COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS- A STONE’S THROW AND THE WOMAN SPEAKS TO

THE MAN WHO HAS EMPLOYED HER SON

Society is regarded by many to be a large machine composed of interrelated components

working together in systematic harmony. However, each machine has its faults, each society its
issues and each person their flaws. These situations, specifically entailing the treatment of
women in society, are explored thoroughly by the poems, “A Stone’s Throw,” and, “The Woman
Speaks to the Man who has Employed her Son,” by Elma Mitchell and Lorna Goodson
respectively.

In the poem, “A Stone’s Throw,” the persona is a Pharisee among similar company, and
believes all his choices are those of highest wisdom. They had caught a woman in the act of
adultery, and this immediately surfaced an ideology of women being below men as they took
advantage of her in the procession of their impious act. The self-proclaimed men of religion
thought not of the woman as a person, however only as a tool to proffer them sexual satiety, and
cowered behind the justification of it being righteous justice. This however just proved a cover
for them to avoid the haunting compunction of the actions they would have done and conceal
their malicious intent. Contrastingly, “The Woman Speaks to the Man who has employed her
Son,” describes the grueling task of a mother going through pregnancy, to birth, and raising her
child without the presence of a father. However, she later in life laments on the job her son has
chosen, and anticipates only terror and hurt to come from it, and feels powerless and devastated.

The speakers of both poems share contrasting tones. In, “A Stone’s Throw,” the speaker
is disrespectful, superficial in thinking and condescending, seeming to believe women only live
to serve men then are tossed away. He stalwartly believes he along with his group of religious
men is punishing the woman, condemning her and intending to lapidate her. This callous, toxic
attitude is further shown by the Pharisees stripping away not just her clothes, but also her dignity
and emotional equilibrium. On the other hand, the speaker of The Woman Speaks to the Man
who has Employed her Son utilizes a more respectful and admiring approach to women, almost
being sympathetic. The speaker speaks admiringly of the woman’s strength in single parenting,
and also later sympathizes with her as she greatly mourns the possible fate her son may endure
with his job he chose. He assists in showing how women should be treated in society; with
equality.
 In The Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed her Son, the persona recorded the
treatment of women by use of irony. It is exploited through the actions of her son, whereby he
disregards all his mother’s love, to the extent he is not aware of her emotional affliction. He
instead succumbs to his longing for a father figure, serenaded only by the fact that his employer
is a man. Contrarily, in A Stone’s Throw, the persona expressed this idea also with irony. This is
further expounded on by the actions of the Pharisees, justifying their frivolous lust with
virtuosity. However, their, “virtuous,” hands were the furthest from pure thoughts, as their sole
intention was to rape and stone her.

To concede, the treatment of women was effectively portrayed in both poems. The
Woman Speaks to the Man who has Employed her Son is an example of the way women should
be treated, if expression through the speaker, however is voided by the actions of the employer.
On the other hand, a stone’s Throw epitomizes the disregard some persons have for women and
how unfair life can be.