New suspense genre falsely reflects modern day women


Search is on · Rosamund Pike plays Amy Dunne, a housewife who feels trapped in a manipulative marriage and suburban life. When Amy goes missing, her journal paints Nick in an incriminating light. - Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Search is on · Rosamund Pike plays Amy Dunne, a housewife who feels trapped in a manipulative marriage and suburban life. When Amy goes missing, her journal paints Nick in an incriminating light. – Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

A new genre of books has emerged in the last couple of years. The incredible and exponential success of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and, more recently, Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train has spawned a new category of thriller novels. These novels are all alike in one way: They feature leading female characters who are manipulative, underhanded and often murderous.

There is no doubt that these types of novels are thrilling, with Gone Girl selling more than 7 million copies in 28 countries and The Girl on the Train breaking the all-time sales record in England by holding onto its No. 1 bestseller spot for more than 20 weeks. Gone Girl spawned a blockbuster movie starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, earning multiple award nominations. Now, The Girl on the Train looks to be going in the same direction, with the film adaption, starring Emily Blunt, set to be released in 2016. But the root of these books’ success is that they’ve become prime fodder for book clubs for women around the world. In fact, my own mother has read both books in her various book clubs. I asked her what she thought of them, and she told me, “They are very compelling reads, and you get carried away by the storyline.”

There’s no doubt that this new style of thriller, centered on the vengeful wife who will stop at nothing to punish her husband for his wrongdoings, is all the rage. However, beneath the fast-paced plotlines and the excitement of a good mystery, something much more sinister seems to be going on. The fact is, all these novels are portraying their female characters as evil and vindictive. This upsets me — not only because these characters end up supporting wildly inaccurate stereotypes, but also because both novels are written by female authors. As an English major, I have taken several creative writing classes during my time at USC and have frequently written on my own time. One thing I’ve learned as a writer — and I’m not claiming to be a professional — is that every character you create needs to be believable as a real person. No one is purely good or evil, as good people do bad things and bad people do good things. This complexity, and, more importantly, humanity, is something that seems to be missing from the women in these novels.

I don’t mean to say that the female protagonists in these books are completely two-dimensional. The Girl on the Train’s Rachel is a deeply troubled woman battling addiction and trying to make sense of a failed marriage after her husband cheats on her. Similarly, Gone Girl’s Amy, who feels used and forgotten, is a woman trapped in an unhealthy marriage. Both of these women are desperate, but, especially in the case of Amy, their cruelty seems unwarranted. The extent to which the women go in these sort of novels to get revenge on their husbands indicates that their whole lives revolve around their marriages or romantic relationships. Moreover, it signals that they have no sources of happiness outside their romantic partner and that they are willing to sacrifice everything simply to “get even.” The modern day woman has so much more going on in her life outside romantic attachments that this “forgotten housewife” angle seems outdated at best.

But these books aren’t the only ones to fall into this pattern.
A. S. A. Harrison’s acclaimed novel The Silent Wife also revolves around a woman who feels that, after her husband betrays her, her only option is to murder him. Even the cover art for this novel features a woman’s ominous shadow and the title is dripping with blood — hardly a symbol of female empowerment. In Unravel by Calia Read, a young woman named Naomi finds herself in a psychiatric ward, trying to decide whom to trust between her two suitors. I understand that there are themes here of women being trapped, but the fact that so much of their lives revolve around hysterical behavior and calculated torture paints a very negative portrait.

When I first read Gone Girl, I remember finding Amy’s intelligence striking. Her plan was so perfectly coordinated and so immaculately thought-out that I felt it changed the classic murder mystery and, to an extent, portrayed these women in a positive way. If they were cruel and vindictive, at least they were smart and impressive. It wasn’t until later that I realized what a terrible image of women this created. Yes, Amy’s husband was selfish and obtuse, but his faults paled in comparison to Amy’s seemingly unstoppable bloodlust.

In the end, I find these books as entertaining as the next person. During college, when it seems like I’m trying to juggle a million different things, all I want is a fast-paced book that will keep me interested and doesn’t feel like a chore to read. These books are just that. Still, I think it’s important to acknowledge the message that these female characters are sending is not a very inspiring one. In all areas of life, women are leading the way and empowering one another, and it’s time our literary females started to do the same.

Kirsten Greenwood is a sophomore majoring in English. Her column, “By the Book,” runs every Friday.