The Presentation of Characters and Setting in “The Tower” by Marghanita Laski.
Marghanita Laski was an English journalist and novelist who also wrote plays and stories. The short story “The Tower” (1955) is one of her most prominent works. This story portrays victimization as a result of male dominance through the exploration of various themes such as fear, isolation, control, and freedom.
This story is narrated by an unnamed narrator in the third person narrative. Through the setting, Laski manages to highlight the fear that Caroline felt while she is climbing both up and down the tower. Laski may possibly be using the tower as a symbol to highlight the control that men have over the lives of women, even in the modern era.
Throughout the setting of the short story, the theme of control is vividly portrayed and explored through the relationship between Caroline and her husband, Neville. Although Neville is not present in the short story himself, he still has the ability to control Caroline, as she wanted to explore the tower but simultaneously wanted to reach her home before Neville reaches home. This example is significant in exhibiting how Caroline is devoid of the freedom required to live her own life. It is as though Caroline is obliging her husband as a duty she has to fulfill. Neville’s control is heavily imposed upon Caroline to the point where she depends upon him for her own safety, “Caroline knew that she wanted to take the fork to the left, to Florence and home and Neville and — said an urgent voice inside her — for safety.” In this particular sentence, Laski employs a literary device known as polysyndeton, which uses several conjunctions such as “and” to add a dramatic and artistic effect to the writing.
The readers view how Caroline possesses all the freedom in the world when she climbs up the tower. As she begins her ascension towards the stairs of the tower, she notices how the staircase is extremely narrow, “A narrow stone staircase clung to the wall and circled round the room to disappear through a hole in the ceiling.” The repeated idea of narrowness in the tower may symbolize the narrow-mindedness of the society as a whole to accept women and give them a safe space entirely for themselves, where they do not constantly have to worry about their safety. The repeated idea of narrowness in the story highlights and emphasizes the narrow mindsets of a male dominant society where women are silenced and prohibited to voice their concerns. This particular idea represents a literary device known as symbolism. Authors turn to tangible symbols to represent abstract concepts and ideas in their stories.
Furthermore, Laski’s mention and emphasis on numbers in the short story creates a mounting intensity whilst giving a statistical effect. As the energy of the main protagonist, Caroline, becomes more tangible, it seems as if her feelings and emotions are also being recorded. The reader can trace the character’s development or the lack of development of emotions by the given numbers, as a way of data analysis. The numbers mentioned in this story show how Caroline receives a sense of achievement through her ascension of the tower’s stairs, “’-four hundred and seventy!’ said Caroline aloud with explosive relief, and then she stopped abruptly because the steps had stopped too.” A sense of achievement is gained as Caroline now stands at the top of the world while breaking free of societal chains that held her back from gaining freedom.
Moreover, windows play an important role in developing the setting of the short story and the position of Caroline herself. Windows usually talk about escapism, however, the usage of windows in this particular short story seems ironic as those windows are shut down and opaque, “She wondered why the narrow-slit windows in the wall had all been so placed that they spiraled around the staircase too high for anyone climbing it to see through them.” Verbal irony is employed here as the concept of windows is not what it seems to appear. The repetition of the idea of narrowness in the tower shows how narrow-minded a male dominant society is, where women have to bear the oppression imposed among them in silence. This idea is also exhibited in the short story “When it happens” by Edith Wharton, where Mrs. Burridge had to find a safe place for herself while portraying the unsafety of women in an extremely unaccepting and unwelcoming society, where freedom is a myth if one categorizes as a woman.
Additionally, the setting of the tower shows Caroline’s mental state through the employment of tactile imagery. “Then hesitantly she groped forwards, upwards, and at last her fingers met the rusty rail again, and again she climbed.” Caroline’s sense of touch is involved when she touches the railing to climb up the tower. The readers might also feel the rusty touch of the railing underneath their fingers. The aforementioned railing in the tower is rusty, arguably due to the fact that none of the women possessed the courage to go near the tower, which is an extended metaphor for male dominance. No woman had the courage to stand up to male dominance and societal pressure and speak up against their oppression. They did not dare surpass it in order to make a change. The rusty rail may also symbolize how women find comfort even in the faintest hope of ascension towards light and being devoid of the darkness and pain that has surrounded them. “Sometimes she had to climb several steps with her left shoulder pressed tightly to the brick wall before her searching hand could find the tenuous rusty comfort again.”
As Caroline finally reaches the top of the tower, she seems to be rather disappointed. There was nothing for her to see that might have been of any importance. This disappointment is expressed by Laski when she writes, “’ But how idiotic,’ she said to the air. ‘The whole thing’s absolutely pointless,’ and then the fingers of her left hand, exploring the wall beside her, met not brick but wood.” The dissatisfaction in Caroline’s dialogue shows just how there was nothing important to view. This disappointment might symbolize how there is no change made, even if some brave women like Caroline challenge male dominance and decide to raise their voices against their oppression by a patriarchal society.
Towards the end of the story, Caroline is shown tallying the steps of the tower to five hundred and four, whereas, the tower only has the capacity for four hundred and seventy steps. This highlights the idea and symbolizes that there is no end to male dominance and female oppression, regardless of how much time passes by. “She could not think. She could know nothing but fear. Only her brain remorselessly recorded the tally. ‘Five hundred and one,’ it counted, ‘five hundred and two — and three and four –‘”
Conclusively, it can be said that Marghanita Laski presents Caroline as a brave and a naïve woman simultaneously, through the setting of the tower. The variety of themes explored in this short story contribute towards making this one of the most prominent works by Laski. The story is the epitome of women's oppression by male dominance and how regardless of the passage of time, women continue to be in the same position as they were centuries ago.
