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#9 The Five-Forty-Eight (John Cheever, 1954)

Rating: 8.6/10

    Male superiority has been the tradition of humanity for as long as civilization records. It would be a luxury to wish for complete gender equality without a significant paradigm shift in global leaders. In this short story, John Cheever depicts a man’s experience of facing the consequences of taking advantage of women, specifically those with low self-esteem. Still, the man rises from the ground as the same man without feeling an iota of remorse. This way, the static nature of men as predators, seeking women only to quench their sexual appetites, is criticized. The contrast between Ms. Dent’s life and Blake’s businessman-like life even maximizes the tragic circumstances Ms. Dent’s facing.

    Contrary to Blake’s immorality, Ms. Dent does her best to lead Blake to redemption. Even with her mental illness, she tries not to eradicate Blake from the world but to change his soul. Restraining her from firing a pistol would’ve been challenging, but she does so. The story showed me future sexism I might experience out of KMLA, but it would have received a better rating if it took account of improving gender equality in contemporary society.

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