Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater female presence?

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Zeix
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Re: Do you think the novel would have benefited from a greater female presence?

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corinaelena wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 16:43 I think throughout history, women have created their own world, separated from men. There are still amazing stories coming to light about the brave women throughout history. While their actions might have been incredible, they were never recorded by our male historians. There is always a way to include female characters in a story if an author has the intention. With that being said...I think we should accept the fact that some stories have a more predominant female audience, while others rely heavily on male characters, and that is ok. Thankfully, there is enough for everybody at the moment.
I totally agree with you, every book has its own storyline, and it doesn't always have to have gender balanced characters
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The setting of the story is that most of the male characters are on duty far away from home and have left their families behind. This can explain minimum presence of females.
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I think historically it wouldn't have made sense. I do think sarah did play a vital role in this story though. Jacko even admitted to her being better at tracking than he
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aacodreanu wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 12:56 :ugeek2: Well, the focus of the book is on adventure, and it seems that women, at least those raised in civilization, are unlikely to cope in the bush. And an author writes about what he is comfortable with. It is a matter of take it or leave it. :mrgreen:
I think monique and Carnahan were the typical female of that era. To have them all like sarah would have been unrealistic
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Abacus wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 15:47 Sarah does have a larger part in a later book. The ladies of the night get the focus in this book.
How do you mean?
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corinaelena wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 16:43 I think throughout history, women have created their own world, separated from men. There are still amazing stories coming to light about the brave women throughout history. While their actions might have been incredible, they were never recorded by our male historians. There is always a way to include female characters in a story if an author has the intention. With that being said...I think we should accept the fact that some stories have a more predominant female audience, while others rely heavily on male characters, and that is ok. Thankfully, there is enough for everybody at the moment.
And stereotypically not many woman are big into the fighting bravo of army men
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Lindsey Klaus wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 17:33 While female empowerment does not seem to be a theme of the story, I think almost anything based in history could use a stronger female presence. Though I don't feel that the author is intentionally leaving them out or anything like that. Women have been heavily present in adventures throughout history, but unfortunately their roles have often been dismissed, painted over, or forgotten. I think it's important we don't continue that trend. That being said, while I haven't read the whole story, I don't get the impression the author is sexist or anything like that.
And I do think sarah played quite an important role
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Juliet+1 wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 21:37 I think the novel would be much better with a greater female presence, because that's reality. And not all the women have to be young and adventurous. How about a middle-aged anthropologist like Margaret Mead wandering about the jungle? There's plenty of room for a more even treatment when creating minor characters.
But how would that fit in this kovel?
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Post by Kro92813 »

Aditi Sapate wrote: 02 Oct 2019, 23:08 Jacko's half-sister really was an inspiration. As you mentioned, I too would have enjoyed reading about more of such female characters. But if the author had included more such characters, the story would have seemed a bit unrealistic due to the time it is set in.
I agree. Women like sarah were not abundant in that era
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Hester3 wrote: 03 Oct 2019, 02:39 Given the time period of the book along with the setting, a greater female presence would not have been realistic. I think the author did a fantastic job with his female characters. Given how young Sarah is, her character is remarkable but more strong female characters would have diminished Sarah's role.
I would have to agree with you. Too much of one thing is never good.
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Stephanie Elizabeth wrote: 04 Oct 2019, 08:32 While I have been really enjoying the book, I do believe the book could have benefitted from a greater female presence. I think by possibly making Sarah's character have more of a role, it could have added more perspective.
But sarah tracked her heart out! What else could she have done? She was rather vital
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Akpome1 wrote: 06 Oct 2019, 05:49 I don't think so. It is possible that Sarah actually has the skill of tracking in reality. If you look at all the characters very closely, you would see that they were carefully chosen. They all played their roles very well. This means that Sarah was not just put there just because she is a woman. She was put there because of her exceptional skills. Do you realize that she found her husband in the process?
Who's her hisband??
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OliviaLouise wrote: 06 Oct 2019, 07:51 Definitely. Women still struggle to get representation in contemporary literature. Especially in genres like action and adventure. Writing a strong female character is not enough: we need more with central roles!
But historically would it have made sense?
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DorcasToo wrote: 07 Oct 2019, 02:08 I think Sarah does a great job of representing the females. But definitely, more feminity would add in some spark.
The wives felt like helpless little puppies. That bothered me
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Howlan wrote: 10 Oct 2019, 03:02 Yes, definitely. I was personally disappointed that Sarah had not a very big role to play in the movie.
There's a movie?
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