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Tell Me a riddle is a complex literature material by Tillie Olsen that uses several stylistic devices including coded language, irony, symbolism, and themes, among others to narrate a story centered on love and relationship, freedom fight, mother and daughter relationship, and the power of art. The story talks about Eva whose freedom is curtailed by her family and one who sacrifices her own life for her children and husband. With time, Eva becomes resentful and demands her own space to live no more for others but to have her freedom, her desire to get out of the cages is still curtailed by the political landscape and her death. This essay seeks to root for the themes used by the author in writing the story.
The theme of cultural conformity: Olsen depicts the dangers of cultural conformity and how it affects the life of an individual and sarcastically suggests complex ideas of resistance and change alternatives. Eva is fixated and tied down by the cultural expectations of the feminine species. She has to literally take care of her children and attend to her husband occasionally denying her own time to do her things like what she likes, reading books. Eva later fights the stereotype to pursue her freedom.
The theme of silence is very evident in the text. Eva who is the central character and one oppressed by the cultural expectation of the feminine and stereotypes surrounding women chooses silence at first. She at first plays to the tone of the cultural expectations but later resents this and chooses her life of choice; she refuses to be burdened anymore by family commitments and wants peace for herself. The church in the play further gives space to those oppressed by the culture to express their silence.
There is the theme of storytelling. Most of the story is about what happened in the past. Eva is constantly oscillating between the past and the present while storytelling her encounter with a life of cultural oppression into which she cages herself. The narrator also gives another story that depicts Whitey’s disillusion from the society and her drunkenness. The story progresses with more conversations and revelations about the silence of women who have been culturally marginalized.
The theme of female complexity: The story presents the feminine as a complex sex. Olsen tries to articulate women's issues but she is also not certain as to whether motherhood is a destructive force or a positive path. Eva visits her grandchildren but she unsuccessfully struggles to and she acclaims how motherhood can be both destructive and a positive enhancement. Helena and Alva toss on the extent of racial discrimination because, for them, women marginalization is too much.
The theme of community: The patriarchal nature of society pushes women to look for other alternative places and means to break their silence. Parry and Alva join the African American church which they can comfortably refer to when the patriarchy becomes harsh and again they can feel better. For Whitey, the Brotherhood of Sailors was her second home, she lost herself to the group during the oppressive times but now this community is disintegrated. Men also for certain reasons prefer a community with people of mutual interests, David is adamant about joining a retirement community but Eva is not in agreement with this, she prefers isolation perhaps to pull herself from the cruel patriarchy.
The theme of multiple voices is also largely evident. The narrator in bringing up the issue of women's conformity and resentment towards patriarchy, does not have a common consent about the cultural oppression of women. Eva asks her daughter to keep her complexity rather than conforming herself to simple identities.
The theme of the Nuclear family: the patriarchal family orientation ignites fury among the women and places families on the verge of collapse as women debate on whether to conform to their social expectations or challenge the same. Whitey’s family is in a persistent misunderstanding with every passing year. Women become increasingly a challenge to patriarchy and even Eva abandons her commitment to the family at last and chooses her isolation thus fragmenting the family unit.
Tell Me a Riddle is a nice piece of narrative in which Olsen has chosen to express women’s oppression and their aggression toward patriarchy. The writer uses various styles, themes, tones, and symbols to achieve and capture the attention of the readers. The writer also brings in the aspect of race implying that this was a worse form of discrimination than the mere cultural oppression of the feminine sex. This narrative carries teachings on how and the reasons why families need more sobrieties and a better way of doing things other than sheer adherence to cultural dictates.
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