GENDER ROLES IN LITERATURE

Many people think that boys in our culture today are brought up to define their identities through heroic individualism and competition, particularly through separation from home, friends, and family in an outdoors world of work and doing. Girls, on the other hand, are brought up to define their identities through connection, cooperation, self-sacrifice, domesticity, and community in an indoor world of love and caring. This view of different male and female roles can be seen …

…few for why Treasure Island and The Secret Garden follow the male and female narrative patterns that are often found in children’s literature. They seem to portray gender-specific roles such as Jim seeking adventure and Mary loving to work in the garden. Also, the authors follow certain patterns in how they set up the climaxes in each of the novels. These two novels are perfect examples of how gender roles are illustrated in literature.