The Flowers Rough Draft

Daisy Rodriguez

English 1B

            In The Flowers, by Dagoberto Gilb, it is clear that women are portrayed as inferior. One can see this because of the characteristics the three main women portray. These three women are Sylvia, the mother of Sonny, Cindy, a drug addict, and Nica, a young girl that is forced to be at home.

            Throughout the novel, Sylvia is portrayed as a bad mother, a liar, and the wife that just wants to please her husband. Sonny describes her as the mother who was never there. In the book Sonny states, “It was that my mom, if she wasn’t at her job, was out on dates and whatever. And sometimes she’d get in so late I wouldn’t be awake” (5). This shows that Sylvia did not care much about her son because she would rather be out. Sylvia is also described as a liar. She constantly lies to Sonny and Cloyd. It appears that Sylvia has to lie to Cloyd because if she does not, Cloyd will not support her. She is forced to lie about being able to cook food just to please Cloyd.

            Another character that is portrayed as inferior is Cindy. Cindy’s characteristics as a bad woman also make her look inferior. She is described as a drug addict and a bad example of a woman. She dropped out of high school, and got pregnant at a young age, but has had an abortion, and a miscarriage. In page 42, Cindy states, “He’s here when he wants something, like sex, or to sleep, or to eat, or to drink, or to have more sex with me once in a while.” This leads the reader to think that Dagoberto Gilb is saying that women should only be at home waiting for their husband to come so they can please them. Cindy is just always at home waiting for her man to come. These characteristics show that she who had the opportunity to do whatever she wanted got stuck with a man who doesn’t even care about her.

            Nica is also looked down as a woman who cannot do that much. Dagoberto Gilb makes her look as a young woman who does not have the freedom to do what she wants to do. In the novel, Sonny says, “There was her dad, and it seemed like she had to watch out for him…She didn’t go to school, you know? That was something from the dinosaur times. She was like an Indian slave” (67). The author makes Nica look helpless, because she is always to stay at home and take care of her little brother. She is stuck at home while her parents are at work. Nica is also not allowed to go to school. Just because her father is very strict she is not allowed to go anywhere, not even to school. Without school she is enabling herself from succeeding and getting a better life.

            As you can see, these three women, Sylvia, Cindy, and Nica poses woman characteristics that make them seem inferior and weak. One does not have the motherly characteristics. Another one is just with a man so he can provide her a house. The last one is just stuck at home because she cannot go out.

                                                                Works Cited

1.)   Gilb, Dagoberto. The Flowers. New York: Grove, 2008. Print