Unit 7-Prompt 1

After rereading Clarice Lispector’s short stories a few times, it is very possible to read The Hen and The Smallest Woman in the World as a metaphor about her position on gender relations. In order to view these two stories as metaphors, there has to be a focus on how the situation in both readings changes as they progressed and how it applies stereotypes of women. An example of this is how Clarice addresses the difference of statuses between mothers and women in The Hen. Through showing how the hen was spared her death because of giving birth to only end up getting killed anyways in the end, Clarice uses the hen as a symbol of how women are viewed with much respect when they are mothers but are treated with little regard when they are not. By analyzing how the hen behaved with fear before she escaped and how she was treated from the beginning until her death, there is a drastic difference between how she was approached when she was not a mother and the hospitality she received after laying the egg. Clarice did an excellent job in addressing how a change in roles for women will often either gain them more respect for a certain period of time until their “15-minutes of fame” is over.

As for The Smallest Woman in the World, Clarice Lispector addresses the stereotyping of women and society’s tendency to look down upon people that are very different to them. By viewing how the people of Marcel Pretre’s country reacted to the photo of Little Flower, there were mixed reactions; from being called a toy to questioning whether she is fit for a housemaid, Clarice shows how society sets low standards for women and lack of heart for women from different cultures. Clarice also shows how seeing a person from a different culture can often cause members of society to view them in low regard. From one viewer being too disgusted to see Little Flower’s photo to a child feeling sorry for her, Clarice also addresses the fact how people will quickly draw to drastic conclusions on the difference of life between them and the woman (or man) on the photo. Although the metaphors in both stories were excellent in describing gender relations, The Smallest Woman in the World accomplished not only women stereotypes but also society’s flaw of labeling the unknown.