Men of the novel

"Wherever there's a man, there's trouble!"

It is hardly surprising that most of the male characters in this novel are presented in an unsympathetic light. They are all, even Samuel, inferior in some way to the women they associate with. They show little understanding of women, treating them as slaves, menial workers or sex objects. They seem also to have no solidarity, unlike the females, who band together to support and console one another. The men in this novel seem to be incapable of bonding with one another and show little evidence of communicating on anything other than a very basic, crude level.

Each one of the men has their own issues: Alphonso, the father, is a rapist and uses his daughters in despicable ways, Albert is abusive and Harpo is negligent.