The image of the two protagonists is not as good as the supporting role...

Hollis 2021-12-26 08:01:29

Tom and Isabel are the perfect incarnations of gender stereotypes. Tom’s rational temperance, Isabel’s sensual impulse, and even hysteria... In reality, men and women are actually a combination of two people, sometimes Tom, and sometimes Issa. Bell.

If you watched this movie a few years ago, you would definitely feel that Tom went against his heart and left orphans under his wife's plea, so he was helpless; he used a heroic self-sacrifice in exchange for the peace of his broken wife, so great!

But where was Isabel when he was in labor for the first time? In the second labor, he had no other substantive response except comfort. The wife’s childbirth is approaching and the island is uninhabited. The two should negotiate an emergency plan in advance just in case... Of course, miscarriage, fetal fetus, orphans and then lost, all these can be attributed to the helplessness and difficulty of life. Blame either party, but in the movie, it is very uncomfortable to divide people's complex emotions and ways of doing things with gender as the boundary, and then multiply it up...

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Extended Reading

The Light Between Oceans quotes

  • [first lines]

    Tom Sherbourne: I'm just looking to get away from things for a little while.

    Mr. Coughlan: [sitting behind his desk] Well, it's no paradise out on that island. Just want to make sure you know what you're in for.

    Tom Sherbourne: All due respect, Mr. Coughlan, it's not likely to be tougher than the Western Front.

    Mr. Coughlan: Oh, you're probably right about that. You pay your own passage to every posting. You're a relief worker so you don't get holidays. I understand you're a single man. No family. So, that's a slight concern. Wouldn't normally send a single man to Janus. It's pretty remote and wife and family can be a great practical help, not just a comfort. But, seeing it's only temporary, you leave for Port Partageuse in two days. From there you'll be shipped off to Janus. Welcome to Commonwealth Lighthouse Service. Proud to have a man who served our country with such distinction amongst our ranks.

  • Isabel Graysmark: I can tell you lots about me. My mom taught me the piano.

    Tom Sherbourne: You still play?

    Isabel Graysmark: Not that well. My brothers used to tease me awfully when I played. I lost both of them - in the War. Just must be so confusing for my parents. I mean, if a wife loses a husband she becomes a widow, but if a parent loses a child there's no special label for it. You're still a mother or father. Even if you no longer have a child. Sometimes I wonder, if I'm still technically a sister now when my brothers are gone.