Introduction to Gender Studies

3/19/2020
Microthemes: The End of Eddy

(1)In this autobiography, Louis depicts his childhood and the struggles of
being different the other children in a very traditional town. One of
the thoughts that struck me was his comparison of a weight loss
program to some imaginary program that could “fix” his femininity if
he tried hard enough. He believed that his identity was not only
looked down upon but also something so malleable that it could be
mended through training. One’s identity is something unique to them;
they do not define their identity but rather it defines who they are.
Louis contemplates trying to change his own identity out of self-
loathing and a desire to fit in. This reminded me of sentiments from
Hannah Gatsby’s standup, where by the time she fully understood her
own identity, she was already homophobic, influenced by the
environment she was raised in. Readers see the shame and hatred
that stems from the stark differences between the masculinity that is
expected of Louis and how he acts instead. While some men take
pride in exhibiting their more masculine traits, how can they balance
this without it becoming toxic masculinity and explicitly or even
implicitly creating some structure on what is right/wrong for men?

In many ways, this microtheme is asking us to think about agency.

Throughout the novel, Eddy tries to alter how he acts and talks, what
he desires and what he is interested in. No matter how hard he tries,
however, he is unable to gain control. Eddy is not the only character
whose behavior is influenced by forces beyond their control, when
answer this question, identify how at least one female character is
affected by their identity (or various identities). What might these
struggles illuminate about the nature of behavior and choice. Be
sure to provide page numbers.

(2)In chapter 1, Louis paints a disturbing picture of Eddy’s troubled

childhood. Within it, Eddy cross references a stigmata from Greek
culture- those carved on bodies of deviants posing threats to society-
with the likeness of being called “faggot.” Yet, he goes on to say that
the hardest part of the taunting was the physical pain. While it is easy
to focus on the humiliation and the following insults, many rarely
discuss the physical repercussions of bullying. Although, in today’s
society, it is more common to come face to face with the verbal abuse
as opposed to the physical pain, has that evolution come to play
because of reducing discrimination towards the LGBTQ+ community
over time or did it just turn into underlying stereotypes and prejudice?
Here we are asked to consider the nature of violence and
discrimination. Do you agree with the writer of this microtheme that
we are more likely to face verbal rather than physical abuse? If so
why? If not, why not? When developing your answer to this consider
Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality. What forces come together to
influence the type of violence Eddy experiences? Are these forces
consistent or do they change based on context? Be as specific as
possible?

(3)One of the interesting dynamics I found in the second part of The End
of Eddy was Eddy’s Mother and Father regarding the Father’s
accident. In many cultures, it is not uncommon for the male to rely on
the female for nurture. Being a mother in itself often implies the
statues of caregiver that men do take advantage of. In this novel, as
soon as the Father gets injured, he appears to use this as an excuse
for total dependence on his wife. Even long after he has healed
enough to work, he refuses to return and does essentially nothing. I
found this especially surprising since in the typical housewife dynamic
that I’ve seen portrayed in the media, the husband is the breadwinner
as the wife nurtures the family. In this dynamic, even with them being
poor and struggling financially, the Father feels no motivation to
continue earning money. It essentially shows that in this scenario, an
avoidance of societal gender dynamics can be harmful, especially
when the female isn’t equipped to step in for the male’s role. How
would this change if the Mother was the one with a job? Does a less
wealthy financial status force women into a role that prevents them
from working? How does this happen and can it be prevented?

Take a moment to consider the Eddy’s father. Is his decision to stop

working because he is a “slacker” like those in the town say or is
there something else happening? What other factors might be
preventing Eddy’s father from seeking employment? As this
microtheme’s author suggests, these factors might be largely
economic/classed. What does the novel’s focus on class relations
reveal more generally about gender stereotypes?

(4)One of the things apparent in the first 100 pages of The End of
Eddie is the intersection of multiple systems contributing to the
problems in the characters’ lives. There is major gender and sexuality-
based violence in the reading, and this violence is generally
normalized and at least partially accepted in the predominant culture.
Reinforcing this are the economic and educational systems affecting
the residents of the village, which are interconnected and contribute
to frustration, anger, and generally narrow and hostile worldviews.
There is no single system creating all of the violence in The End of
Eddie, it is the intersection of many.
 This evokes the idea of resilience in my mind, or in this case perhaps
“anti-resilience.”
Resilience is the idea that some process or group can recover
from single systems failing if the other systems are sufficiently
healthy. For example, a major road closure might not cause too much
increase in traffic in a city with a good subway system. In reading The
End of Eddie I wonder if the same effect could be happening in
reverse: that the intersecting systems could maintain the violence
even if progress was made in any one area. If so, this makes solving
any issue much harder since initial progress might not improve
quality of life.
One example of this that stands out to me in the text is around
page 67 where Mrs. Bellegueule earns over a thousand euros in a
month in her nursing job and Mr. Bellegueule only makes seven
hundred and he sees this as demeaning and tells her to quit her job.
The culture of gender violence is making it harder for the family to
escape their economic problems.

This microtheme asks us to think about how social forces aggregate

into intricate structures of violence. Identity at least two social
forces that create violent conditions for the characters. How do
these forces enact violence on their own and how do they reinforce
each other?

(5)The most interesting dynamic I have found while reading the book is
that of Eddy and his Mother. There are multiple chapters dedicated to
just describing her mannerisms and actions. Specifically, the line on
page 58, “It took me a long time to understand that she wasn’t being
incoherent or contradictory, but rather that it was I myself, arrogant
class renegade that I was, who tried to force her discourse into a
foreign kind of coherence, one more compatible with my values-
values I’d adopted precisely in order to construct a self in opposition
to my parents, in opposition to my family” ( Louis, 58-59). This specific
sentence stuck out to me because it was incredibly self-aware, and
applicable to most children. The idea of not understanding, or
rejecting something simply because it goes against your values
(values which were made to be incontention with one’s family) is also
something that could be placed in a broader context. Eddy is
recognising his mother’s inner battle between happiness, success, and
the idea of femininity, but at the time, did not understand her
dilemma. In a larger context, this could be placed into the notion of
feminist history and backlash, as well as intersectionality, and the
struggle for some people to comprehend that topic.

Here, consider how this novel complicates or makes more apparent

the steps one might need to take in order to build communities
across difference. Is understanding enough or is there an emotional
component as well?

(6)I like that this novel isn’t written in chronological order, allowing the
story of Eddy to be told differently. I feel that this structure helps the
reader build their concept of the setting more solidly, as it allows us
to see which aspects of the environment were products of their time
and which were constants. Also, by dealing with themes or topics from
his childhood, it lets us see connections that wouldn’t have been
evident otherwise, and for suspense to be built in a different way (for
example, the intermittent references to the accident at the factory).
Many parts of this section were hard to read, both the discrimination
Eddy faced from all fronts, and the general state of misery that
seemed to shroud their household, and to an extent the whole village.
The endless sources of shame and pressure for the Bellegueule family
intersect especially harshly around Eddy, who, in addition to his
family’s usual problems, has to deal with being beaten, belittled, and
berated just for being who he is. Even Eddy himself wonders why he
cannot be the tough man his father wants him to be. It is especially
painful to see him hide the fact that he is beaten daily, not because it
would make him seem weak, but because he didn’t want anyone else
to get the impression that there was something ‘bully-able’ about him.

What effect does the narration have on the novel? What, if anything,
about the narrator’s position allows us better access to the
experiences of both Eddy and his family?

(7)I found the entire book to be a really interesting account of sexuality,

masculinity, race, and class in France at the time. But I mostly wanted
to talk about the impact that the poverty that Eddie and his family
experience throughout the story has on his parent's (and
subsequently his) views on race.
My father grew up in rural Mississippi in a place that I imagine
is quite similar to the rural France that Eddy grew up in. I remember
my father, after Trump's election, discussing how in Mississippi for
many impoverished, rural, white individuals, their whiteness becomes
a source of pride in the midst of an impoverished life. A sort of "my
life is bad, but it could be worse. I could be non-white." And I
definitely see some of this in the novel, particularly in
Mr. Bellegueule. His racial outbursts often come while watching TV
inside his decrepit home. This despite the fact that Eddy readily
admits that there are many Afro-french and Arab-french who are more
affluent than the Bellegueule. This in my mind indicates that perhaps
racial animus comes from the same pride that Eddy discusses at
length in the novel. 
 In response to this, I was wondering if anyone else believes (or
does not believe) that Louis is arguing that racist and sexist attitudes
are both rooted in the same male pride?  

Is male pride the only force at work here? Or is there something else
contributing to Eddy’s father’s racism? Why does Edouard spend so
much time reflecting on his fathers violent, racist outbursts? What
does it illuminate about class, race, and the potential for solidarity?

(8)The End of Eddy depicts a vast amount of violence inflicted by and on

the characters which is not being recognized or addressed within
their society. Pain and suffering is often being acknowledged and
actively erased instead of acknowledged and acted on in a productive
manner. At most, violence is often acknowledged as in the instance of
Eddy’s father recognizing his own father’s violence and is repressed
by Eddy’s father from manifesting it in his own family. However, his
repression is false as he still ultimately shows violence in racism or
scorn for the bourgeoisie or even his brutal murder of kittens.
Violence is an everyday and normal occurrence which is manifested in
many different ways. Since violence is tied to the innate body, it
seems inevitable at first and then it becomes evident that this is all
due to structure. The body becomes a pivotal concept within this
novel due. An interesting point of the novel is that there is a clear
satisfaction in social affirmation rather than in individual realization
and that this perpetuates the system of violence. It's also interesting
that within the majority of the novel that Eddy never really speaks
through dialogue as other characters do showing just how oppressed
he is that as he narrates and fails to give himself a voice through
dialogue. Everything is so ingrained within society that there is a
great amount of compliance to social norms.

How do you interpret this microtheme’s claim that violence is not

inevitable, but rather catalyzed by social structure? Why might the
characters, however, gain a sense of pleasure from perpetuating
violence?