How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #4
He said that war had destroyed the country and that men believe the cure for war is war as the curandero prescribes the serpent's flesh for its bite. He spoke of his campaigns in the deserts of Mexico and he told them of horses killed under him and he said that the souls of horses mirror the souls of men more closely than men suppose and that horses also love war […]. His own father said that no man who has not gone to war horseback can ever truly understand the horse and he said that he supposed he wished that this were not so but that it was so. (1641)
Straight out of Gender Stereotype City in some ways, this passage portrays men—and also their horses—as perpetual warmongers. It contains striking connections between men, horses, and a perpetual, sad cycle of violence, not altogether different from the history of the men in the Grady family or that of Blevins' male predecessors.
Quote #5
I grew up in a world of men. I thought this would have prepared me to live in a world of men but it did not. I was also rebellious and so I recognize it in others […]. You see that I cannot help but be sympathetic to Alejandra. Even at her worst. But I wont have her unhappy. I wont have her ill spoken of. Or gossiped about. I know what that is […]. In an ideal world the gossip of the idle would be of no consequence. But I have seen the consequences in the real world and they can be very grave indeed. They can be consequences of a gravity not excluding bloodshed […]. What Alejandra dismisses as a matter of mere appearance or outmoded custom… (1948-9)
Alfonsa trails off here while recognizing the power that gender roles have in her society even when one consciously chooses to flout them. Many different and sometimes conflicting impulses in her character are on display here: concern for Alejandra and disgust at her society, regret for the past, and perhaps a hint of self-recrimination.
Quote #6
I want you to be considerate of a young girl's reputation […]. There is no forgiveness. For women. A man may lose his honor and regain it again. But a woman cannot […]. It's not a matter of right. You must understand. It is a matter of who must say. In this matter I get to say. (1956, 1960, 1964)
In contrasting the role of honor for men and women, Alfonsa also raises the issues of how class and family dynamics intersect with gender: while she may be limited in her role as a woman in mid-20th-century Mexican society, she does have some power through her role in the wealthy family.