Cutting The Stone Family Saga In Ethiopia & America By Abraham Verghese

PEER RESPONSE & PERSONAL OPINION

After you provide your discussion essay, you are welcome to provide your own opinion or commentary by submitting a second thread to your initial essay. This is open ended, and you can structure the response/opinion in any format you choose.

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Peer discussion

In this week’s discussion post we are to discuss what the female characters in the book “Cutting for Stone” and the women who come to Missing seeking medical treatment reveal about what life is like for women in Ethiopia. The time period was the 1940’s through the 1970’s in Ethiopia. Womens rights were not what they are today in America, especially in Ethiopia. The author portrays the women as attached to men. The women are held to stricter standards than the men during this time period.

Rosina is a maid for Hema and her family. She has a secret affair with a married man and has a child by him that he he cannot recognize. The daughters name is Genet. Genets biological father is killed, and her mother cuts her daughters face to show mourning. Genet loses her virginity and her mother has her circumcised and she gets and infection that nearly takes her life. She breaks Marion’s heart by sleeping with his brother and he later in life rapes her. She gives Marion Hep B, he survives and she dies. This is her punishment.

Rosina is never recognized as having a child by Zemui. He visits her and their child Genet from time to time. Rosina kills herself when her daughter nearly dies from an infection that was her fault.

Hema raises the twins as their biological mother dies during childbirth. She seems to favor Shiva as he is more interested in her work and follows her more. She is always attached to either the children or Gosh.

The Probationer is responsible for not recognizing Sister Mary Joseph Praise’s symptoms ands she goes back to work. She forgets about the new born conjoined twins after she lies them aside after they are born. Years later, she loses her virginity to Shiva.

Sister Mary Joseph Praise becomes pregnant by Thomas Stone during one of his drunken episodes that he doesn’t remember. Stone is secretly in love with her. No one knows that she is pregnant with his children until she is found in active labor and bleeding. She is taken to the operating room where she is found to be pregnant with conjoined twins. The staff (who are her co-workers and friends) stumble during the situation and ultimately, she dies during birth. This type of pregnancy can be very dangerous in any community. Prenatal care would have detected the situation early into the pregnancy. Even if no one knew of the pregnancy, in modern time in my community she would have received greater odds of survival. Being rushed to a hospital that is well staffed and with modern technology she most likely would have survived the birth of her conjoined twins.

In conclusion, the book portrays women as either attached to men or punished then when mistakes are made, which has been the history of women. Throughout the years, this has improved but not in all cultures. In some cultures, women are still portrayed in the same fashion and even worse. By combining this portrayal of women and inadequate medical facilities, women’s health suffer.

Reference

Verghese,A.,(2010). Cutting for Stone. New York: Vintage Books.