The dynamics of relationships that Turner writes out for us include a few specific things: money and trust. Money is something that often times starts relationships because this seems to be what some women want from these men who have it. Tressa said "I seen the looks they were giving me tonight," when she is talking about the other girls in the club (44). Other women envied her because being Lucky's girl meant that she had access to his money and she was being taken care of. Turner gives the impression that "being taken care of" means being well off and having plenty of money for luxury. Perception about relationships also plays a huge part in the story Turner is telling us because even when Tressa was talking with Lucky about how the girls were looking at her in the club, she was "trying not to let on that she liked the feeling of envy and the thought of being his girl" (44). She didn't want to give the impression that she was like the other girls who only wanted the money. She proves this when Lucky tests her with the paper bag with $100,000 in it (44, 45).
Perception of power comes into play again when Tressa finds out another woman was living in her apartment after Lucky bought her a house for their family. Lucky tries to turn it on Tressa when she says that "I am not the one who's unfaithful here. You are!" (63). Lucky comes back with "Well, you ain't answer your phone" (63). He continues on and almost threatens her with "well, where are you going to go with two babies? Who gonna want you? Who is going to treat you like me?" (64). We can see here again the message Turner is alluding to that power comes along with having money. Tressa knows she is right, Lucky knows cheating is wrong, but because Lucky has the money he can do what he pleases. All he thinks he needs to do is make Tressa "unappealing" to other men which he thinks occurs because she has the twins. Lucky also thinks because he has the money that Tressa needs him and she wouldn't dare leave because she can't support herself. Little did he know that this perception is not reality.
I think you bring up a really good point about money and power. When males have that dominate role due to their money they more often than not take advantage of it and use it to their strength. Which is exactly what Lucky did to Tressa, he used the fact that he had money as a way to keep her around even when he was absolutely in the wring. The issue is Tressa caved into that game and let the fact that he had money control the respect she gave herself.
ReplyDeleteI think that is something that is still an issue today sometimes, woman depend on men way too much rather than making their own living. They want someone to take care of them rather than be able to take care of themselves. I know that last thing I would ever want is to feel dependent on a man. And Tressa was far too dependent on Lucky, it was as if she couldn't function unless she had him and his money most importantly. Lucky played mind games with her, he knew his money would keep her around but not only that he also attacked her self-esteem. By saying no man would want her with two kids that only brought her down and got in her head and forced her to believe him and think what he was saying was true.
At the end of the day Lucky used the fact that Tressa felt she needed his money. Knowing she needed his money meant he was able to play with her feelings and thats just what he did and got away with it.
I think what stands out to me from my reading of the text, is that the characters live in a world where money IS power, and because relationships play out based on power dynamics, money is ultimately the backbone of most relationships in the book, as you stated in your post. In this regard Tressa does seem to be rebellious, because even as she enters relationships due to financial stability, she leaves them too, even if this means losing out on money. Tressa leaves both Lucky and Mr. Bill even though they have provided a financial stable environment in which to raise her children, and this in turn endows her with the power in both relationships. Tressa stands out because she is able to gain power in her relationships by rejecting money. When Tressa leaves Lucky it really is a revolutionary act, and the men she leaves and other women such as Gypsy are shocked that she would choose to leave what is seen as a desirable relationship. In the end though, Tressa does choose to be with a wealthy man, Indie, and in this relationship it is more difficult to see how she retains power, because throughout the rest of the book her power in relationships seemed to come from her leaving the people she was with.
ReplyDeleteI think that this passage that you chose to unpack was a very interesting one. With the Women's Studies training that I have as a WS major, as well as the training that I have received through the SAPAC program on campus spotting domestic abuse is pretty easy. The specific realm of domesic violence that has always been the most interesting to me was the financial abuse. This is exactly what is happening here with Tressa and Lucky. He is abusing her self esteem by saying that no one is going to want her because she has children and then he also turns around and financially abuses her because he uses the fact that she is financially tied to him to his advantage.
ReplyDeleteThe part of Sara's analysis that struck me the most was the beginning when the idea of money and image was discussed. Tressa notes that other women were envious of her because of the money that she access to, but at the same time, she did not want Lucky to be aware of her awareness of this new-found access to money that she had with while being with him. This is an example of one being smothered by the ways that certain members of society view her.