Abortion and the single woman as literary tropes in the works of Amos Oz

Abstract

This paper provides a gender-based reading of texts by Israeli Author Amos Oz, in particular Fima, My Michael, A Perfect Peace as well as several short stories. The constructions of unmarried women and of abortion are focused on as tropes betraying the reactionary gender politics in these texts. The analysis reveals that the representation of abortion is rhetorically biased, representing the decision as selfish, the operation as inhumane and the foetus as a child, while exaggerating the psychic risks for women undergoing abortion. The unmarried female characters in Oz' texts are shown to be presented according to sexist stereotypes, which is further supported by the asymmetry in comparison to their male counterparts.