Objectifying: Subconscious or Nah?

Throughout Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl," Chimamanda Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck" and Flannery O'Connor's "Everything that Rises Must Converge," the significant issue of subtle and often subconscious objectification of other genders and races remains at the forefront of the stories' conflicts. Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl" brings to light the pertinent issue that is objectification through the degradation of the protagonist. With each individual instruction and reprimand, the protagonist's mother further establishes dominance over a girl believed by society to be inherently inferior to others by the very nature of her identity as a female. The fact that the protagonist is expected to do so much for her family and for men with no respect in return displays the nature of this girl's community: women are taken for granted and seen as little more than household objects. In this way, Kincaid reveals the socially unbalanced essence of human civilization, and how that results in clear objectification. Adichie's "The Thing Around Your Neck" demonstrates the often subconscious objectification of people of other races and genders. Akunna's boyfriend appears knowledgeable about Africa, and respectful of her, but sometimes his "love" for her seems solely because of her heritage. He objectifies Akunna and uses her to learn more about her culture, and to help convince himself and others that he is a forward-thinking man. Although the character is not trying be racist, it doesn't come off that way. In this way, Adichie shows that racism and objectification can be either intentional or unintentional. Objectification of races is also a prevalent theme in the short story "Everything That Rises Must Converge," written by Flannery  O'Connor. Throughout the short story, the main character; Julian, subconsciously objectifies black people. He uses the issue of race to make his racist mother uncomfortable, and also to prove a point and to convert her into a "non-racist." Although he does make many efforts to engage in conversations with black men, the way he does this subconsciously makes it seem that he sees them as objects, in a way to test himself. Objectifying races is frequently as offensive to many people as racist actions and remarks. In modern society, the objectification of those who are different is a prevalent issue. To be a tolerant society, it is important to imagine others as more than objects.