A Virtuous Woman Essay

Kay Gibbons can be said as one of the remarkable writers during her time. Despite of her past experiences especially during her childhood, remained strong and determined to pursue her dreams and make everything possible through her novels. Gibbons was born in 1960 at Wilson North Carolina. She is the daughter of Charles and Alice Butts. Her father is a tobacco farmer who is an alcoholic while her mother is a simple housewife. Her mother has a bipolar disorder that caused her death. She was first married to Michael Gibbons but after few years, they separated. Despite of the separation, Gibbons had her children namely Mary, Leslies, and Louise. She got married again to Frank Ward who is an attorney, but they separated in 1995. Now, she lived in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to researches about Kay Gibbons’ life, she loved reading a lot. In order to read books, she walked for three miles just to go to the Bookmobile where everything can be read for free. Acknowledging this kind of talent, she started writing her own novel. Her first novel was â€Å"Ellen Foster† in 1987. After a successful launch of this novel, she wrote another novel entitled â€Å"A Virtuous Woman† in 1989 that brought more success to her uprising career. After the two novels, she made another 6 novels – â€Å"A Cure for Dreams† in 1991, â€Å"Charms for Easy Life† in 1993, â€Å"Sights Unseen† in 1995, â€Å"On the Occasion of my last Afternoon† in 1998, â€Å"Diving Women† in 2004, and â€Å"The Life All around Me by Ellen Foster† in 2005. As we can see through Gibbons’ title of her novel, everything is about women. She talks about the weaknesses and strengths of women through her novels. However, she makes sure that women are winner in their duel against men in terms of social situations and relationships. One of the examples of Gibbons’ comparison of men and women’s capability in terms of relationship and love was her novel â€Å"A Virtuous Woman†. The story of Kay Gibbons entitled â€Å"A Virtuous Woman† is about an incomparable love between a couple that has been in love with one another despite of their age gap. Ruby is 20 years old while Jack is already 40 years old when they met each other and fall in love to one another. Despite having their gap, their love to one another bloomed in a lavishing way. Until one day, Ruby died due to lung cancer. Jack became paralyzed emotionally and intellectually because of her wife’s death. He grieved alone after his wife’s death. He also remained strong physically but he could not already utilize his body. This is a love story, plain and simple. It’s the tale of a 40-year-old tenant farmer and a 20-year –old daughter of the gentry, who happen upon each other through fate or by chance. Jack and Ruby alternately tell the story of their marriage, painting a picture of deep and varied color. They speak of the everyday events that shaped their lives, their shard philosophies, and their different approaches to problem solving. This creates a crystal-clear picture of a deep and abiding marriage of both body and soul. But late in the novel, Ruby dies of lung cancer, and Jack is left alone with his recollections and his grief. This audio review shows that Gibbons made a good attack in her novel. She opened a wide variety of perspectives and ideologies within her story. Though it was a simple story, stating everything of the characters’ everyday life and relationship, Gibbons put something into those scenarios in the story that readers could not also express. It means that her point of attack with every chapter of the novel is not the usual content of a story. These are the images and symbolisms in the novel. Readers can see but they could not understand the real meaning for they were showered with abundant conditions of the characters and their conflicts. Because the theme of the novel is love, Gibbons stated different arguments of acceptance, humility, contentment, and happiness. By showing the situation of the relationship of Ruby and Jack, Gibbons also explored the life of a young woman feel in love to an old man. Even if Jack is not that old, their age gap gave definition to the quotation, â€Å"love is blind for it comes in different sizes and shapes. † Her justification and evidence of true love were all stated in the novel. However, the question with this is that Ruby died first while Jack lives longer, why does Ruby became the virtuous woman? It is an amplification of women’s gravity towards men. Despite of her sickness, Ruby still work for her husband’s contentment while at home. Before she died, she preserved all things and foods needed by Jack for the next few weeks. She remained strong before she died. Her life during her first relationship was very tortuous that gave her inoperable tumors. However, despite all of these causes, she opened her life again to jack and gave him the best while she was suffering from her illness. Though Jack knows that Ruby is already suffering from her cancer, he still thought for his own self. As both characters in A Virtuous Woman come to grips with their impending tragedy, the interior monologues that Gibbons has Jack and Ruby voice in the novel propel it forward. Toward the end, Gibbons switches to a third-person perspective as the motivations and actions of other characters involved in Jack and Ruby’s life come into play. Elements of fiction developed the theme through its setting that gives atmosphere and connection between the story and the characters. Another element is the characters. They are the determiners of the story, whether to push each other’s character or to leave one another in vain. Characterization is also important in this theme because characterization moulds the characters into a certain aspect that is connected to the theme of the story. Another important thing to consider in showing the theme of the story is the plot. There must be a convincing conflict, a distinct climax, and a strategic resolution and lastly, the symbolism within the story. The theme of the story mostly manifests on the author’s symbolism whether nature, actions, or words of the characters. All of these things should be stated clearly in order to give its readers the justification to conclude the theme of the story because the author does not state his or her theme in the beginning of the story. Readers should obtain the meanings of the symbols, setting, and characters of the story in order to acquire the theme. When it comes to these elements of fiction, Gibbons stated her setting, characters, symbolisms, plot, conflict, and characterization thoroughly. She characterizes her characters in a simple but significant way. Her setting is also simple but her strategic attack towards every single situation in the story is different. She showered her readers with different symbolisms even if the plot and conflicts are simple. It means that a writer does not need to find strange plot and conflict just to attract readers. In terms of Kay Gibbons’ effectiveness, it can be said that she is an effective writer. She knows how to create imaginative characters with true personality. Once a reader read her novel, it was like a form of watching because the reader cold explore various elements of the characters, the settings, the images, and the whole plot of the story. She can also be seen as a feminist because she made sure in her novels that women are higher than men in almost every aspect. It is maybe because of her personal experiences as a wife and a daughter. As a whole, Kay Gibbons’ creativity and style towards her novels gave an opportunity to other women to show their meanings through their novels. It should not be an autobiography story but a way to show the society that women are not just instruments of men for they have their own identities. Kay Gibbon had learned from all her experiences in life. What she wants to experience with men was stated in her novels because in her novels, she can control men and gave them their weaknesses. It means that Gibbons’ is empowering women to stand in whatever kind of situation they may be. She described women as virtuous for in the society, women are only instruments and subjects. Through her novels, women are powerful and amazing in everything they do. Works Cited DeMarr, Mary Jean. Kaye Gibbons: A Critical Companion. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2003. Gibbons, Kaye. A Virtuous Woman. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. â€Å"Kaye Gibbons. † Contemporary Authors Online. 2006. Thomson Gale. Northeast Alabama Community College Lib. , AL 17 Oct. 2007 . Kaye Gibbons Home Page. 2007. 17 Oct. 2007 . Taylor, Maurice. â€Å"A Virtuous Woman. † Library Journal Apr. 1989. 17 Oct. 2007. MAS Ultra – School