its a long read but please help me out! its due tomorrow! if you see something that needs to be fixed id love to know, and my conclusion is horrible HELP!?
Men have traditionally been known as the more dominant sex. In history and modern day, our heroes and gods are mostly men. Even though men are commended for their knowledge and dexterity, there are some things that women excel at and that men are incapable of doing. In most circumstances, women are the ones who are acknowledged for being nourishing, while men are usually characterized as more indifferent. This is proven in ';The Apple Tree';, a short story by Katherine Mansfield, about a father's unfortunate purchase of an apple tree from a stranger who says the tree is absolutely magnificent. However, when he finally tastes the fruit of his labor he realizes that the tree really isn鈥檛 as amazing as the stranger made it out to be. The reason why the apple tasted the way it did is because the father was the one who took care of the tree, and as a man, the father was incapable of the care and nourishment needed by those around him. Nourishment can only be performed correctly by females as shown by the father's failure.
Before he realized what a great tree he had purchased, he had an orchard full of other trees. In the beginning of the short story, the narrator, a child of the man, explains the conditions of one of the trees, ';One, that we called the ';wild'; orchard, lay beyond the vegetable garden...and there every Monday morning... the servant girl and the washerwoman carried the wet linen'; (206). The narrator explains how the tree was mistreated and neglected. The tree had obtained a nickname of the ';wild orchard'; because that's what it was. It had become wild after it had endured the improper care that was provided by its owner, the child's father. The quote also shows that the Father's servants had misused the tree by using it to dry there wet linens. The man's irresponsibility when it comes for caring for something is shown later when he and his children taste the fruit of his new ';marvelous'; tree, ';Father spat his out and never went near the apple tree again'; (210). Even after attempting to care for the tree, it hadn鈥檛 turned out the way he wanted so he left it to rot like the ';wild orchard';. This applies to reality as well. Men, by nature able to produce something, but don't care for it after. On the other hand, women take on this responsibility and nurture their young to the best of their abilities. Many animals also do this such as the bear species and many reptiles. The male half of the animals mate with the females, but after that they leave the females to care for their young by themselves. Even when they consider some things valuable, men are also incapable of nourishing them correctly.
When men discover something they care for they are still unable to provide the care that is needed to sustain a healthy life for that being. Such as in ';The Apple Tree'; when the father finds out that a tree he has purchased is worth something, he still does little to nothing to care for the tree. The father repeatedly tells the kids not to mess with the tree, ';Don鈥檛 touch that tee! Do you hear me children!'; (207), ';If I catch either of you touching those apples you shall not only go to bed 鈥?you shall each have a good sound whipping'; (208). Even though the father loved his tree, he was naturally unable to care for it. His take on caring for the tree was to leave it alone. By focusing on the wellbeing of the tree, the father is also neglecting the care that is needed for the kids. This leads to the another example of how men are unable to fulfill the difficult responsibility of sustaining a life. Even though the father loves his children he still orders them not to hang around his tree, which neglects both the tree and his children.
The man's stubborn attitude towards the tree being left alone also contributes to the lack of care and nourishment he provided for his children. When the apples of the tree finally ripened, he had picked off an apple to give to his kids, ';At last the day came when Father took out his waistcoat pocket a little pearl penknife... He laid one apple down, opened the penknife and neatly and beautifully cut the other in half'; (209). Because the apple was made out to be delicious he had set high hopes for his children, which were crushed the second after they tasted the apples, ';Together we took a bit. Our mouths were full of a floury stuff, a hard, faintly bitter skin -- a horrible taste of something dry . . . .'; (210). In addition to the father not meeting up to his children's expectations he also could not provide proper supplement for his children. The children also weren't able to tell their father how they really felt about the apple, ';'Perf
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