She has no such power in her own family, but she can exercise this power when with this man.
The two meet on a ferryboat, one of the democratizing and leveling institutions where virtually everyone might be at some time or another. She begins to make her way to the Chinese section of the city to his bachelor quarters for trysts, usually at her instigation and on the basis of what she wants from him. The two go first to "one of those Chinese restaurants on several floors, they occupy whole buildings, they're as big as department stores" (Duras 47), and part of her interest in him is evident: "I ask him to tell me about his father's money, how he got rich" (Duras 47). What he tells her about providing housing for the poor and others and how he views the poor both fascinates and hurts her:
Suddenly I have a pain. Very slight, almost imperceptible. It's my heartbeat, shifted into the fresh, keen wound he's made in me... (Duras 48)
The contrasts between their living conditions are raised again and again, as are various other images that show the contrasts and that also link different time periods and attitudes. The girl may ask the man about how his fatehr's money, but her own situation is not something discussed in this manner: "one of the first things we'd learned was to keep quiet about the ruling principle of our life, poverty" (Duras 60).
Images of water about in the novel, with water representing a sort of timelessness as the river keeps flowing no matter what the human beings alongside it or on it do. The ocean as well is an eternal element that crate a soothing sameness when balanced with the turmoil of human life:
Everything flows toward the Pacific, no time for anything to sink, all is swept along by the deep and headlong sotrm of the inner current, suspended on the surface of the river's strength. (Duras 22)
The river is both a dividing line and a unifying element at the same time:
The...
Flapper Movement The Effect of the Flappers on Today's Women The 1920's in the U.S. And UK can be described as a period of great change, both socially and economically. During this period the image of the women completely changed and a "new women" emerged who appears to have impacted social changes occurring in future generations of both men and women. This new symbol of the women was the Flapper. The Flapper
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