How does the novel’s portrayal of Pyl’maus perspective change over the course of the novel? While we are not to tokenize Pyl’mau as the only central woman character, are there any take-aways about gender dynamics in the novel?

There are three major phases of Pyl’mau in the context of the novel: 1) Pyl’mau, married to Toko, without any contact with John; 2) Pyl’mau, still married to Toko, but having met John;  3) Pyl’mau, having lost Toko, and soon thereafter married John.

From what we know of the “Phase 1 Pyl’mau,” she dearly loved Toko, even though she was initally terrified as an outsider to Enmyn.

Phase two Pyl’mau, to me, is the most interesting. We learn the most about Pyl’mau in the relatively short phase two, because the narration zooms into her perspective. In the very last scene between Pyl’mau, Toko, and John (before Toko’s death,) “Pyl’mau didn’t interrupt the men’s conversation. From time to time, she would get up, add some more duck to the plate, and stealthily move her eyes from one to the other. And the insistent thought was rattling around in her mind: Why can’t a woman do as a man does? Why is what he’s allowed not given to her?” (108). This key passage follows the men’s conversation about the fact that they both did not catch lakhtak this year, so we see a clear contrast between the men’s practical productivity, and Pyl’mau’s quiet but constant work, as she keeps putting food on their plates. It is also one of the most explicty passages in which we see the inequality between men and women, but only because we are briefly seeing her perspective. Phase Two Pyl’mau, she also contemplates having multiple husbands, since she knows men who have multiple wives. My main take away is that in this Phase two Pyl’mau, we as readers are fortunate to see some of her true, and normal human desires.

However, Phase Three Pyl’mau, whom we see for bout the last 170/330 pages of the Novel, seems to show a different personality (not necessarily because she has changed, but because of the lack of her narrative perspective). She is constantly at work, preparing meals for the village, caring for her children, or helping John. She is a crucial character practically, yet we no-longer get glimpses into her actual perspective. We see her outward emotions, as depicted through the narrative of the semi-omniscient-semi-John perspective, but I don’t believe we ever see her inner thoughts again for the entire latter half of the novel. What does this mean about how we should perceive John’s relationship with Pyl’mau? She, along with Orvo, is the most sympathetic character, yet within the narrative structure, we tragically lose connection with her as a real human.