An App oach o (Vulne )able Women in Paula Hawkins’s No els
Abs ac :
The no ion o ulne abili y has had a e y p oli ic ole in he las yea s, as he e m has been applied
o many and a ied ields o esea ch, being con empo a y li e a u e one o hem. Taking Emmanuel
Lé inas’s no ion o he e hical encoun e be ween he sel and he o he h ough wha he calls he
“ ace o he o he ” (“The T ace o he O he ” 351) my aim is o explo e h ough li e a y analysis how
ulne abili y is po ayed in con empo a y li e a u e and how i may a ec ha e hical connec ion.
Lé inas himsel in a la e wo k, En e Nous: On Thinking-o - he-O he (1998), desc ibes he
un eiling o he o he ’s ace as: “ex eme exposu e, de enselessness, ulne abili y i sel ” (145). In
his way, Lé inas d aws pa icula a en ion o he encoun e wi h he ulne able o he , which
ine i ably makes he sel be ulne able as well, as s/he is unable o esis he e hical call (Shild ick
2002, 92). This duali y o ulne abili y allows us o explo e he no ion no only as i has been
adi ionally unde s ood —as a weakness, di icul y o impai men o he subjec — bu a he as a
ool o sel -accep ance, empowe men and agency ha may acili a e he e hical connec ion. To
add ess his idea, as bo h he e hical encoun e wi h al e i y and ulne abili y a e wo e y b oad
ields o s udy, I will ocus on he way ha ulne able emale cha ac e s a e p esen ed and de eloped
in wo con empo a y and widely popula B i ish no els: Paula Hawkins’s no els The Gi l on he
T ain (2015) and In o he Wa e (2017). These bes -selling no els in oduce leading emale
cha ac e s who can be labeled as ulne able bo h om a physical and a psychological iewpoin .
The e o e, by b ie ly analysing he plo o he no els as well as by close eading key passages, I will
e lec on which elemen s make a woman be conside ed as ulne able in oday’s socie ies. A his
poin , Judi h Bu le ’s, E inn Gilson’s and Ma g i Shild ick’s wo ks will be o use o e lec on why
despi e he ac ha ulne abili y is a uni e sally sha ed human cha ac e is ic, i is especially
a ached o women o bo h biological and socially cons uc ed easons. Howe e , as I will conclude
wi h my analysis, i is hese cha ac e s’ emale ulne abili y ha allows hem o mo e om ic ims
o agen s o hei own li es. Ins ead o being s a ic and passi e subjec s, hey a e able o emb ace
hei own limi a ions and econs uc hei sense o sel es, which allows hem o ake con ol o e
hei li es and ela e o o he s (pa icula ly o he women) in a di e en , mo e e hical and empha ic
way. I will conclude by sugges ing ha his change in ep esen ing women in con empo a y ic ion
may be in ac a new end ha aims o show eal women who despi e hei debili ies a e p oac i e
subjec s, cha ac e s wi h whom con empo a y eade s a e able o emphasise, being ulne -abili y he
pe ec ansi ion in his p ocess.
Re e ences:
Hawkins, Paula. The Gi l on he T ain. London: Doubleday, 2015.
---. In o he Wa e . London: Doubleday, 2017.
Lé inas, Emmanuel. En e Nous: On Thinking-o - he-O he . T ansla ed by Michael B. Smi h and
Ba ba a Ha sha . New Yo k: Columbia UP, 1998.
---. “The T ace o he O he .” Decons uc ion in Con ex . Ed. M. Taylo . T ans. by A. Lingis.
Chicago: U o Chicago P, 1986. 345-59.
Keywo ds:
Vulne abili y; e hics; o he ness; women; con empo a y ic ion