecting this stereotype, Peggy chooses to act immediately as shown by the repetition of ‘this time’ to emphasise her urgency to leave the town with her lover.
Similarly, the idea of women being objectified by men is supported in ‘Hate at First Sight’. The short story tells about two sisters’ journey of finding true love. Her lack of success due to mediocre appearance prompts Jane to head for the bush to find a husband, much to the...