"The Murder" as an Anti-Femini

            "The Murder" as an Anti-Feminist Story.
             Feminism is defined as the principle that women should have political, economic, and social rights equal to those of men. One may be able to suggest that the short story "The Murder" by John Steinbeck is an anti-feminist story. This suggestion would be plausible because there are many times in this story where the main character, Jim Moore, puts down his wife with unnecessary insults and unjustified violent actions. Another reason one would be able to consider this an anti-feminist story is because the law officers in it do not act in a fair and honest way. .
             Throughout the short story there are many quotes and actions, which would lead one to believe that this is an anti-feminist story. One of the first of these quotations comes when the author is describing Jelka, Jim Moore's wife. The author describes her as "a Jugo-Slav girl" ( ) and later states that "Jim was not proud of her foreign family, of her many brothers and sisters and cousins, but was delighted in her beauty" ( ). This might persuade one to believe that in choosing a wife, a man a should only look to see if she is beautiful and not recognize the other aspects of her life, such as family, friends, and personality. This quotation is later followed by another anti-feminist statement, which comes when the author is describing Jelka's lifestyle. He states "She was so mush like an animal that sometimes Jim patted her head and neck under the same impulse that made him stroke a hoarse" ( ). By saying this the author is degrading all women by comparing them to animals as apposed to equals. An additional anti-feminist quotation comes even later in the story when Jim and Jelka are having a fight because Jelka wants to go see her family. She does this every month, and Jim is getting tired of it. During the fight Jim calls Jelka "a damn foreigner" ( ). By saying this derogatory statement Jim is not only offending Jelka, but also the rest of her family.