Progress of Eve
Let us assume that there is an indisputable concept of linear progress. Debating upon it can be saved for later pages. Even though there might not be a consensus on the existence of description of a definite, categorical standard of distinguishing what is in advance, discussing on what can be seen as progress upon this assumption might produce fruitful results. As one of such attempts to create meaningful discussions, I would like to analyze the growth of Eve in courses of advancement in a chronological order in “Eve’s Diary” and “Adam’s Diary” written by Mark Twain.
In order for a change to occur, there must be a problematic sequence in the status quo. Without negation and conflict, there cannot be progress from the status quo. In such sense, “Eve’s Diary” written by Mark Twain starts from a problematic, yet potentially ideal status quo. Eve is suddenly born, without possessing a clear objective in her life. Rather, she is given an objective without her consent. Although there is no scene where a higher power appears and grants her the purpose of her existence, it is evident that Eve is clearly aware of her reason for creation. “I AM-an experiment; just an experiment, and nothing more.” This absence of life’s goal leads to extreme self-negation as shown in: “Then if I am an experiment, am I the whole of it? No, I think not;”
From the very beginning of the story, Eve lacks subjectivity in the context. She is removed from the center of discourse, she is a passive being used as an experiment of an obvious higher power. Whatever creation she is superior than does not matter; she is excluded from the subject’s position. However, she soon rebels to the oppression she is receiving. She “says its name is Eve…not an It…is a She.” Unlike the environment that is given by the other, she for the first time creates meaning that is solely hers. She refuses to be generalized or objectified; this is evident when Eve calls herself a “She.” “She” is a word that can only stand as a subject in a sentence, and the usage of the word differentiates the indicated being with materials. The word has an inevitable human connotation to it. Not only that, Eve starts to name every object around her. By doing so, she is rearranging the order of materials in her way, not as what has been given. Just as God has created the world, Eve reconstructs the meaning of the world she lives in, naturally escaping from oppression that is against her will.
Acquiring subjectivity is a clear progress from existing as a passive being. However, there is a clear drawback to this step as well as the first. If one becomes too self-centered, he or she becomes stagnated. With excessive self-righteousness, one rules over every other existence except for himself. A subject that does not gaze upon herself is extremely dangerous. She can no longer cope with the others, and cannot advance with time. There must be an opportunity when the subject becomes modest, after realizing that she is not perfect.
This opportunity is often referred to as “mirror-stage”. In this stage, the subject starts to separate himself from his surroundings. In juvenile state, individuals cannot differentiate themselves from what they see, especially their image in the mirror. They only gaze on others, not realizing that they are being gazed at as well. Eve is also in this state as well in the story after she names the objects around her. Freeing herself from God’s given meaning was significant, but in process, she begins to rule over other materials. This includes taming other animals to hunt down Adam, ruling over others just as God has done. When Eve sees her own image on the water surface but does not acknowledge that it is herself; she is failing to admit that she is being watched by the image. Hence “It is a good friend to me, and my only one; it is my sister.” This indicates that Eve is not fully mature, and that she will meet another hardship to grow up.
Such misconception of oneself leads to an event which hurts Eve. Until Eve’s first confrontation with fire, what she has named admired and obeyed her. This has made her to be concentric with masculine, Christian God, for she rules over others. However, because ruling over is not a feministic characteristic, it is not apt for Eve to adopt such tactics. She experiences “cruel pain” when she puts her “finger in, to feel it,” Right after the shock, she puts her finger in her mouth. For the first time, an object goes against Eve’s will, hurting her. This is a setback that harms Eve, but the incident has a silver-lining foreshadowing to it. Putting a hot object to ease the pain allude the Holy Grail legend. Also a development story, the Holy Grail legend shows a similar event when the Fisher King puts hot piece of salmon inside of his mouth. The fish hurts the Fisher King greatly, but it functions as an obstacle that the Fisher King must overcome to accomplish perfection.
The pain by fire is similar to that of the Fisher King. For some hardships, the traditional way of dealing with problems would not work easily. One has to change her basic tactics in confronting life. As for Eve, her naming was violent and masculine for her to employ, which led to a negative result. In alternative, Eve takes a feminine stance in treating life. Instead of oppressing, she gives birth to a child, creating instead of destroying. Her caring is clearly differentiated from that of Adam. Adam treats his future existence, his child as a dangerous creature (“it makes curious devilish noises when not satisfied”), while Eve thinks it is “an enigma; she admire the word”. This is the completing stage of Eve’s life; she creates a new story, becomes the center of the discourse not be oppressing others, but by fertility.
Chung Yoon Ju: I didn't think that Eve is better than Adam as in whole. Rather, I thought that she is pretty annoying and I didn't give much attention to naming of every creature as reassembling the world. However, I am convinced on how she names the world, is rebellious to higher power, and discovers her inner self, making her superior to Adam. It would be better if you put some historical approach such as women suffrage.
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