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Sweet Caress


William Boyd's Sweet Caress captures an entire lifetime unforgettably within its...
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How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

Created: 05/30/16

Replies: 8

Posted May. 30, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?


Posted Jun. 08, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
katherinep

Join Date: 07/16/14

Posts: 374

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

Al of them--that came to be my over-riding feeling about her --for as adventurous and creative as she tried to be--there always had to be a man as the focus of her life--even if he wasn't with her. Some fellow was to be impressed or give approval or express appreciation at every turn. I found it frustrating--and in the end that is why I think she was unfulfilled and sad.


Posted Jun. 08, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
reene

Join Date: 02/18/15

Posts: 497

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

I would say all of her decisions were the response to some man's action. She became a photographer after her uncle gave her a camera, and her first position as a photographer. All her jobs in England, America, Viet Nam were the result of Cleve's sending her off on missions, creating an office for her to work out of. Even her first fiasco of trying to make a name for herself in Berlin was the brain child of her uncle.
She never really stopped to think, "what do I want out of this"?


Posted Jun. 08, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
melanieb

Join Date: 08/30/14

Posts: 265

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

All of her choices are made in response to the men in her life. Amory was a daring and independent woman in her sense of adventure however this same adventurous spirit was dominated by the actions and recommendations of her dad, uncle, the affairs she had with emotionally unavailable men, and her husband.


Posted Jun. 09, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
KateB

Join Date: 02/11/16

Posts: 60

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

It's definitely a character flaw that Amory's life choices are so driven by the men in her life. But given her father's behaviour, I have a lot of sympathy for that.

There is even a point before she goes to Vietnam that she almost takes up with the Hugo Torrence but then she does seem to make a choice to go her own way. She also makes her own choices when she goes looking for Blythe. So perhaps she does become less responsive and more independent as she matures.


Posted Jun. 09, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
ruthiea

Join Date: 02/03/14

Posts: 271

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

As with the previous posters, I felt that Amory made all of her life choices and decisions based on the men in her life. It is an understandable, if not admirable way to live your life! I found it interesting that she makes a point of saying "I am not a slut" when she kinda was! I do not have much respect for women who sleep with married men, less for then using these relationships to further their careers and get favors.


Posted Jun. 09, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Maggie

Join Date: 01/01/16

Posts: 434

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

All of her life choices were because of the men in her life. She always had to have a man even if he belonged to someone one else.


Posted Jun. 10, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
laurap

Join Date: 06/19/12

Posts: 407

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

Almost of of Amory's career and life decisions were in response to opportunities offered to her by men. I'm not sure that's unusual for the time period in which her character is placed, although the further she moves toward the present day the less that should be true. Even in Vietnam, though, she heads off into the back-country in response to a man's request. She doesn't seem to be able to let go of the men in her past, teither - witness her continuing to follow Cleve and Charbonneau.


Posted Jun. 10, 2016 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
mjb

Join Date: 06/10/16

Posts: 2

RE: How many of Amory's life choices are made in response to the men in her life?

Quite a few. It seems she met connected men or weak men. I did not care for any of them.


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